5 Tips to Finance Your Fertility Treatment

As any fertility clinic in California will tell you, sooner or later, couples that have been struggling to conceive find themselves at a crossroads. They have to decide whether or not to proceed with more advanced and expensive fertility treatments.

Costs often add up more quickly than couples anticipate, which is why the financial aspects of fertility treatments can take them by surprise.

If you’re considering a fertility treatment to help you get pregnant, here are a few tips to help you manage the expenses involved:

1. Savings

Many couples opt to use the money they’ve saved up to finance their fertility treatments. This may be a retirement fund, emergency savings, or a rainy-day fund.

While it’s often the most easily available option, couples run the risk of losing their safety net if they fall on hard times in the future.

2. Credit Cards

Debt management is an essential skill for couples that choose to pay for their fertility treatments with credit cards.

Expenses that are charged to credit cards quickly collect interest and increase in amount. If they’re not paid off diligently, credit card bills can quickly get out of hand.

However, for couples that can stay on top of their monthly payments, credit cards are a practical choice.

3. Personal Loans

Personal loans are another convenient way to pay for fertility treatments.

They don’t have any collateral requirements, and couples with good credit can benefit from better terms and low-interest rates. They’ll receive a lump sum from banks or credit unions and return it through regular payments.

4. Home-Equity Loans

Couples that are also homeowners can take advantage of this option, which isn’t available to everyone. As the name suggests, a home equity loan lets you obtain a large sum of money using your house as collateral.

Home equity loans are popularly used for renovations, weddings, and other short-term expenses, making them a sensible choice for fertility treatments. The only downside to them is that if you miss the payments, you could lose your home.

5. Borrowing/Crowdfunding

We’re discussing these options together since they both depend on a couple’s relationships with their family and family. Other factors that also come into play are a couple’s social skills and the size (and financial situation) of their social circle.

Borrowing is a simpler option, in that couples can ask a trusted family member or friend to loan them the amount required for fertility treatments.

Money can be a sensitive subject, even in families, so any potential conflicts that may arise from borrowing money should be carefully considered.

Crowdfunding, on the other hand, has to do with people’s generosity more than a couple’s ability to pay them back.

Using their connections and networks — or even by campaigning through social media — a couple may ask people to donate to cover the cost of their fertility treatments. It should be noted, though, that only a small percentage of crowdfunding campaigns are successful in meeting their goals.