Everyone’s path to parenthood looks different, and for many women, that journey includes fertility treatments like IVF and egg freezing. With a single round of IVF costing as much as $20,000, many families are accepting side hustles and part-time jobs to access fertility benefits.  As conversations around infertility become less stigmatized, more women are speaking up about their experience working multiple jobs to have the family that they want. If you are looking into a part-time job for fertility benefits, you aren’t alone!  Why do companies offer fertility benefits?  To paraphrase — it’s the economy, duh. In a...

In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week, we’re addressing the elephant in the room head-on: Many Americans who need in-vitro fertilization (IVF) still can’t afford it. With the average cost of a single IVF cycle ranging from $15,000 to $30,000, IVF insurance coverage has become a necessary health benefit. Unfortunately, despite the increase in employer-offered infertility coverage, these benefits remain out of reach for a significant number of Americans. This is for several reasons: Not all employers offer IVF coverage, and only a fraction of states offer fertility insurance coverage mandates. Plus, the definition of fertility...

For many couples, the fertility journey is a long and windy road. After countless tests, procedures, and hopeful moments countered by heartbreak, there are times when it feels never-ending. If you’re considering IVF, there’s a good chance you’ve already spent LOTS of time on the fertility journey… and want to know how much time IVF will add. In this article, we’ll give you a practical timeline for each part of the IVF process according to a reproductive endocrinologist. Dr. Jason Kofinas from Kofinas Fertility Group answers your question, “How long does IVF take from start to...

When researching in-vitro fertilization (IVF), there are plenty of primers available on the numerous steps involved, like ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, and embryo transfers. One of the steps of the IVF protocol that fertility patients may feel less familiar with, however, is what happens after egg retrieval but before the embryo transfer.   Once the sperm fertilizes the egg, an IVF specialist called an embryologist will select the best embryo for transfer. The embryologist makes this decision via a process called embryo grading. “[This] assesses the quality and potential viability of embryos,” explains Zsolt Peter Nagy,...

People often talk about how physically and emotionally taxing IVF is — as they should. The whole process is so intense and so completely consuming. But there’s one aspect that people don’t really touch on when they talk about the experience of IVF, and that's the mental load of it all. When you undergo any fertility treatment, the sheer amount of information that gets thrown your way is incredibly overwhelming. As you embark on the process, you learn details of your reproductive system and health you were almost certainly never taught before. And you have to...

Life with endometriosis can be an ongoing battle. After years of dealing with painful flare-ups, many women experience its next cruel symptom: infertility. An estimated 30-50% of women with endometriosis have difficulty conceiving. But since it takes an average of 7-10 years to get a diagnosis, many are first told they have unexplained infertility. Whether your endometriosis is confirmed, suspected, or more of a gut feeling, IVF can help you overcome underlying issues contributing to infertility.  In this article, Dr. Charles E. Miller, an internationally renowned minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon and infertility specialist at CCRM Fertility,...

It’s been nearly 50 years since the first baby conceived via in-vitro fertilization was born. This scientific breakthrough revolutionized fertility treatments, giving way to the births of millions of IVF babies. Although IVF is a game-changer, infertility continues to impact a substantial number of people in 2024: 48.5 million couples globally. As a result, fertility services have become a rapidly growing market worldwide, with a projected rise to $90 billion by 2031 (up from $21 billion in 2021). For those struggling with infertility, however, it’s not enough that IVF services are so widely available. The staggering...

Since the Alabama Supreme Court released a decision on February 16, 2024, that assigns 'personhood' to frozen embryos, the ripple effects have been tangible, and — for the millions of people who need assisted reproductive technologies like IVF to build their families — it's personal.  Multiple clinics in Alabama have already paused IVF treatments, and as of writing, the state’s largest embryo shipping company has also halted business in the state. The decision’s downstream effect has been palpable, according to Dr. Jessica Ryniec, who specializes in reproductive endocrinology and infertility.  What could this mean for fertility patients?...

Preparing for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) can be a daunting process, even well before you step inside a doctor’s office. One of the first decisions that needs to be made is whether you’ll be undergoing a fresh embryo transfer or a frozen embryo transfer (FET). This is a choice that shouldn’t be made lightly, and certainly not without the advice of your medical provider. Your physician will help you decide which protocol is the right one for your body — and your wallet.  If you’ve decided to go the frozen embryo transfer route, however, here’s a quick primer on...

If you’re trying to conceive, and you’ve made the decision to seek out a fertility clinic, where do you even start? There’s the overall patient experience to consider, as well as the clinic’s success rates. Given the rising costs of fertility treatments like in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and the toll infertility can take on your mental health, it’s imperative patients choose a clinic where they feel not only supported but confident their treatments will result in a healthy pregnancy. Sure, prospective patients can research clinics via online reviews and patient recommendations. But this type of information only...