How to Finance Fertility Treatments?

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Hi!  I’m Dr. Marc Sklar, the Fertility Expert and welcome back to Fertility TV.  In this episode we’re going to be talking about how to finance your fertility treatments and possibly IVF, so stay tuned for more information.

Oftentimes a question that we end up discussing is finances, you know as we’re dealing with fertility finances often come up not just for what they need to do with their overall finances to be stable but how do you work with fertility treatments with your finances cause some of them can be expensive.  So here are my thoughts on it:

First and foremost I think it’s important to get the biggest bang for your buck, especially up front.  So I think the least costly with the biggest upside and increase…and most efficacy is natural treatments, they are for sure not near…they don’t have any near the cost of IUI or IVF, especially if you start doing IVF with like donor or Servicey___ or something like that, they’re definitely nowhere in ball park of that, they’re a fraction of that cost, plus they’re going to make huge impact to your overall health. And so this can have profound effects, not just on your fertility health but your overall health in every area and every system, so I think this gives you the best, most encompassing place to start, and hopefully that’s the only place you have to go.  So my first option is to start with natural treatments and that’s really not just because that’s my preference in terms of natural treatments but because I do believe that for most patients that’s going to get you the most effect and the least cost.

Two – Once we’re starting to get into Number Two, we’re really looking at do we do IVF or do we do IUI? Well there’s no real right answer, I think as long as there’s no physical blockages or obstructions or real reason that says you have to do IVF then I always prefer that patients start with IUI in some way, and the reason why in some way because there’s variations of IUI you know, you know, with medication, without and so on.  So I think starting with IUI is very very helpful, and hopefully that’s where you’ll be successful before going to IVF, plus it’s also much less expensive than going through IVF.

If you do have to go through IVF then a benefit of doing IUI first is that you can see how your body’s going to respond to the medication, even though it’s not exactly the same, prior to going in and doing IVF.  And the reason for doing that is we don’t know…even though they say that this specific protocol is going to be ideal for you in an IVF cycle, they don’t know that for sure, they’re basing it off your hormone levels, your height and your weight, and they’re making assumptions.  Many patients don’t respond well the first cycle that they go through IVF because their doctors are just learning about their bodies and how they’re going to respond so it’d be a shame to kind of use one IVF as like a trial and test run when it’s so expensive and you can possibly do that with an IUI cycle.  Again, it’s not quite the same but I do see some benefits to doing that.

So let’s say you’ve tried one, you’ve tried IUI, you’ve tried natural, you tried IUIs and now the only option available or you as a couple have made the decision that IVF is the path for you to go, then three things for you to consider.  One is many offices offer a guarantee program that you pay in advance a little bit more but they’re guaranteeing that you’ll have a pregnancy or a baby at the end of the process, and if you don’t then they refund a portion or all of the money.  Now you do have to qualify for that, and not everybody qualifies but I think it’s worth looking into.

Number Two is oftentimes patients are taking out loans from a bank with high interest rates.  My preference is, and we all get these in the mail all the time, if you can manage them properly, we all get these zero percent interest credit card offers, it’s not a bad option to finance part or all of your IVF through zero-percent credit card offers as long as you manage that properly, and  that’s an if, I’m not your accountant, your bookkeeper, you have to look at that for yourself, but I do think it’s a viable option.

And then Number Three.  I don’t believe that patients should go bankrupt to have children and start a family, having children, having a family is expensive in and of itself, there’s no right time to do it, you’re never going to be fully prepared, there’s no such thing, but I also don’t believe that you should be bankrupt in trying to have kids because it’s a difficult process to manage in and of itself.

So those are my thoughts on financing fertility treatments and how to manage that.  Additionally, if you want more help to help you get pregnant naturally and increase your chances all on your own at home then check out my fertility school, it might be the right thing for you.  

If you want to find out how fertile you are take my free fertility quiz right here to find out what level of fertility you’re at and potentially get some help. 

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