Couples go into debt to fund IVF babies
EIGHT years, five rounds of IVF treatment and about $45,000 in out-of-pocket costs.
That’s what it took Annie and Neal Krempin to bring their new son, Leonardo, into the world as a little brother for their first child, Michael.
The Krempins are among a record number of Australian parents forking out tens of thousands of dollars to have children through IVF, and many go into debt to do it.
“We didn’t have IVF cover on our health insurance and were surprised by how low the IVF rebate was considering I had medical reasons for needing IVF,” Mrs Krempin said.
“In the end, every round cost us approximately $9000 out of pocket when adding up medication, doctor appointments, ultrasounds, blood tests, day surgery, anaesthetic and testing.”
Drained emotionally, physically and financially, the couple almost gave up.
“Luckily for us, we decided to do one last round. And it worked,” Mrs Krempin said.
Each IVF cycle can cost about $10,000, with patients getting about half that back from Medicare, but extra costs such as egg collection, embryo transfer and drugs can push out-of-pocket costs much higher. Just one in five IVF cycles results in a live birth, University of New South Wales research has found, so it’s little wonder some couples are looking for loans.
Peer-to-peer lender Societyone’s CEO, Mark Jones, said in the past two years his firm had seen a “significant increase in personal loans used for medical use, and in particular to fund IVF treatments”.
“Australians are increasingly seeking out greater financial stability and career success before starting to have children,” he said. “However, fertility rates aren’t necessarily increasing in line with this.”
More than 15,000 IVF babies are now born in Australia each year. Anthony Keane