If you have difficulty having a baby, consider the state where you reside in, where you live apparently has an implication on how you will be able to have a child, as options to help couples with infertility problems vary among states.
In a state fertility scorecard released by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on Monday, which ranked the fertility friendliness of each state based on whether or not it offers insurance coverage for fertility treatments and the number of fertility specialists and infertility support groups that each state has with regards to the number of women with infertility problems who live in that state.
Based on the report, the best places to live in if you want to have a baby are Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey as these states received a score of A. The worst states for couples who have infertility problems, on the other hand are Alaska, New Hampshire and Wyoming as they all received a failing score of F. Most states, however, have received a grade of B or C.
Although Wyoming only has less than 12,000 women with infertility problems, the state does not have fertility doctors and support groups that these women could go to nor are there mandate for fertility treatment coverage. The 15,612 women with infertility in Alaska also have the same situation with no insurance mandate or fertility specialists and support groups available for them.
RESOLVE chief executive and president Barbara Collura said that with the Fertility Scorecard, they hope to create conversations between stakeholders including patients, policy makers, HCPs, insurance companies, employers and pharmaceutical companies that could lead to increased access to fertility treatments in the country.
"We hope that by providing The Fertility Scorecard as a resource for people suffering with the disease of infertility we will help them take control of their fertility journey by becoming more educated about how to address both the financial and emotional barriers they encounter," Collura said.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that infertility is a common problem in the U.S as 11 percent of women between the age 15 and 22 years old have difficulty getting or staying pregnant.
