How to Pay for Donor Egg IVF
Financial Support Options for Using Donor Eggs to Grow Your Family
Working out how to pay for donor egg IVF can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, there are resources available to help intended parents afford to build their families using donor eggs, including insurance, grants, and loans. We’ve put together some helpful financial resources to help you figure out how to pay for your donor egg IVF treatment.
Does Health Insurance Pay For Donor Egg IVF?
Unfortunately, most insurance companies in the US view infertility treatments as non-essential and do not provide coverage. Even if you are lucky enough to live in one of the few states that mandates coverage or receive fertility benefits from your employer, there are often strict requirements to qualify for coverage. An insurance plan that covers IVF using your own eggs may not cover, or cover just a portion of, a donor egg IVF cycle. LGBTQ+ or single parents, who may have a healthy reproductive system but still need assisted reproductive technology to have biological children, may also be left out.
Dr. Lori Marshall, the Medical Director at SIMPLIFY, is actively involved with a coalition working to pass a Washington State law requiring employers to provide fertility coverage for all individuals, including LGBTQ+ and single parents, as well as fertility preservation benefits for people with cancer. They introduced a bill to the WA legislation this year, and we hope to see it passed into law soon!
How Do Folks Without Coverage Pay for Donor Egg IVF?
Even without insurance, people have figured out how to pay for donor egg IVF to build their families. Some are fortunate to be able to save up for the cost of treatment, or have family members who are willing to donate or lend the money. Others turn to crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe. Finally, some intended parents are able to raise money for donor egg IVF through grants and loans.
What Fertility Grants Are Available to Help Pay for Donor Egg IVF?
There are many non-profit organizations that offer grants for patients to help pay for fertility treatments. Each grant has its own application, which usually involves submitting financial and medical information. Each organization usually only offers a few grants a year, so approval is limited, but they are a terrific resource for many families.
Babyquest Foundation provides grants twice a year that attempt to cover the difference between what a family can afford and their treatment costs. The spring grant deadline is March 15, 2022.
The Tinina Q Cade Foundation (Cade Foundation) started in 2005 and provides information, support, and financial assistance to infertile families in need. The Family Building Grant offers $10,000 to families diagnosed with infertility to help with IVF treatment or adoption. They also offer medication awards, in addition to the cash grants. Applications for the fall cycle must be received by July 1, 2022.
Hope for Fertility offers national grants for legally married couples diagnosed with infertility that typically range from $250-$5,000. The current cycle application deadline is March 31, 2022.
Aneden Gives specifically partners with our partner clinic, Pacific Northwest Fertility (PNWF) to provide grants of at least $5,000 to families without insurance or who have used all of their insurance benefits. The application is open from August 1-31.
Footsteps for Fertility offers grants of up to $5,000 by randomly selecting qualifying couples from their applicants.
Men Having Babies (MHB) offers the Gay Parenting Assistance Program (GPAP) to provide financial assistance for gay men and transgender women using third-party reproduction to build their families. Qualifying members of MHB receive discounted or donated fertility services from sponsoring providers (including PNWF) in GPAP: Stage I. MHB also offers cash grants to select qualifying families through GPAP: Stage II. Applications for Stage I are accepted year-round; eligible recipients are invited to apply for Stage II between June-August of each year.
What Financing Is Available to Help Pay for Donor Egg IVF?
Traditional loans are often able to be used for fertility treatment. You may also be able to receive medical-specific loans. Two companies our patients often work with are CapexMD and Prosper Healthcare Lending.
How Does SIMPLIFY’s Two Blastocyst Guarantee and One Euploid Blast Guarantee Help With Affording Donor Egg IVF?
Part of the stressful nature of paying for donor egg IVF treatment is the risk of failure. Most egg banks sell a small number of eggs to each patient, and they don’t offer any measure of success after the eggs have been transported to the patient’s fertility clinic. If none of the eggs are successfully fertilized, the patient has just lost their financial investment.
SIMPLIFY was created to help our patients assume as little risk as possible. With our Two Blastocyst Guarantee, we thaw as many eggs as necessary to provide two blastocysts (the cluster of cells that becomes an embryo). This model improves success rates, provides an additional chance for pregnancy if the first embryo transfer is unsuccessful, and relieves some of the stress and financial uncertainty involved with donor egg IVF.
We also now offer chromosomal screening with a One PGT-A Blastocyst Guarantee, which guarantees at least one blastocyst with the normal number of chromosomes.
Our Financial Counselors Are Here to Help
If figuring out how to pay for donor egg IVF seems overwhelming, don’t worry: you’re not alone. At SIMPLIFY and PNWF, we have a team of experienced and compassionate financial counselors to help you explore all the available options and figure out a sustainable path to parenthood. If you’d like more information on grants, loans, and other financial support resources for donor egg IVF, contact us today.