Listen Up! Facts About Infertility

Continuing National Infertility Awareness Week...

Today I wanted to share some facts about infertility. There has been a lot of awareness in recent years, so I feel like people have a better grasp of the struggle that 1 in 8 couples face. The more that couples talk about their stories, the more that people can understand and offer support.

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse {six months if the woman is over 35} or the inability to carry a pregnancy to live birth.

• Approximately 1/3 of infertility is attributed to the female partner, 1/3 is attributed to the male partner, and 1/3 is attributed to a combination between both partners, or is unexplained.
• A couple ages 29-33 with normal functioning reproductive systems has only a 20-25% chance of conceiving in any given month. After six months of trying, 60% of couples will conceive without medical assistance.
• Approximately 44% of women with infertility have sought medical assistance. Of those who seek medical intervention, approximately 65% give birth.
• Approximately 85-90% of infertility cases are treated with drug therapy or surgical procedures. Fewer than 3% need advanced reproductive technologies {like IVF}.
• 15 states have either an insurance mandate to offer or an insurance mandate to cover some level of infertility treatment, and 8 of those states have an insurance mandate that requires qualified employers to include IVF coverage in their plan offered to their employees.

So in short, infertility does not discriminate between men and women, most couples facing infertility don't need IVF to achieve a pregnancy, and infertility related medical expenses are expensive.

We had both male and female infertility factors. We fell into the small percentage of couples that needed the most advanced {read: most expensive} form of IVF. We chose to go the Embryo Adoption route instead of IVF, which ended up being less expensive than IVF, but we still had our agency costs and our insurance did not cover any of our medical expenses for our transfers. The Lord was faithful to provide in every instance, but I just wanted to share a glimpse into the cost burden that many couples face in trying to grow their families.

*Info from resolve.org