There are nearly six million pregnancies inside the United States every year. Almost three million of those are unplanned or unwanted. These are startling statistics to the 10% of ladies of childbearing years who try unsuccessfully to get pregnant. For these women, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) or even in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures are their only hope for parenthood. Unfortunately, while insurance providers will cover the cost of unplanned pregnancies, most private insurance agencies do not cover alternative pregnancy options such as ART or IVF. Women and couples are forced to pay an average of over $12,000 per IVF cycle upfront, by way of example.

There are only 15 states within the U.S. that mandate some level of coverage for assisted pregnancy procedures. Even in these states, you can find severe limitations on coverage amounts and covered procedures. However, even limited coverage is better than no coverage mandated from the other 35 states. The lack of coverage for expensive procedures coupled with a women’s often strong desire to have children sets the stage for poor choices in healthcare hoping for your one in a million miracles. Similar problems were seen in the mid-twentieth century when the usage of contraception and …