Many couples are crowdfunding to cover in vitro fertilization costs

26.02.2015

For a lot of couples dealing with infertility, starting a family can cost thousands of dollars and with no guarantee it will work. Now, some are turning to strangers for help.

"It was just kind of out of necessity," said Eric Heilman. He and his wife Jillian started a GoFundMe page hoping to raise $19,000 to cover the cost of egg extraction and medications for in vitro fertilization.

As the Heilmans were told by the doctors, their chances of conceiving naturally were next to zero. IVF was their only option. They considered adoption, but that can be costly, too. When they heard about other couples who had crowdfunded to raise the money for IVF, they decided it was worth a shot.

"We didn't really want to ask for money from our friends, but we also weren't sure how much of our infertility stuff we wanted to share. But, after we started sharing, we realized how many friends we had who went through that that we never knew about," said Jillian Heilman.

According to statistics, one in ten couples suffers from infertility and, in many cases, IVF is their last hope if they want children of their own. So far, the Heilmans have raised about $4,300 through their GoFundMe page as well as through a charity poker tournament they organized.

"As hard as it is to put our names and faces out there, we really hope it helps other people. It's not about us, but it's about the situation," Eric said.

Some states in US require health insurance policies to cover at least part of infertility treatment. Washington is not among them. Bills have been introduced to change that, but they haven't gone anywhere.

Source: king5.com

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