JOYFULLY GREEN

View Original

Our Fertility Journey and What Is Infertility Insurance

Thank you to LifeSpring for sponsoring this blog post. All experiences and opinions are my own.                

When we first met 14 years ago, I never would have imagined the life we have now, especially the beautiful children we have together. That’s just it. Sometimes, we don’t anticipate the blessing or curve balls life throws at us. Take Kai for example. Kevin and I were on a flight to our honeymoon in Hawaii when we first started seriously talking about trying for a baby. We both decided to wait maybe a year or 2 and really enjoy being married and fixing up the house. Little did I know, Kai was already in my belly and ready to make a big splash. We were one of the first in our group of friends to have kids, think of us like the parenting guinea pigs. Over the next few years, many of our friends got married, and started to try to have children. Around our 30s, the topic at brunch took a serious 180 - things turned from waiting to start trying to an infertility discussion. Still we thought with baby number two, things would just happen the way it did with Kai. We decided to expand our family and it was oh so exciting because we had never intentionally tried before. I’d try to make it fun and after every attempt, get soooo excited because we might have just made a baby! Even though I knew of friends and family who had struggled with infertility before, I thought we were in the clear because Kai came as a surprise. Well boy was I wrong.

The first 2-3 months were hopeful. I just chalked it up to not having the right timing. Then we started tracking my cycles. My hope renewed because I knew we were doing what we could in the meantime. Then, the months just came and went. What was fun and exciting became extremely discouraging. Every time that little negative line popped up on my pregnancy test, my mind would wander. Would we ever get pregnant? What is wrong with my body? Did we miss the window? I’m already in my 30s, how much longer do I realistically have? That’s when I started talking to my circle and my family. Turns out, so many have experienced infertility, but no one chooses to talk about it. My mom and Kevin’s mom both had miscarriages before conceiving us later in life. I always thought having children was a linear process but turns out, it’s much more of a roller coaster. After over 6 months of trying, we finally got that positive test back in April! I was elated until we went in for an ultrasound. The doctor saw just an empty sack. It was either a sack without embryo and I would miscarry, or too early to tell. We were told there was a 50-50 chance and again, not to be too hopeful. I know so many of my followers also have experienced blighted ovum and it was really the longest 2 weeks of my life, waiting for a repeat ultrasound. At our second appointment, I heard the heartbeat, I cried for this child we had wanted so badly. If this hadn’t happened, I am sure we would have gone down the line of IUI or IVF.

After this entire TTC journey, my view of pregnancy and fertility has completely changed. I understand now the wear and tear it has on a relationship and your own self-esteem. This is why I was so excited to find out about LifeSpring Insurance and I had to share it with you guys. LifeSpring Insurance is the first insurance policy to provide coverage for the next generation. The LifeSpring Primary Infertility Assistance Policy (PIAP) provides coverage to your little ones from the high costs of fertility treatments. It’s a one-time ~$2,000 premium with a $50,000 deferred benefit toward treatments for primary infertility. Did you know that 1 in 8 couples have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining pregnancy? With LifeSpring Insurance’s coverage, you could give your kids the resources they might potentially need in the future. The premium is so affordable in comparison to the high future costs of treatments. We all know to make plans to care for the next generation when a baby is born. Life insurance, college savings, it all is no brainers. LifeSpring insurance should be added to that list to better the lives of our next generation. Children under 13 can be insured and use the coverage from ages 18-35. On the 36th birthday of the member, the couple has 12 months to resolve any ongoing treatments. LifeSpring can be purchased by parents, grandparents, or others in the child’s life. As for the benefits, $50,000 can go towards treatments after diagnosis of primary infertility such as medication, testing, doctor visits, in vitro fertilization (IVF), anesthesia, egg/sperm/embryo storage and other related treatments. Best part, there is no coinsurance or deductible. Frankly, our current deductible is so much higher than the initial $2,000 cost of LifeSpring. Considering the likelihood of infertility diagnosis, I really believe this is a worthwhile investment into our kid’s futures.

Do you have an infertility story? Click the link here to share how you’ve been affected by infertility and to receive a $5 Starbucks Gift Card.