Getting pregnant can be more expensive than a new car. Don’t believe us? Ask someone who’s done in vitro fertilization (IVF).
According to fertility education site FertilityIQ, a single IVF cycle is $23,000+ depending on location and whether services like medication and pre-implantation genetic screening are included. Patients complete an average of 2.3 to 2.7 cycles, which can total up to $50,000.
And it’s a growing industry: The US fertility industry is set to increase from $5.3 billion in 2023 to $8.7 billion by 2033, according to market research and consulting firm Precedence Research.
Some clinics and startups help patients finance these expensive fertility treatments, and offer programs that provide refunds if IVF is unsuccessful.
San Francisco-based startup Future Family offers both. The company introduced an insurance program in February with a “baby or your money back” guarantee. If a patient using the company’s IVF insurance doesn’t have a live birth after two cycles, they can file a claim and get a refund up to their coverage limit. Depending on the policy, that can be $15,000, $30,000, or $50,000.
“If you fail two cycles, you could lose $40,000–$50,000. It’s a huge amount of money, and it sets you back when you’re starting your family. So it’s really important that we can insure IVF and make sure that if someone does fail, they have an opportunity to try again, or at least get the money back if they’re going to go a different path,” Claire Tomkins, founder and CEO of Future Family, told Healthcare Brew.
Founded in 2016, Future Family has raised over $148 million in venture capital funding from firms such as Aspect Ventures, Portfolia, and Correlation Ventures. Following the launch of its insurance program, the company announced in April it had secured a $400 million financing program from Clear Haven Capital Management to expand its lending platform.
Funding the future. The price of Future Family insurance is individualized based on each patient’s health information. Patients who are more likely to conceive due to factors like age and lifestyle pay lower premiums, but on average, insurance through Future Family is about 20% of the cost of treatment, Tomkins explained.
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“So if you were doing IVF for $40,000 for two cycles, then you’d pay about $8,000 for insurance. But the good news is your $40,000 is protected completely,” she said.
The cost of that insurance premium can also be paid through financing, she added.
There are caveats, though. For instance, the insurance has a time limit: Patients have 20 months to complete two cycles of IVF and transfer viable embryos and 30 months of total coverage, according to the company’s website. For reference, one full cycle of IVF takes about four to six weeks, and most treatment centers recommend waiting at least another four to six weeks between IVF cycles, according to Cleveland Clinic.
The website also notes there are restrictions on who qualifies. Patients 38 and older can’t get coverage unless they’re using donor eggs, nor can patients who have already started an IVF cycle or have failed to conceive after an IVF cycle in the past.
Fertility financing. Separate from this new insurance product, Tomkins says Future Family has also given out $200 million in credit to 10,000 patients through its fertility financing program.
Patients pay $300 to $500 a month on their loans on average, Tomkins added. Interest rates vary and depend on factors like credit score, income, and the loan’s size.
Though it’s not a fertility clinic, Future Family has a nationwide network of fertility clinics it works with.
“People are struggling to figure out the best way to pay for fertility treatment, and then on top of that, they’re trying to figure out, if it’s not successful, what happens next? And so now we’re able to really address that and help consumers,” Tompkins said.