Guest post from Liv of LivRyan.com
Financial stress is one thing — infertility on top of it is a beast of its own! Your stress levels are forces to be reckoned with. Trust me, I know.
My husband and I went through three years of waiting for a child. We lost six babies through miscarriage and another through a failed adoption before we finally became parents of children on earth.
I remember the medical bills pouring in. I remember heading to see the Reproductive Endocrinologist for the first time and thinking, “I wonder what this is going to cost.”
You can’t put a price tag on a baby, but infertility is quite the expensive road to travel.
If you can relate, or if you are in the beginning stages of infertility, I’ve put together some ideas to help alleviate some financial burdens that come along with infertility, adoption, and miscarriages.
1. Buy CHEAP Pregnancy Tests and OPKs (Ovulation Predictor Kits)
Your local dollar store will likely have the cheapest tests around. Amazon also offers a number of different options for inexpensive pregnancy tests.
Bonus Tip: Stay away from blue dye tests. You will waste your money because they have evaporation lines that make you think you’re pregnant so then you will end up taking more tests!
2. Get Free Help and Ultrasounds When You Can
Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers (sometimes called Women’s Choice Center or Pregnancy Resource Centers) offer pregnancy tests and ultrasounds free of charge at any point for any reason.
Bonus Tip: If you are prone to loss or tend to get overly stressed about your baby, ultrasounds can offer so much peace of mind. These facilities are usually highly equipped as grief counselors, too; just in case you ever received bad news. They will sit with you and pray with you and love you well through the pain.
3. Apply for Grants
There are so many resources and grants that support families who are facing the financial stresses of infertility treatment or adoption.
4. Don’t be Afraid to Fundraise
It takes some courage, but don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. People want to help people! Consider writing letters to friends and family, selling things, or hosting your own a fundraiser.
Kevin and I put on a “Fun Family Fitness Morning” with a $10 entry fee. All food and silent auction items were donated, and so was the zumba instruction! Additionally we sold T-shirts and made over $1,500 in one morning!
We also held a fundraising garage sale. Not only did people donate items to sell, but when some shoppers learned that our garage sale was an adoption fundraiser, they donated extra money.
Go Fund Me is another awesome website you can use to raise money for any cause.
5. Budget and Save and Trust God to Provide
It can be tempting to put treatments on credit cards, but with some smart budgeting, fundraising, and intentionality, you will be able to save up for those infertility treatments in no time.
I know you are weary, sister. But don’t give up! You can and will survive this desert season. Don’t stop fighting for your marriage. Take it one step at a time. And don’t give up!
If you need some hope, don’t worry, I have plenty to share.
Liv is a Midwest gal who loves to inspire women to bear hope into the world. She is a writer, speaker, wifey, mommy, and lover of all things coffee. She survived the desert of waiting once upon a thirsty time, and lives to tell you that you will too! Her new book Bearing Hope: Navigating the Desert of Waiting for a Child was just released August 1st, 2016! It’s an inspirational companion, a “Desert Sherpa” of sorts that will make you smile, lend you courage and hope, and give you practical ways to survive (and thrive) through infertility and loss. You can get a free chapter right here.
I’d also recommend people look into MTHFR, a common gene mutation that can lead to clotting disorders in the baby (and often early miscarriage). MTHFR.net is a good place to start, and then a local doctor.
Agree. I was diagnosed with MTFH after my emergency c-sect at 35 wks due to my placenta having stopped providing nutrients. Our daughtee was IUGR at 3lb6oz. I never believed in miracles before our daughter was conceived and born. Now I do.
Good tips on how to cut some of the costs.
Yes, unbelievably expensive when insurance doesn’t cover any of it! 6 IUIs, a failed adoption and 1 successful IVF later we were finally parents and she is worth every penny. I consider myself pretty frugal and the hardest part of my infertility journey was taking the leap to try IVF. The possibility of $13,000 being simply blown out the window if it should be a failed cycle caused me to pause big time.
Snowball medical bills! We started the process of infertility intervention last year and then got pregnant so the medical bills have been adding up, but they come from 15 different places and all have to be paid on to keep from being sent to collections. Line them up and put more towards the smallest one, then once that is paid take what you paid on it and put it towards the next smallest, ect.
YES!!! Such a good tip. Snowball man, it’s a legit method 😉
Great article! I have been down this road too. Infertility is a heartbreaking thing and can cause you to put distance between yourself and others as you are dealing with the devastating possibility. The one thing that helped me was acupuncture and traditional chinese medicine. I read a really great book called The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis which really helped me understand what was going on. She explains the traditional chinese medicine view and the western medicine view of many conditions and gives you insight on how you can help yourself and how to find a great acupuncturist. I followed her advice and found a great lady after 9 months of treatments at a major medical center. I was washed up and feeling worse after 9 months. The doctor wanted to rush me into IVF but I knew it would fail since I felt so bad and was 39. I took some time off came across the info on acupuncture and TCM. My acupuncturist diagnosed me and told me my condition would take time 8 -10 months to treat but the good news was that I had done a lot of great work with starting a really wholesome way of eating. My insurance had spent thousands of dollars on hormones but 2 bottles of $20 each chinese medicine herbs did the same thing and even better job for my condition. (I had been charting my basal body temps and watched the herbs do the same thing.) During my 8th month of treatment I became pregnant. I continued seeing my acupuncturist once a month to help support my pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby boy. During the whole infertility journey, I prayed the prayer of Hannah. Because of prayer, acupuncture and TCM, I was able to get pregnant. The cost of the treatments and herbs were small compared to all the money the insurance company paid for the other treatments with the doctor. When I hear of someone struggling with infertility, my heart goes out to them because I know how hard our journey was including a miscarriage before seeing the Reproductive Endocrinolgist.
Kathy!! thank you so much for sharing your experience!! I’m so sorry for your loss and your LONG journey, but wow! What a miracle your little boy is! I LOVE the prayer of Hannah, she was such a trusting, devout woman of God who I really admire!
I love your suggestions and ideas!!! It’s so true that the alternative routes can be so helpful and cost-effective! Acupuncture was actually a huge part of why we believe we were able to eventually birth two biological children as well, but ultimately we know it was God’s timing too!
Thank you for sharing!!
I read the book, and had acupuncture treatments for years. It’s helped with other issues, but I never did have a successful pregnancy.
Walmart also has pregnancy test in their 88 cent area. 🙂
Good call!!! I avoid the wal mart craziness whenever I can because here in this town, it’s literally a guaranteed 20 minute wait in line! I just can’t handle it!