Last week, a former patient who did IVF last year visited us with her baby. After doing the customary sharing of just how happy she now was, she added that she had just got done spending over $1000 at Gymboree for baby clothes. I would have been surprised, except for the fact that very few things surprise me any more. I realized that I hadn’t even spent that much on my own wardrobe in the past year. I had to admit that the five-month old baby looked quite stylish, but I would venture to guess that he was oblivious to it all. I remember making a mental note to check on buying stock in Gymboree.

Later that week, I had another patient who was undergoing treatment to get her second baby. Five years ago, she gave birth to her first child, a son conceived through insemination. His fifth birthday was coming up and she shared about the party that she was throwing for him. She said that she originally was planning a small gathering at home, but that he had insisted on a party at a well-known pizza chain that had arcade games and a large cartoon mouse. She added that the guest list has grown from 12 kids to 60! The cost would be about $15 per child. I remember making a mental note to check on buying stock in the company that ran the Chuck E Cheese restaurants.

A study by the US Department of Agriculture estimated that couples who earn over $74K per year can expect to spend about $289,380 to raise a child from birth to age 17. This breaks down to:

• Housing: $107,000
• Food: $41,000
• Transportation: $39,000
• Clothing: $13,000
• Health Care: $17,000
• Child Care and Education: $38,000
• Miscellaneous (Personal Care Items, Entertainment, Reading Materials): $34,000

When patients ask for an idea of how much it will cost to do various forms of fertility treatment, we usually give a rough estimate that an unmonitored cycle of Clomid will cost about $50, a monitored cycle of injectable medications with intrauterine insemination will cost about $2000 and a cycle of IVF will cost about $14000.

I don’t suppose I am obligated to tell them about the costs that come afterwards, am I?

By the way, in case you’re thinking that twins would bankrupt you, bear in mind that it is estimated that the expenses incurred by a second child will be about 25% less, a real bargain.

Mar 25 2008 UPDATE: Here’s an article with the latest statistics. For high income families, the figure is now $298,680!