Ways to fund IVF?

**kmeyrick** · 01-11-2009, 08:28 PM

I know someone who would like IVF, but her health coverage does not cover it. Has anybody here found some good ways to fund for IVF? (She is very frugal as it is).

**beks37** · 01-11-2009, 09:01 PM

If her employer offers a flex spending account, she could take advantage of the pretax dollars from that.

Does she have savings or maybe access to a short term low interest loan?

Thankfully my employer offers insurance that covers infertility treatments and we sure have used the heck out of it!

**guest002** · 01-11-2009, 09:19 PM

We had some non-IRA mutual funds that we sold. I do know that some IVF clinics have information on financing. Just tell her to save all of their bills because we claimed them on our taxes.

**wanderlusting** · 01-12-2009, 04:39 AM

I'm going through infertility as well. The military covers most of my testing and the Germans don't charge very much for what the military doesn't cover.

Has she looked into going overseas to get it done? There's a very affordable plan through IVF vacation www.ivfvacation They've had many good reviews. And the cost of airfare, all the treatments, medication and sightseeing combined can be cheaper than just the treatment in the states.

Stateside, when she looks for a clinic, see if she can find one that does shared risk. So if the IVF round ends up not resulting in a pregnancy, she can recoup some of the the money.

I wish your friend luck.

BTW: I LOVE your avatar- I love squirrels!

**IntlMom** · 01-12-2009, 09:05 AM

wow! You guys have given great advice - when we did IVF (4 failed - 2 fresh, 2 frozen), there was none of that. It was in the mid 90s and claiming it on our taxes, going overseas, etc....was never even a thought that crossed our mind. We had great insurance for it at the time.......but still, great ideas.

- here's to hoping it works for you all: Becky, jennybethg and OPs friend. Paula, I'm glad you have your babies. Me, I'm glad it never worked for me, otherwise I wouldn't have my "babies".

- we're all part of an exclusive "club" that thankfully, not many have access to, KWIM??

GOOD LUCK

**guest002** · 01-12-2009, 11:58 AM

I do know what you mean. We still discuss adoption from time-to-time. I'm done having babies.

**wanderlusting** · 01-12-2009, 04:58 PM

Oh yeah! I forgot this tidbit I've heard some of the ladies on some of my infertility boards tell me. Some of them don't have insurance either and have been able to find RE's that offer "non-insured rates" if they paid cash. I've even heard rates as low as $4,500 for an IVF.

Tell you friend to shop around with different RE's to see what type of packages or deals they are willing to cut.

**Hannahs mom** · 01-14-2009, 01:09 PM

My husband's cousin enrolled for an IVF scholarship that she found out about through her local hospital. She ended up having seven IVF's over the course of 5-6 years. Her precious gift is getting ready to turn 1 this month. There's no way that they could have had their child had it not been for the scholarship. Check with your obgyn and the local hospitals. If they don't have any scholarship programs they might know of another hospital who does. The hospital that did her IVF was in Las Vegas.

Hope this helps.