Financing Infertility Treatment

If you are thinking about having infertility treatment, you should know that there is a huge emotional investment involved that can be full of worry, disappointment, grief and joy. Along with this emotional investment there is also a more concrete, large financial investment to conceiving a child using infertility treatment.

Often, procedures are also not covered by health insurance. When you add up fertility medication, infertility specialist rates, lab fees, procedures and other associated costs, infertility treatment will likely cost thousands of dollars.

Before you take the step of infertility treatment, know what the associated costs are and how you will cover them.

Infertility Treatment and Insurance Coverage

Depending on the policy, your health insurance may cover some of the costs of your infertility treatment. A lot of this depends not only on your policy but also on the reproductive disorder you've been diagnosed with and the type of infertility treatments your insurance company deems valid or acceptable under the terms of the policy.

Many insurance policies will cover at least some of the costs of prescription medications involved in your treatment. For patients who undergo fertility drug therapy alone, insurance may cover most of your expenses. If you are interested in infertility treatment or testing not covered by insurance, you will likely have to consider infertility financing options.

Financial Aid and Infertility Financing

Most infertility patients can't afford to pay for their infertility treatment up front. This is why most infertility clinics have financial aid counselors who can help patients decide how to finance their treatment.

Options often recommended by fertility clinics include fertility financial aid. The clinic may have established relationships with banks and borrowing companies to allow for their patients to borrow for infertility treatment costs at loan rates significantly lower than credit card companies of other banks. In addition, financial counselors can help you understand the various ways you can save to help you figure out an estimate for your next tax refund, for example.

Keeping Your Costs Down

Infertility treatment is expensive, but there are some things you can do to keeps your costs down:

Find out the cause of your infertility as soon as possible to avoid spending money on treatments that don't address your particular cause of infertility.
In virto fertilization is more expensive than intrauterine insemination. For younger women who have normal egg quality, IUI may be an effective option.
Certain procedures that are considered diagnostic infertility treatment may be covered by your health insurance.
Don't delay treatment. As women get older, their fertility naturally declines, especially after the age of 35. The longer a woman waits to undergo treatment the more likely more complex procedures will be needed, increasing the cost of treatment.