One of the things that both floors me (and pisses me off quite frankly) is that many insurances do NOT cover fertility treatment. Infertility is an actual medical issue – shocking, I know. I’m truly amazed how many times I have to point that in a day and it doesn’t help matters when even insurance companies don’t recognize it as a diagnosed condition.
Here’s the example I always use: If a diabetic’s blood sugar is high, you would not say, “Just relax and your sugar will lower on its own.” Or “Forget an endocrinologist! I’m sure your ENT can handle it.”
You wouldn’t… because it’s stupid and irresponsible.
Also, the public at large is simply unaware that a fertile couple can say, “When do you want to have kids?” or “Should we have more?” where as an infertile couple ask, “Can we afford treatment to even try to have kids?” or “Will we have any at all?”
Last year, I participated in Resolve’s NationalAdvocacy Day that hopes to address these issues and I continue to fight for this cause whenever and wherever I can but until we knock some sense into the people that make these decisions, I did want to list a few resources, grants, financing options, etc. here to see if it can possibly assist you in financing your journey.
One more thing before I get into this list: At my job, Fertility Authority, we recently launched a multi-cycle discount program called IVFAdvantage. It differs from other similar programs out there in that we have no cut off age or blood work or BMI restrictions. This is for those who can afford treatment BUT need additional assistance while getting personalized care. Meaning… when I did a clinical trial (more information on that below), they didn’t treat my issues specifically – it was a blanket study that I participated in. If you have a specific case, know you need more than one cycle, please feel free to email me at work: jay (at) fertilityauthority (dot) com and I can see if I can help at all through IVFA.
Here’s the list but TO BE CLEAR: While I’ve worked with a few of the organizations below, I haven’t investigated each and every one of these. In short, please do not take this list as my personal recommendation and be sure to look into each of them on your own to make your own decision.
Clinical Trials: www.clinicaltrials.gov
The Tinina Q. Cade Foundation’s Family Building Grant: http://www.
Baby Quest: http://
The AGC Hope Scholarship: http://www.agcscholarships.org/about-agc/
Fertile Dreams – The Embracing Hope Grant: http://www.fertile-
B.U.M.P.S.: http://www.yourbump.org/
The Heart to Heart Video Contest: https://hearttoheartcontest.com/
The International Council on Infertility Information Dissemination (INCID): http://www.inciid.org
Parenthood for Me: http://www.
Sparkles of Life: http://www.sparklesoflife.org/
The Angels of Hope Foundation: http://www.angelsofhopeinc.org/creatingMiraclesGrant.htm
The Sharing Hope Financial Assistance Program:http://www.livestrong.org/we-can-help/fertility-services/fertility-resource-guide/
Lost Stark Foundation: http://
Again, this SOOOO does not solve everything… not even by a long shot… but I do help at least offers some ideas to explore in getting treatment should you decide to pursue it. And of course, if there are any resources I’ve left off, please comment and let me know. 🙂
Have you found or seen a list anywhere of companies that do cover IF? A few years back Conceive Magazine had an awesome resource on that, which I utilized at that time to get into a corp that covers IVF. But I haven't seen an updated one since…
I agree with you that it's absolute BS that insurance does not cover infertility. A lot of this has to do with the stigma of this diagnosis and the assumption that because we have an issue with rise in population that infertility doesn't count as a disease (i.e. 'just adopt!'). Wrong on so MANY levels.
Thanks for these resources. And it's good to hear about FertilityAuthority's new program.
I am thinking about doing this egg donor thing at the Santa Monica Fertility Clinic: https://www.santamonicafertility.com/ . Will any of these assistance groups you listed help me out there?
Thanks for sharing such informative post. Proved to be a great help.