Starting a family via IVF, egg donation, and/or surrogacy is an incredible and exciting decision. Congratulations on building your family!

Unfortunately, these can be expensive as there is a huge range of costs involved: agency fees, medical expenses, travel costs, and various legal services. Then there are all the people who will play a part in your journey: doctors, lawyers, and consultants, and the surrogate mother and/or egg donor if starting a surrogacy or egg donation journey.

Before heading down the your family building path, you’ll need to figure out how to pay for it all. We want to help guide you to various paths available to you as there are plenty of ways to do it without breaking the bank.

Some may take out a bank loan, or borrow from friends and family, or even fundraise the money themselves through crowdsourcing – if you need a little more help, you could be eligible for a grant. These grants are offered by a number of organizations that believe that everyone should have the option of creating a family if they wish.

Grants are a non-repayable sum awarded to Intended Parents to help cover the costs associated with a range of expenses, such as IVF, infertility treatments, and other services.

Some organizations offer cash grants that are made payable directly to the clinic or agency, or they may provide a medication award that goes to the fertility clinic used by the IPs.

Most grants are awarded once or twice yearly and are generally limited to around $10,000-$20,000. This obviously won’t cover the full cost of your fertility journey, but it can still make a big difference to your finances!

Some of the major U.S. organizations that provide grants include the Baby Quest Foundation, RESOLVE The National Infertility Association Fertility Treatment Scholarships and Grants, the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation.

Applying for a grant begins with completing an application form, which can incur a fee (around $50.) Some organizations also ask you to include a medical evaluation completed by a physician, evidence of your income, and your personal story and photos.

Grants are available to all genders, singles, and same-sex couples who are permanent residents of the U.S.

Depending on the organization, eligibility may relate to your circumstances such as the underlying cause of your infertility, your financial situation, and various other life factors. You will also need to meet certain requirements, such as the type of treatments or procedures to be covered and your living arrangements. Most surrogacy grants require a diagnosis of infertility. Some grants require certain religious affiliations or residency within a certain state.

Some fertility clinics that offer grants or scholarships require you to first pay for fertility testing and/or consultation at their clinic.

It’s also important to note that fees for some tests may be higher than others, but you can’t transfer your results from another clinic.

There’s also no guarantee that you’ll win the grant you apply for. However, most organizations allow you to reapply a certain number of times if you are unsuccessful (provided you complete another application).

To learn more about financing your journey, reach out and we’ll happily discuss options with you.

“Hope can exist for patients whose primary barrier to building a family is the out of pocket expense.” — Resolve

For information about  organizations that provide fertility treatment scholarships and grants, click the button below to access. For detailed information, including application deadlines, please visit the websites of the organizations themselves.

Click button below to download FSC’s Resource on Grants.