IVF is becoming increasingly common. Last year, the Pew Research Center said 42% of adults said they or someone they knew used fertility treatments. But the high cost and lack of coverage for many keeps it out of reach – leading some couples to leave the country for treatment. NBC 5’s Allie Spillyards takes a look at one couple’s experience with fertility tourism.
In the early days of parenthood, life is a little bleary-eyed.
Every few hours throughout the night, Danea and Miguel Newman wake to feed and change two-month-old Daniel.
Still, no matter how much life has changed, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It takes a toll, but you know what? The joy of having your baby boy or having your child looking into your eyes… I remember when I didn’t have him, and I remember all I did to have him here,” said Danea Newman.
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Danea and Miguel married in 2016.
A few years later, they decided to grow their family.
“When we got to that point, we were like let's start trying. We tried and she got pregnant,” said Miguel Newman.
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“Seven weeks within the pregnancy I had a miscarriage,” said Danea.
“The next couple of years became a blur with surgery to remove fibroids and two failed rounds of intrauterine insemination.
“I think we were about a year and change in and we were like, we are not getting any younger. We are getting older and the chances are getting slimmer,” said Miguel.
Doctors told the couple their best shot for successfully carrying their own child was in vitro fertilization with a price tag close to $35,000.
“It's heartbreaking because it seems as if…” said Danea.
“It's beyond our reach to an extent,” added Miguel.
Dr. Julian Escobar is a fertility specialist in Dallas.
He said IVF, which involves fertilizing an egg with sperm in a lab, is underutilized in the U.S.
That’s because for many, it’s not covered by insurance, though trends are shifting.
“After the pandemic, we saw a huge rise of patients that have now fertility coverage. I think employers realize how important it is, so they are providing coverage to probably 50% of my patients. We never saw that before, so it’s really changing the landscape,” said Dr. Escobar.
Still, many couples are forced to extremes.
Some take out loans.
The Newmans joined the thousands who’ve sought care abroad
“We’re like alright if this is the only option we have then we just have to do what we have to do,” said Miguel.
Through friends, the couple learned of Barbados Fertility Centre where IVF, airfare and two weeks of lodging cost them $16,000, less than half of what they were quoted at home.
From Little Elm, Danea spent a month preparing her body with dozens of injections.
Then, it was time to pack up and go.
“If everything is going as planned you go there for two weeks. You do doctor's visits so they can monitor you to see how you're progressing, and then after one week you do all that and then the second week that's when you start doing the transfer,” said Danea.
For the Newmans, that required a follow-up trip.
But soon, all that was left to do was wait.
“They say you have to wait 10 days, so I went and I took it and I saw the pregnant and it was the happiest,” she said as she cried tears of joy.
On August 3, Daniel Newman came into the world.
Weighing seven pounds four ounces, he was a long-awaited answer to prayer.
“To see it all come full circle, it's so big. I don’t have words to explain it,” said Danea.
Dr. Escobar urges those considering a similar path to do their research.
He said clinics in the U.S. are heavily regulated and required to report their success rates.
“I do think that people need to understand what the quality of the care they’re getting, how safe it is, that there’s some governmental monitoring of those clinics,” he said.
The Newmans said they’re so confident in their choice, that they’ll soon make a return trip to Barbados to hopefully bring home a little brother or sister for Daniel.
