As someone who is dealing with infertility treatments I know first hand what a financial toll all of the co-pays, tests and treatments have cost me, and I HAVE insurance coverage. I have said before that I am beyond thankful for my insurance because without it I know Mike and I would not be able to afford IVF. So many couples max out their credit cards, take out 2nd mortgages/HELOCs, and save for years to afford even just one cycle of IVF.
Infertility is a medical diagnosis and should be considered by insurance companies for treatment just as any other disease would be but unfortunately it isn't. Until the day comes that infertility treatments are more readily affordable, The Family Act 2011 would greatly help couples achieve their dream of becoming parents.
So what can you do to help this cause? Follow me, along with many others, and call or send a letter/email to your elected officials. Help make a difference!
Here is a link to Resolve, The National Infertility Association. They support this bill and have a lot of information about it as well as what you can do to help support it.
And lastly, here is a copy of the letter I sent to my local officials:
Dear ,
As someone who cares about the 7.3 million women and men
with infertility, I ask for your support in co-sponsoring the Family Act of
2011, S 965. The Family Act creates a tax credit for the out-of-pocket costs
associated with infertility medical treatments.
My name is Lisbeth Mitchell and I am 27 years old. 2 years
ago I married my high school sweetheart, Michael Mitchell, after 7 years of
dating. We were both was 25 years old, in love, and hard working people. I
thought that we were living the American dream. We always planned to have
children early on in our marriage and I have always dreamed of becoming a mom.
Imagine my surprise when we found out that due to male infertility our only
chance at achieving that dream would be through in vitro fertilization.
My husband and I were stunned to learn that having a baby
wouldn’t be as simple tossing out our birth control and “getting busy”. We also
felt alone and scared; Alone because we never knew anyone who had struggled
with this, scared because we now wondered if we would ever get to know the joy
of holding our newborn baby.
I quickly went into research mode and was shocked to learn
how common infertility is. Did you know that 1 in 6 couples suffers from some
form of infertility? This means that you most likely know someone who is trying
to have a child, or has had a child with the help of fertility treatments. Most
insurance companies don’t offer much coverage for these treatments, if any.
With the average cost of IVF being close to $12,000 in the United States, this
means that many families will never get the chance to have their own child. Yet,
many couples put themselves into a lifetime of debt just for the chance to get
pregnant, something that still isn’t a guarantee with IVF. As a mom yourself,
can you imagine what it must feel like to never know the joy of parenthood
because of a medical diagnosis that you can’t afford to treat?
I can tell you that since my husband and I found out we were
dealing with infertility, we have both been dragged through hell and back
physically, emotionally, and mentally. But I will gladly continue to do so
until it is no longer financially possible if that means I have a chance to
become a mom.
Thank you for your support of S 965, The Family Act. And
thank you for helping millions of Americans build their families.
Sincerely,
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