Grants and Aid for Infertility Treatment

Undergoing infertility treatments such as IVF can cause not only physical and emotional stress, but can bring financial strains as well. Fertility treatment costs, particularly IVF, can add up. In order to help couples afford fertility treatments, a number of foundations and organizations provide grants and other financial assistance.

You may want to look into the following financial aid programs:

The Angels of Hope Foundation

Twice a year, in April and September, the Angels of Hope Foundation dispenses its Creating Miracles Grant to financially burdened couples in Illinois who need fertility treatments to conceive a child.

Eligibility: In order to be selected, applicants must be legally married residents who live within 24 miles of Morris, IL.

Applicants must have little or no insurance coverage and no children living in their home. Preference is given to couples early on in their fertility treatments who have likelihood for a successful outcome, as indicated by medical reports.

Application Process: Interested applicants must complete an application and include a letter from their doctor, a medical records release, and a financial statement. Application deadlines are March 31 and August 31.

BabyQuest Foundation

BabyQuest Foundation is a non-profit organization whose goal is to grant financial assistance to those who cannot afford infertility treatments such as IUI, IVF, egg donation, and surrogacy. Applications are accepted from heterosexual, same sex couples, and singles.

Eligibility: Applicants may reside anywhere in the United States. They must demonstrate financial need and submit required medical documentation.

Application Process: Grants, which are given out three times yearly on March 15, July 15, and November 15, may be used at the recipient's fertility clinic of choice in the U.S. The application is available on the BabyQuest Foundation website.

B.U.M.P.S.

Bringing U Maternal Paternal Success (B.U.M.P.S.) is a non-profit organization in Florida that assists couples who have difficulty conceiving by providing grants for them to receive fertility treatments.

Eligibility: Applicants must meet the definition of infertility as defined by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, be under the age of 44 if they are using their own eggs, demonstrate good overall mental and physical health, have adequate living arrangements, and have a health insurance plan that can cover prenatal health. Applications are accepted annually, from January 1-July 31.

Application Process: Selection is based on nature of circumstances, fertility history, and financial situation.

The Cade Foundation

Since 2004, the Cade Foundation has helped couples by providing grants to those struggling with infertility. The grant, which has a limit of $10,000 per family, helps couples pay for fertility treatment costs associated with fertility treatments or domestic adoption.

Eligibility: In order to be eligible, applicants must have documented infertility, be legal, permanent residents of the United States, and submit the grant application with the $50 processing fee.

Application Process: The two-part application must also include a detailed plan on how the applicants will contribute financially to their fertility treatments. Completed applications are due on June 15.

Fertile Dreams Organization

Based in Florida, the Fertile Dreams organization gives out the annual Embracing Hope Grant, which Vivere Health helps sponsor, to couples throughout the United States who must undergo IVF treatments in order to conceive. Each year, the organization awards three couples grants of $10,000 each towards IVF costs at any fertility clinic in the United States.

Eligibility: Couples are eligible if they have health insurance, but do not have a plan that covers fertility treatment costs.

Application Process: Along with completing the application, couples must also provide written description of fertility history, a letter from a doctor or fertility specialist, proof of income with pay stubs and tax returns, and consent for the organization to share their story with media personnel.

Sparkles of Life

Sparkles of Life, Inc., is a Texas-based non-profit organization dedicated to supporting families on their paths to parenthood, including educating and supporting women through the IVF process. The organization's Vivere-Garden of Life Grant will help cover the costs of IVF for five couples each year.

Eligibility: The Garden of Life Grant is awarded to couples who demonstrate a documented need for fertility treatment.

Application Process: Each couple applying must submit the following materials: a completed application form, a statement of need (letter, no longer than 500 words, detailing your family building journey and explaining why you deserve to be awarded the Sparkles' Garden of Life Grant; current financial records (submit your W2 form from the last two years to verify employment and income), and a $100 application fee.

INCIID IVF Scholarships

Each year, the InterNational Council on Infertility Information Dissemination offers a national scholarship program designed to help couples who cannot afford IVF fertility treatments on their own. With this program, fertility doctors from respected fertility clinics from across the United States donate their state-of-the art facilities and services to needy couples. The program covers most of the basic IVF costs.

Eligibility: Before couples can become eligible, they must register with the INCIID community and donate at an annual rate of $55 or more. Applicants must meet the criteria for infertility as defined by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and must demonstrate financial need. While some kind of medical coverage is preferable, it cannot cover IVF treatment.

Application Process: Each application is kept on file for two years. Those selected to receive the donated treatment partner with INCIID and have a small fundraising requirement. Scholarships are reviewed monthly. Deadlines are the last working day of each month.

The Madeleine Gordon Gift of Life Foundation

Since 1995, the Madeleine Gordon Gift of Life Foundation has aided needy couples in the greater Cincinnati area afford IVF treatments.

Eligibility: In order to be considered for aid, couples must not have any children together or have undergone previous IVF treatments. They must have a demonstrated need for IVF, be in good health, and have a combined family income of less than $70,000.

Eligible couples must live within 10-15 miles of I-275 in the Cincinnati area.

Application Process: To be considered, couples can send a letter detailing their circumstances to the foundation.

Pay-It-Forward Foundation

The Pay-It-Forward Foundation helps couples in North Carolina who are struggling with infertility afford additional fertility treatments if past procedures have failed. This foundation helps couples who cannot afford treatments like IVF, donor egg IVF, and embryo adoption, military personnel who want to preserve fertility before deployment, or cancer patients who want to preserve fertility before treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy.

Eligibility: In order to be considered for a grant, couples must complete the application, write a detailed history about fertility issues, provide a letter from their doctor describing past fertility treatments, include proof of income with documentation, and allow the foundation to share their story with media personnel if they are selected.

Application Process: There are several opportunities to submit applications each year. Consult the Pay-It-Forward Foundation website for details.

The Sharing Hope Financial Assistance Program

As part of the Fertile Hope organization, the Sharing Hope Financial Assistance Program provides fertility preservation assistance to couples whose fertility may be affected by treatments for cancer. The program offers assistance through sperm banking and egg and embryo freezing.

The program doesn’t provide grants to the patients, but instead works with companies and clinics to provide discounted services and donated medications for male and female cancer patients.

Eligibility: In order to be eligible, the patients must have an annual income of less than $75,000 if single or $100,000 if married, fall under the diagnoses of certain types of cancers, and cannot have started fertility-damaging cancer treatments.

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