The One Where Ted Talks Money

Pregnancy Costs Analysis, Part 1

Hey there! This is Not-Rebecca typing, AKA Ted. This week I have the bullhorn to rant (gently converse) about the first installment about pregnancy-related costs. No, we don't have happy news to share, this is just overall research.

As part of our Official Battle Plan Thingy, I’m taking a close look at expected financial costs related to the whole picture. Health care bills add up!

This first bit of the analysis looked at costs related to births, which I would argue are fairly important to the whole making-a-kid thing. I figured births probably aren’t free but also couldn’t possibly break the bank. Initial theories can be a little silly.

I Did What?

I surveyed several families closely associated with our own for birth cost data. While it is far from a random sample, it is decently representative of our demographic and therefore could provide some useful results. Many thanks to the people who gave me data (you know who you are 😊). I also included a little data from this online resource to benchmark everything a little more.

I Learned What?

The biggest lesson was that actual costs to get a baby out of the mother were HIGHLY variable.

Births are EXPENSIVE. Remember that you pay money for the privilege of receiving a particular service. For the privilege of giving birth in a safe and professional environment, people paid some amount of cash. Most birth costs ranged between essentially $0 to $11k out-of-pocket, after insurance paid their share.

Various types of insurance covered the bulk of the bills…eventually. For the most part, insurance paid between $18k and $42k.

On AVERAGE, people paid roughly $6,000 cash for the privilege of medical services during birth. Insurance covered another roughly $31,000 per birth, on average, after wrestling and paperwork headaches. For context, they are loosely comparable to getting 1-2 new water heaters and a new Toyota Camry.

Also remember that these costs DO NOT include monthly insurance premiums, pregnancy bills, or costs after coming home with the baby.

Sidebar

We had mentioned possible adoption if our bio efforts don’t pan out. For reference, in Ohio adoptions of newborns cost between $10k and $25,000 through a non-profit agency. With attorneys, it’s higher. Wooooofff, that’s a lotta dollar bills.

Back to Our Story

OK, that was a lot of math. Thanks for sticking around.

We still want to have a kid, of course. We’re definitely still addressing our infertility issues. Now we have a better sense of the financial accounting that will come down the pipe. None of that is easy to afford.

Good thing we both have good jobs. Good thing my job provides solid health insurance that should make the bills less gargantuan. Good thing we have the capacities to prepare ourselves.

Rebecca will be back next week to lighten the mood!