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Covering the cost of fertility

By Ruth Sheehan, McClatchy Newspapers, Source: MCT News Service

RALEIGH, N.C. _ David and Kelly Hensor of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., had been through seven unsuccessful fertility treatments over the last few years when they arrived at their doctor's office last fall, physically, emotionally and financially drained.

Dr. Sameh Toma, their trusted fertility specialist, suggested another round of in-vitro fertilization, with a ramped-up course of hormones and other drugs. The estimated cost: more than $15,000.

The Hensors still desperately wanted a baby. But they knew they couldn't afford what Toma was proposing.

"The cost was more than we could handle," said Kelly, 33, a first-grade teacher in Wake County, N.C., public schools. "We were devastated to learn that our dream had a price tag."

The Hensors were resigned to the idea that they would have to shelve their dreams of a family until they could save more money _ when they learned about a new and unusual foundation aimed at helping couples pay for additional fertility treatments when past treatments have failed.

It is called the Pay It Forward Fertility Foundation _ and for the Hensors and three other North Carolina couples, it is a life preserver in the often turbulent waters of fertility treatment.

Roughly modeled after the Fertile Dreams foundation in Winter Park, Fla., the foundation is the first of its sort in North Carolina. It grew out of another Wake County couple's experience with infertility _ and their desire to ease that difficult journey for someone else.

Lori and Rob Moscato, like the Hensors, had tried a number of fertility treatments to help them get pregnant with their first child.

"We tried the drugs and the artificial insemination, and the IVF (in-vitro fertilization)," Lori Moscato said.

Their daughter, Sophia, was born three years ago. Three months later, without any additional fertility interventions, Lori discovered she was pregnant with their son.

One day, in December 2008, she turned to her husband and said, "We are so fortunate."

During her fertility treatments, she worked for Glaxo SmithKline, which provided insurance coverage for every aspect of their infertility treatment. Most employers' insurance policies, including the Hensors', do not.

"I told my husband I wanted to be able to give someone else a shot at what we have," Lori Moscato said.

Rob Moscato agreed. So the next morning, she went to the N.C. Center for Reproductive Medicine in North Raleigh and surprised Toma with a $15,000 check. She told him to find a deserving patient and "pay forward" her blessings.

Toma and his media consultant, former TV anchor Sharon Delaney McCloud, had a different idea. They worked with the Moscatos on a more ambitious version of her pay-it-forward scheme.

Soon, Lori Moscato was filling out the paperwork for a nonprofit, appointing a board and accepting grant applications from couples overwhelmed by the cost of fertility treatments.

Dr. Bill Meyer, a fertility specialist at Carolina Conceptions, said his work can be extremely rewarding. But it can also be heartbreaking.

"I've sat behind the desk with couples who have taken out second mortgages on their home to pay for the treatments," he said.

The Moscatos and the Pay It Forward board learned quickly, in the first round of grant requests that a thorough _ some might say invasive _ economic review is critical to the process. Applicants are required to provide mortgage, credit card, car loan and pay information, as well as two years' worth of tax forms.

Couples need to show that their resources have been strapped by repeat treatments, but they can't be in such economic distress that they would be unable to handle the inevitable cost of a new baby _ or even multiple births. Last year, five grants were awarded out of about 40 applicants. But one of the foundation's first grants had to be rescinded after the board discovered that the couple's home was in foreclosure, Moscato said.

The grant money goes directly to the medical professionals, not to the would-be parents. Pay It Forward has gotten the four major local fertility clinics to limit their costs for grant recipients and has persuaded pharmaceutical companies to provide many of the expensive fertility drugs free.

Of course, even though the grant money gives couples financial respite _ and shores them up emotionally _ a Pay It Forward grant is no guarantee that the treatments will work.

The Hensors understand that all too well.

"Getting that 'No,' even one time, it takes a lot out of you," said David Hensor. Lori Moscato likes to say: "The emotions run out before the money does."

But the Hensors have grown closer through their fertility struggles.

And now, thanks to this unusual foundation, they and three other couples have a glimmer of hope they hadn't imagined having six months ago.

Moscato said the best part of heading the foundation is making the phone calls after the grant recipients are determined. Hearing the shouts of joy, the sobs of relief and the thuds of dancing feet.

"You hear that hope back in their voices again," she said. "It's an amazing thing to give."

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(c) 2010, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.).

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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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