Infertility Insurance Complete audio of the public radio feature.

Shrine to Infertility
An audio tour of Pamela's apartment.

Pamela's Album
Photographer Patrick Witty took these images of the Madsen family.

Audio is RealAudio 14.4 kbps.

Fertility Race Home
Access to other installments in the series.

WITH RELATIVELY EXPENSIVE DRUGS AND PROCEDURES and virtually no coverage available under basic health insurance plans, paying for medical treatments can be an enormous struggle for many infertile Americans. Only a handful of states require employers and insurance companies to offer some kind of infertility insurance. Yet across the country, advocates for the infertile say excluding their condition from insurance plans amounts to discrimination. They want the government to step in.

Paying for Medical Treatments
Is it fair that only affluent people can afford infertility procedures?

Coverage Is the Exception
While many Americans are considered infertile, few insurance policies will cover most treatments.

Finessing the System
Some determined couples have exploited loopholes in their policies.

Making Companies Pay
With no national policy, coverage for infertility treatments varies by state.

Some of the names in this report have been changed to protect privacy.

October 29, 1998