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by Melissa Glenn

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Having children in the Western world is seen as a right and not as a privilege. Many women spend much of their reproductive years trying hard not to have a child, only to experience difficulty conceiving when the time is right.

Stigma's of mothers on welfare with too many children have long been played up in the media. Few however; have stopped to think about the cost of birth control, and how our Nations' poor have trouble affording it. To begin with, those of us without health insurance can pay $200 or more for an annual pap smear test. The fitting of IUDs or Diaphragm's can cost an additional $80 to $140, and monthly birth control pills can cost up to $300 annually.

While Planned Parenthood Clinics have, for the last several decades actively got involved in handing out free Condoms and other sources of birth control, the efforts are not proving enough for women living at or below the poverty line. Unexpected pregnancies are occurring at a higher rate than ever before, and indigent women not wishing to have any more children are unable to pay for drastic surgical methods such as tubal ligation.

On the flip side, there is the growing problem of those who wish to conceive but are not able to do so without medical or surgical assistance. While many middle class couples dream of having IVF or In-vitro Fertilization, for many the cost is simply out of reach.

Why? Well to begin with In-vitro Fertilization is recognized as an elective surgical procedure and not a medically necessary one. In short, our US health care providers do not believe that having children is a right! The cost of In-vitro Fertilization is approximately $6000 per session. The average couple may need to try the process 4-7 times for it to be effective. Often the costs equal an annual salary.

Reproductive Specialists who perform IVF, often do so in private clinics and not hospitals, and are one of the few Physicians actively allowed to advertise and solicit patients, much like Plastic Surgeons. These Specialists have caught on to the fact that many patients who wish to undergo IVF are not able to get traditional bank loans to fund the procedures, and now offer Doctor direct financing to prospective patients.

For patients wishing to finance their IVF, they must prove annual income, and show all assets and liabilities much like they would at the bank if trying to attain a traditional unsecured loan.

In short, those who can pay, can generally at least try to have a child, while those who can't pay, often find themselves with unplanned children that the State and Nation end up taking care of.

In the end, reproductive rights comes down to the simple dollar!

Learn more about this author, Melissa Glenn.

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