Patients seeking IVF turn to crowdfunding to pay for treatment
Patients are using crowdfunding to raise money for infertility care resulting from a variety of medical conditions, according to a retrospective study presented at the ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo.
“Crowdfunding by definition is the practice of soliciting and collecting donations from smaller groups or individuals to collectively fund a single larger enterprise,” author Robyn A. Frankel, MD, a third-year resident at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, said during the presentation.
“Crowdfunding has been used over the years to fund a multitude of different types of projects or needs, and we know that it is increasingly becoming more frequent as it pertains to personal medical expenses,” Frankel continued.
The researchers analyzed the first 100 campaigns that populated after searching the term “IVF” on the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform during one week in April 2021.
The parameters of their search included the indication for requesting funds, the amount of money requested and raised, the percentage of goals attained, the number of donors, followers and shares, the top single donation amount and the states where campaigners requesting funds were located, in addition to campaigns in Canada.
The researchers excluded campaigns that were misclassified under IVF and campaigns that were raising money for other primary issues.
According to the study, 24% of the campaigns were centered on a cancer diagnosis prompting the need for IVF for fertility preservation, 9% were related to a genetic syndrome requiring pre-implantation for genetic testing, and 67% were due to other needs necessitating IVF.
Overall, campaigns requested an average of $23,203 and raised an average of $9,430.95 each. Campaigns related to cancer asked for an average of $25,500 and raised an average of $14,653. Campaigns related to a genetic syndrome requested an average of $29,667 and raised an average of $12,497. The remaining campaigns asked for an average of $21,512 and raised an average of $7,148.
“Only 15% percent of campaigns actually reached or exceeded their goal,” Frankel said. Results showed that 20.8% of the cancer campaigns met their goal, whereas 11.1% and 14.9% of the campaigns related to genetic syndromes and to other issues met their goals, respectively.
“Campaigns related to a cancer diagnosis not only raised the most amount of money but also had the largest number of donors, shares, and followers on social media,” Frankel said, adding that campaigns more likely were to be found in the Southern and Western regions of the United States as well.
“The increasing use of crowdfunding reflects both the financial burden and difficulty with access to care as it relates to infertility services,” Frankel said.
Also, the researchers said, most campaigns struggle to meet their goals, although they may reduce the burden of IVF for patients who cannot afford treatment.