The Financial Burden Fertility Patients Carry

Okay today’s blog is a rant. It’s the same rant I’ve been going on since we started our fertility journey all the way back in 2012. In a time where we as a society are so sensitive about equal rights in all aspects of life how do we still consider fertility treatments elective?

In the state of MN, and in most of the US, there is no mandatory fertility coverage for insurance providers. Even worse, when you finally do find a provider that has coverage they almost NEVER cover the real treatments meaning IUI or IVF, they typically only cover the bloodwork that it takes to get diagnosed. But, once that diagnosis is slapped on your file they will fight covering anything tied to reproductive health. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve gone in for something not tied to getting pregnant and had to have the conversation with my provider to make sure no where in the coding they mention my infertility diagnosis as it leads to a fight with insurance to get basic things covered.

The past 9 months has been a horrible reminder of how devastating infertility is emotionally and financially. Here’s the breakdown:

July 2020: Contact our doctors we want to get started on fertility treatments again.

Cost: $200

August 2020: Hysteroscopy to check for polyps and basic bloodwork.

Cost: $2,151

September 2020: Polypectomy

Cost: $3,100

September and October- Depot Lupron shots to help with my PCOS/Endometriosis.

Cost: $500

November 2020: Untested embryo transfer.

Cost: $4,268

Oct-Dec- All of the fertility medications needed to sustain my pregnancy.

Cost: $1,951

Dec-Feb- Post-miscarriage all the bloodwork required to track my HCG levels.

Cost: $600

January 2021: Testing our embryos to ensure we don’t have another miscarriage due to abnormality.

Cost: $5,888

February 2021: Annual fee to keep our embryos frozen.

Cost: $500

February 2021: Because my miscarriage took so long I now need another round of Lupron.

Cost: $500

March 2021: Repeat hysteroscopy to confirm miscarriage is finally over- thank you for the prayers I am all clear!

Cost: $1,200

Coming soon we hope- A frozen Embryo Transfer with CCS Tested Embryo.

Cost: $5,325

Don’t forget all the meds to keep us pregnant that we will need to order.

Cost: MINIMUM $2,000

Grand total so far: $28,183

Yes you read that right over 28k in an attempt to get pregnant. This does not cover the cost of care after I get pregnant, my clinic charges around $2,000 for that monitoring. It also does not cover the cost of labor and delivery. Because none of these services are covered by insurance, they do not count towards our deductible so we will also have to meet and pay that separately.

Now if you were paying super close attention to my list above you will notice a big price difference in the cost of a transfer in 2020 and the one in 2021. My clinic, whom I typically sing praises of for keeping their prices competitive and on the more affordable side as far as treatments in this world goes, increased their transfer prices 42% this year.

If we had done a tested transfer last year it would have been 3,700 (we hadn’t tested yet, so we had to pay more so it actually cost us $4,200) this year that same transfer is now $5,325. I am furious. I am sad. I feel taken advantage of. I am pissed that health insurance isn’t required to cover this. I am pissed that big pharma isn't held accountable to fair drug pricing. I am tired of fighting and inquiring and asking and having to pay close attention to our bills to try to squeak any coverage we can only to have our doctors raise the pricing such a ridiculous amount.

Openly sharing this financial burden with you all is hard for me. Talking about money is something we just don’t do as a society. But, I think you all need to understand that being infertile comes with many burdens. It’s the grief over the loss of naturally getting pregnant, the ptsd that comes from so many years of loss and failed procedures. It’s the guilt when I should have just been grieving my miscarriage and losing our sweet baby but instead my mind was consumed with the financial hit we just took only to come away with a loss and the anxiety knowing we would have to do it all over again.

Rob and I have sacrificed our entire marriage financially because we are constantly paying for treatments. We paid over 100k to get pregnant with our twins, this baby, adding in the delivery, will now be around 40k. I get asked all the time how we do it. Sacrifice. We still live in our “starter” home. We only have one vehicle and it’s 11 years old. We don’t travel. We don’t buy things for ourselves that aren’t necessities. We budget and save and live frugally. And we worry about money ALL. THE. TIME. Boy, that was hard to type. Being open and vulnerable about the financial stress this has put on Rob and I is not fun. If you’re still reading this, I’m sure you are uncomfortable right now. We all need to start feeling uncomfortable with this topic. Fertility patients should not suffer in silence. It’s time for a change!

One of my goals once we get past our current treatment and my mind is a little more freed up is to get more involved in fighting for MN to be better. If any of have a connection or are already involved in that world I would love to talk more.

I just want you to know I love you all, I appreciate the support and prayers and thank you for being open to learning about this tough topic. My entire goal around blogging is to educate others who never have to go through this so they can support their loved ones that do. I also want to give anyone walking this journey the courage to talk about it. Do not be ashamed. The love and support I have received once I opened up has blessed me many times over.

Today was a shitty day. Today I take on the worry about money, I cried, I yelled and I grieved. However, tomorrow is a new day. Deep breath, one foot in front of the other and faith that God is beside us carrying us through the hard days and celebrating with us on the good ones.