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Priced Out of Family

Facing the High Cost of Infertility Treatments

By Sue Marquette Poremba

Dr. Magarelli is one of a growing number of reproductive doctors who believes that fertility treatments and the chance for pregnancy should be available to as many people as possible, not just those who can easily afford it. His clinic offers a package where the couple pays a set price that includes all costs up to four cycle attempts. While upfront payments are higher, the overall rates are lower. Couples are able to put in a down payment and set up a payment plan from one to three years. "This makes fertility treatments more affordable for the middle class," he says.

All of the experts state that success rates for fertility treatments go hand-in-hand with the woman's age. Spar reports that the success rate for a 26-year-old woman getting pregnant through fertility treatment is 42.2 (while the live birth rate is 38.1). The pregnancy rate is 37.9 for a 34-year-old woman, 29.7 percent for a 38-year-old woman and 16.0 for a 42-year-old woman.

Some clinics do offer a guarantee that the woman will get pregnant. If she does not have a pregnancy within a certain time frame, the clinic will refund all or part of the money. Not all clinics offer this guarantee, however, making it one more item potential parents should investigate.

Investigation is the bottom line. When facing infertility treatments, in addition to your own financial situation, it's your right to know your insurance coverage, your state's policy on fertility treatments and the payment terms of several area reproductive medicine specialists. And depending on how you look at it, you also have another right: "The right to be a parent is human," says Spar. And that right should be made available to every person, no matter their financial status.

Want to see more?

• The Price of Parenthood: 4 Steps to Financing Fertility
• Dollars and Sense: Affording Infertility Treatment
• The Overseas Connection: A Trip Across the Ocean May Solve Fertility Problems
• Talk about it!