Older Patients Consider IVF Expensive But Worth It

Family building via IVF for older patients is seen by those patients as expensive - but worth it. A study in the most recent volume of the medical journal Fertility and Sterility ("Expensive but worth it: older parents’ attitudes and opinions about the costs and insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization") takes a qualitative look at the attitudes and opinions about the costs of IVF (with and without insurance coverage). While cost is not the only taxing aspect of IVF treatment, it remains a concern for most patients choosing this family-building option. And, because success is not guaranteed, IVF can and often does put families in the situation of using their future childrens' college education funds to finance their conceptions.

Family building via IVF (in vitro fertilization) is extremely taxing for couples for other reasons, too. It take a great deal of time and energy to go through the treatments with success rates, on average, at about 37%. A diagnosis of infertility comes only after what can be extensive and is often invasive testing and physical exams. There is a perceived "lack of dignity" by patients as their sexual histories, physical findings and emotional concerns are all carefully measured and documented by medical staff. And the cost - even when partially covered by insurance (which most treatment is not) is high enough to give pause to even the most secure middle-class patients seeking treatment.

Why then, given all of these factors (especially the financial costs), are there more and more people over the age of 40 flocking to IVF clinics to start their in vitro baby making adventures? According to researchers in Northern California the answer is simple. People pursuing IVF do so, despite the cost and other perceived obstacles because it's worth it. In this qualitative study, Dr. Robert Nachtigall and his colleagues at the University of California at San Francisco found that the respondents in their study thought about the costs both in concrete terms (about "the price of a car") and in a much more philosophical vein:


References:
Nachtigall, R.D., MacDougall, K., Davis, A.C., Beyene, Y. (2012) Expensive but worth it: older parents’ attitudes and opinions about the costs and insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization. Fertility and Sterility. 97(1), pp.82-87