There can be a lot of unexpected curve balls thrown your way during fertility treatments, labour and post-pregnancy, making it especially important to be financially prepared.
Having money conversations early on in the process can help ease your mental load further down the line, according to Shivani Gopa– a finance expert, mother and entrepreneur.
In the latest episode of our podcast series Fertility Unfiltered, in partnership with Genea Fertility, Gopal shares some especially practical financial steps to be taking in your fertility journey.
This episode and series does not offer financial advice and the conversations should be used for informational purposes only.
“So when it comes to fertility treatment, it’s important that you have contingency plans in place because you may think that you’re only going to go through one cycle,” says Gopal, adding that she’s talked to many women who’ve been going through IVF for years and have had to spend thousands of dollars.
“Money is finite. And you need to find a way to make that stretch for you and so protecting yourself in advance rather than just carrying on cycle after cycle is so important, not just for your finances but also emotionally. It takes a really big emotional toll.”
Saving for fertility treatments
If having children and going through IVF is a priority for you, then it’s important to save your money effectively. Gopal says the most surefire way of doing this is to automate your savings to ensure you meet your financial goals without having to think about it.
One example of this is to set up auto transfer payments every time you get paid. This will mean money is regularly set aside.
Depending on how often you get paid, Gopal says to “allocate your budget around that” and “put a small piece of that pie away every week, every fortnight or every month until you get to your target goal”.
“You put it into a high interest bearing account but not something that locks you away,” she says. “So it keeps your options open and before you know it, you’re able to get there and you’re able to start planning and making appointments that are consistent with your timeline.”
Interest-free loan options
If you’re at a point in your fertility journey where waiting too much longer will mean missing out on having a biological child, Gopal says an interest-free loan may be something to consider.
“Certainly we’ve just talked about the fact that you should start planning in advance and you should start saving in advance,” she says.
“But what if this has just creeped up on you? What if you’ve just woken up one day with an epiphany and a strong yearning for children and you absolutely must do this now?”
If this is you, there are some options available. One of which, says Gopal, is to look at Zip money, which is a loan service that works with different IVF organisations.
“I like Zip money because it’s a low cost of entry. It’s only around a hundred dollars to get access to a loan and it’s actually interest-free for 12 or twenty-four months depending on your term,” she says.
“They will catch you out if you make a late payment. And that’s where they will start making some of their money and you’ll start losing some of yours.”
“But if you think that you’ve got a reasonably sized loan and something that you can afford to pay then it’s a really equitable strategy.”
Private health insurance
Another financial safeguard when trying to conceive is having private health insurance.
“So when it comes to private health insurance and your overall financial strategy, a couple of things that you want to do is try to maximise your position,” says Gopal.
“And some of the ways that you can do that is actually having private health insurance like we talked about but also having other styles of insurance policies, and in Australia we call that trauma insurance or critical illness insurance. “
When it comes to choosing a policy, Gopal says it’s important to be wise. So, with fertility treatments, the more your insurance covers you for in-hospital treatments, the better.
Referring to the types of questions to ask yourself, Gopal says, “If you know that your policy will only cover you for in-hospital expenses, how much of your services and your treatment and your transfers can you get done in-hospital?”
“If you do things that are in-clinic, remember you’re not going to be covered for that so that’s going to be something that you would need to fund on your own.”
Creating an emergency fund
One final safeguard Gopal recommends– and which can be very important in the long run– is to start creating an emergency fund for your child.
“We talk about having an emergency fund for yourself. You need to have an emergency fund for your baby as well,” she says, noting that this fund is meant to cover additional doctors fees and any time you may have to take off work to attend appointments or have a hospital stay.
“Always think about ‘how can I self-fund taking up to a month off work?’”, she says.
“And the other side of that is the childcare element that comes into play. Where your child does go into childcare and you end up spending money on childcare but you don’t get that money back if your child is sick.”
With most people only having ten paid sick days a year through work, Gopal says “it’s really wise to start planning this stuff in advance. If you don’t need it, fantastic. But it will take away some of that stress.”
To learn about more reproductive health topics from health experts, check out the rest of the podcast series, “Fertility Unfiltered”, as new episodes are released each week. We’re creating a safe space for conversations around fertility, ranging from the possibility of parenthood, seeking guidance on reproductive health and even the science behind conception.