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We are also anti-debt. We were getting our work up done when we got an unexpected BFP (fingers crossed here) but we were managing the money part by maxing out DH's FSA at $2500. I would have maxed mine out too (another $2500) but our open enrollment had just ended when we got referred to our RE so we lost out on that option. Then we put another $6000 from liquid assets aside.

Our clinic had a flat fee of $9000 for a round of IVF, not including drugs, so we got $8500 from the FSA and cash ready up front and then felt confident we could pay for the drug costs as they came up, either in cash or on a credit card if absolutely necessary, with the assumption the meds would run about $2000.

My girlfriend paid for it up front from savings. If you have the money I say spend it, but if it completely would wipe out your savings it might be a good idea to get a loan maybe for half the cost or something? I wouldn't want to go into pregnancy without a cushion! Good luck!

I know this is not a popular option but DH took out of his 401k and I paid for the rest out of savings - everything together cost $15k.

We are going to be paying about $5k a cycle for IUI and we plan on using cash. DH is debt averse.

@Shutterbug: That was DH's justification; he said if it didn't work he didn't want to keep paying for a baby we never got.

We paid cash for our fresh cycle and frozen. We saved for a few months to be able to do that. We budgeted $15,000 for the fresh cycle and $5,000 for the frozen. We wound up spending less than that both times.

We pulled the money from savings-- both from our HSA account and a regular savings account once the HSA funds were depleted. Two larger-than-expected tax refunds really helped boost us as well. I'm setting aside cash in our HSA account again with the new year, so will be using that to purchase meds for any new cycles (since we already pre-paid last year for all the IVF cycles). For meds, I just make sure I seek out the best prices and take advantage of any rebate offers, savings clubs, etc. Do you know what meds you'll be on already?

I 100% agree with you about not wanting the monthly payment hovering over your head-- that would've added a lot of extra stress for me too.

Also, just a bit of advice to try not to over-order on your meds at first, if you can't return them. I filled the entire prescription for my first cycle, then ended up with tons of extras at the end.

I've been pondering this as we're approaching decision time as to whether we'll proceed with IUI or IVF. We have very little savings and already too much debt ($70k in student loans). So, I'm assuming our parents will help. That makes me feel sick to my stomach, though. I'm honestly afraid that if one side pays more, they'll feel more entitled to more time with the baby. I know, that sounds totally crazy! I just feel owned by someone if they give me/us large amounts of money for any reason. Does that make sense?

We paid for the entire thing in cash, we had zero insurance coverage which is weird because for all else our insurance is excellent. To be even more specific, we put all of it on our Amex for points and then paid it off in full If you are able to pay cash, I think that would be smart because of all the reasons the lovely ladies ahead of me stated

@SweetiePie: We did the same thing! Put it on a card & paid it off for the points.

@catchafallingstar: That makes compete sense! There was a point when it was mentioned a relative may want to pay for IVF & I had the exact same thoughts. However, if the only way we'd be able to do it was to get help, I'd do it. Perhaps discussing these feelings with your DH & even parents/in laws would help alleviate some of the anxiousness?