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After reading different accounts of people wanting babies, your heart can break for those couples who have tried and tried but for whatever reason have not reached success. On the other hand, your heart can swell for the couples who try and finally have their baby. Most information focuses on these aspects – the struggle, the fertility options and then the outcome – not the price tag. But the price tag is a big part of the picture, especially if you consider all the other factors involved.
I was reading an article entitled, "The Gift of Life, and Its Price", by Stephanie Saul in The New York Times, which told about one couple who reportedly spent $1.2 million dollars by the time they had a success story. The couple felt that it was worth it, but can it be honestly stated that their decision is only going to affect these two alone?
Let me explain. First, let’s admit that some insurance companies do not pay for fertility treatments, but for those that do, the costs can be pretty expensive. Sometimes it’s not the fertility treatments, but the care of the baby or babies when they are born that are costly. Most couples who need pregnancy assistance want to enhance their chances of a successful delivery so they request that multiple embryos be implanted. Doctors – pressured to give the prospective parents what they want or for the extra money to be made – proceed to implant multiple embryos, thereby increasing the woman’s chances of having twins.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine and its affiliate, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, have reportedly been working feverishly to reduce the number of multiple births produced from IVF (in-vitro fertilization) with some success. Why? Multiple birth implantations are discouraged due to the risks – on the babies as well as the mother. Twin babies (or more) from this procedure are more likely to be born with complications which may increase their chances of mortality or lesser disabilities and prematurity. Of course, the mothers may experience pregnancy complications too. Remember, these costs will be paid out by the insurance company, the individual employer and then the insured individual themselves – and when medical expenses go up, eventually it mean negative changes for the consumers as a whole.
What can be done then? The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are working hard to make changes and promote the single embryo implantation. Clinics are even experimenting with different programs in regards to the single embryo implantation. Truth be told, this will be a long process but the struggle is worth it. Most importantly, it's needed for the health of the baby and mother. But lastly, referring to the same article alluded to at the outset, Dr. Maurizio Macaluso from the CDC estimated that if clinics and patients were to use the single embryo implantation procedure
“patients, businesses and insurance providers would save more than $500 million annually, even taking into consideration of cost of extra in-vitro now and by lowering neonatal intensive care, special education and other premature babies.”
Resource: The New York Times
Dita Faulkner is a freelance writer and poet is the southern U. S.
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