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IVF costs put the fertility treatment out of reach for many Americans: “I don’t think it’s fair”
Nearly every dollar Mary Delgado had was riding on one shot at IVF. Three years ago, while trying to conceive a second child with her long-time partner Joaquin Rodriguez, Delgado, who is now 35, learned she had severe endometriosis, a common cause of infertility.
“I was broken,” Delgado said. “To be told that I’ll never get pregnant again naturally. The doctor told me the only solution for you is IVF. And I knew IVF was expensive.”
In the U.S., just one round of IVF — or in vitro fertilization — costs an average of $20,000, according to Fertility IQ, a platform for patient education. It generally takes three IVF cycles for a woman to have a baby, and insurance doesn’t always cover it — putting it out of reach for many Americans and leaving others with a heavy financial burden.
Delgado relied on Medicaid after leaving her job to care for her 10-year-old son, who has a rare genetic disorder. She was aware that Medicaid wouldn’t cover IVF, and said all that ran through her mind “was the dollar sign.”
“I don’t think it’s fair, because they don’t want the poor to reproduce,” Delgado said.
In most states, Medicaid does not cover any fertility treatment costs. However, in New York, where Delgado lives, Medicaid does cover some of the medication needed for IVF.
Delgado found a clinic four hours away that offered a discount and a payment plan. She took out a $7,000 loan from the clinic, which she had to repay over two years. She also spent approximately $3,000 on medication and another $2,000 on genetic testing. She said she spent $14,000 in total.
For Delgado and her partner, one round of IVF was money well spent. Their daughter, Emiliana, is now 14 months old, and their $7,000 IVF loan is paid off.
“She was definitely worth it. Definitely, definitely worth every single penny,” Delgado said. “She came to fix my broken heart. She really did because I was so fearful I would never, ever get pregnant.”
Delgado recently started a job that offers her some fertility insurance.
The push for broader IVF coverage
Across the country, 45% of large companies offered IVF coverage last year, up from just 27% in 2020.
Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who conceived her own two daughters with IVF, is fighting to pass legislation that would give even more Americans fertility benefits and lower costs.
“Why would we prevent Americans from being able to fulfill that dream of holding their own baby in their arms?” Duckworth said.
So far, 22 states plus Washington, D.C., have passed fertility insurance laws, according to Resolve, The National Infertility Association, which is a nonprofit organization. Fifteen of the state laws include IVF coverage requirements, and 18 cover fertility preservation, which includes saving a person’s eggs or sperm from infertility caused by chemotherapy, radiation or other medical treatment,
Dr. Asima Ahmad, co-founder of Carrot Fertility, said that even with these laws, it doesn’t mean everyone in those states will have coverage. “Sometimes it’s partial, sometimes it’s none. There’s still this large gap,” said Ahmad.
Her company is trying to close the gap by helping more than 1,000 employers globally provide fertility benefits, including coverage for IVF and fertility preservation, and postpartum and menopause care.
Ahmad believes the issue is that people often view fertility treatment as an elective procedure. “Infertility is a disease. And some people need to do fertility treatment to grow their family. There is no other way to do it,” she said.
If a person works for a company that does not offer fertility benefits, Ahmad suggests they talk to their HR team directly. She said it could be a catalyst for bringing benefits to the company.
Delgado said everyone deserves a chance — “no matter who you are, no matter your race, no matter your economical status.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike Thursday morning in an effort by the union to pressure the e-commerce giant for a labor agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters say the workers, who authorized walkouts in the past few days, are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a Dec. 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations. Amazon says it doesn’t expect any impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small portion of the 1.5 million people Amazon employs in its warehouses and corporate offices.
Amazon is ranked No. 2 on the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
At a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island, thousands of workers who voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At the other facilities, employees – including many delivery drivers – have unionized with them by demonstrating majority support but without holding government-administered elections.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at an Amazon warehouse in San Francisco and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta and the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join” them, the union said.
“Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” he said.
The Seattle-based online retailer has been seeking to re-do the election that led to the union victory at the warehouse on Staten Island, which the Teamsters now represent. In the process, the company has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
Meanwhile, Amazon says the delivery drivers, which the Teamsters have organized for more than a year, aren’t its employees. Under its business model, the drivers work for third-party businesses, called Delivery Service Partners, who drop off millions of packages to customers everyday.
“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.“
The Teamsters have argued Amazon essentially controls everything the drivers do and should be classified as an employer.
Some U.S. labor regulators have sided with the union in filings made before the NLRB. In September, Amazon boosted pay for the drivers amid the growing pressure.
NEW YORK — The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon at numerous locations across the country, including in Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in United States history, and it’s set to begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will be joining picket lines in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois.
In a video announcement released Wednesday night, workers voiced their frustrations.
“Us being strike ready means we’re fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” one worker says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We’re taking steps for ourselves to win better conditions, better benefits, better wages,” another worker in the video says.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon employees and that Amazon ignored a deadline to come to the table and negotiate. The $2 trillion company doesn’t pay employees enough to make ends meet, the union asserts.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent any Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company doesn’t expect operations to be impacted.
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