• Fri, Jul 13 - 9:00 am ET

Mommyish Poll: Would You Take Out A Loan To Fund Your IVF Cycles?

fertility financingAnyone who has been through a few or so rounds of IVF knows that they certainly don’t come cheap. The ultimate costs of children are one thing, but round after round following no conception can leave many a family cash poor. So what happens when you want to expand your family, but you don’t quite have the financial resources to make it happen? Why, a banker in a suit walks right up to you and offers you some “fertility financing.”

Msnbc reports that “dozens of fertility finance companies are popping up around the country” with different interest rates. But mixing loans with the desperate want of a child — at least for some — can get really messy, really fast:

“When someone comes and says I can make this possible for you and I can make the financing possible, you really have to be a little bit careful because you’ve got vulnerable, desperate people who want to hear that there’s an answer to their prayers,” said Arthur Caplan, the head of the division of medical ethics at NYU’s Langone Medical Center.  “I’m worried they’re not going to hear the failure and success rate, the interest rate, and what the risks are of the treatments.”

“Predatory” is another word used to describe what this business incentive could ultimately become. However, for those families who can accurately assess the risk and want to push ahead, shouldn’t they have the option?

Sorry! This poll is now closed.

(photo: Philip Lange/ Shutterstock)

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  • Michelle

    We borrowed money from our families for our IVF cycles and don’t regret it one bit. If we didn’t have the option to borrow from our families, we would’ve sought a loan. That said, we have a steady income and could repay a loan without worrying about being negligent. Now we have our baby… there is no amount in the world that would’ve kept us from having her!

  • lilacorchid

    I wouldn’t and didn’t for either cycle. For us, the only thing worse then a failed cycle is paying for that failed cycle for months after, plus interest.

    • Michelle

      I think that’s a good point. Our fertility clinic had a program where you paid a set amount and got up to 6 cycles. If you weren’t successful in 6, you got your money back. But if you were successful in 1 (which we were), you spent more than necessary. It was a great way to feel confident about the investment.

  • Jules

    No. If you can’t afford a fertility treatment, you can’t afford a baby.

    • Michelle

      That’s just not true. Being able to front $10-20,000 is VERY different than paying for a baby. A baby never costs that much all at once.

    • Jules

      So then your child must have been born perfectly healthy. Congrats. But what if a $20,000 was needed for her medical care? How do you plan to pay for pre- K (15,000/yr. where I live)? Buy her a car when she’s 16? Pay for her college? Retire, or is your plan to burden your daughter? You need savings (and a hell of a lot more than $20,000) before you should consider having a child.

    • Michelle

      I have all of those things and more — not that it is any of your business. We are beyond financially secure; my daughter will never carry a financial burden so long as she is under my care. But fronting that kind of money wasn’t possible. Did you finance your house? Because the same rationale would say that you shouldn’t have a house if you couldn’t pay for it in cash.

    • Jules

      I paid cash for the house and the renovations. Boom. Also, your defensiveness is very telling. Financing anything more than you can afford to pay out of pocket at the time is living above your means and YOU CAN”T AFFORD IT.

    • Ipsedixit

      I’m split. It’s certainly not the same, but $10-20k isn’t a lot of money. Someone should be able to have that amount in somewhat liquid accounts if they are planning to have a child; if I couldn’t, I wouldn’t consider myself “financially secure.” A house is much more than $10-20k. A more analogous example would be a car.

      I personally wouldn’t take out a loan for treatments, but I think it’s OK so long as you are able to pay it back. However, I’ve seen on Facebook where people actually fundraise for treatments. That’s just tacky.

    • Michelle

      Jules, I’m sorry but you told me I shouldn’t have my daughter because I borrowed money from my parents for IVF. How would you respond if someone said that to you? I am not getting defensive; I know that we are more than financially secure and able to provide more than my daughter will ever need. You don’t know that — why would you? You are making snap judgments about people you don’t know. How I paid for my IVF — or how anyone paid for it, for that matter — isn’t your business but you’ve decided to tell people that they shouldn’t have children. Unfortunately I’ve let myself get upset about this when in fact I should’ve just let your rude comments go. Luckily for me and every other person who has dealt with infertility, your offensive judgments don’t make one bit of difference. For that I am grateful.

    • lilacorchid

      Jules, it’s a little bit more complicated then that. Fertility is finite if you want to have your own bio-child. Time may not allow you to save up money. Or perhaps you can borrow it for a lower interest rate then your liquid-ish cash is making.

      And FTR, I also own my house and pay cash for everything too. But I don’t understand why you are so adverse to people borrowing money. It’s borrowed from people who have it, and gets paid back with interest, which increases the net worth of the borrower. For someone who pays cash for everything and has managed to buy a house, you don’t seem to understand how borrowing can benefit people.

    • lilacorchid

      “…and gets paid back with interest, which increases the net worth of the borrower.”

      Should read “lender” instead of “borrower”. Can’t edit!

  • Eileen

    Absolutely not. But then I wouldn’t have IVF at all; if I found I could not have children naturally (the cheap way) and that adoption was impractical, I would decide to be a happily childfree individual. I do question the financial solvency of someone who doesn’t have enough money saved for IVF – while not cheap, it’s not more than you should have in savings if you’re in a position to be able to support a child. (Plus, as someone else mentioned, IVF is only 30% successful – how awful would it be to go through the hormonal mess of IVF, get your hopes up, not get a baby, and then owe a bunch of money?) That having been said, it’s not my call, and I don’t think that this is predatory. Anyone seeking out fertility treatments should know the associated odds, any potential parent should understand the financial responsibilities associated with having a baby, and any adult should understand how loans and interest work.

  • Lola

    We loaned from the bank, it gets taken out of my account in fortnightly repayments of $30.

    IVF is much cheaper in Australia though.

  • Johnny

    There is no reason anybody should ever be borrowing money to have IVF. It is somewhere between stupid and irresponsible. If you don’t have $20,000 in liquid assets that you can spend, how do plan on paying for your child- who is going to need diapers, doctor’s visits, food, toys … and it only gets more expensive as the kid gets older – anybody check the price of pre-school these days? What about college? I know how people do it – credit cards. As far as I am concerned, if you are going to have a baby, you should at least one year of liquid assets. That will cover the start-up costs for the kid and also allow you to maintain your life if one (or both) spouses loose their jobs. Imagine borrower $20,000, getting pregnant and then both spouses getting laid off. You can’t even support your self let alone the kid you are bringing into the world

  • Nica

    I personally would not. Thankfully, however, I had excellent health insurance which covered about 95% of the costs of the multiple IVF/FET cycles I went through for my two children.

    I don’t see how fertility financing is any different than taking out a home equity loan or charging your treatments to credit cards, which is what people presently do when they have to pay OOP for fertility treatments. I have to imagine these fertility financing companies have to be offering a better deal than the credit card companies!.

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