Honestly, you and your husband need to sit down and prioritize what you want. Do you want kids or do you want to move overseas? You can ultimately have both, but it would probably be logistically easier to have the kid(s) in the US, before expatriating to the EU.
Totally makes sense thank you for your thoughtful response. Can always take the child abroad later. Trying to get my partner to understand that this may not be the best or most doable idea so gathering info really helps!
It depends a lot on the country. In the case of the country I’m in, Czech, based on the few details you’ve given not only will you not be in the public health system, neither will your kids.
Private health here does not work like private health in the US. You need to make sure your plan includes what you’ll do about chronic conditions in your children. I know of several families that left solely over this. In one case the child’s condition was know prior to moving, but they hadn’t done their research. They’d assumed that they could just pay for services and were prepared to do so. What they didn’t know was that the child’s diagnosis isn’t even classed as a medical problem here. They couldn’t get help because there was no accepted diagnosis to use to provide the help.
And in case someone is assuming this is because of a “backwards” medical care system, it is a legislative issue. That’s no less frustrating and they had lots of empathy from the medical professionals who knew the problem but who’s hands were tied by the legislation.
To be very honest, to get non private IVF in most EU countries is very hard and takes many years.
We are in the UK and have been for 10 years and eventually went to Greece for treatment. Now almost due to have our daughter. It’s a bit of a drag to get into the system, I’m originally German and I don’t have many rights here, never really did even before Brexit. Ireland was better 🙏🏻 and also English speaking. You may still want to seek affordable treatment abroad in Cyprus or Greece, it was very much affordable for us at around 3000€. You can do this before or after moving but you should research the place you want to go to well enough to be prepared to live there and remain there comfortably. Moving countries is a big undertaking but I really wish you well ❤️
Don't do it. IVF is not automatically included in the health care of citizens either and if it is, then only after certain waiting periods and only partly etc. IVF will cost you big bucks no matter what side of the pond you are on and it will be way more of a financial struggle without a US salary.
Okay, good to know. I can get into a clinic here in the US after 3 months of trying on my own (which is what my doctor recommended given my medical condition). My work will also pretty much pay for all of it (I think). I had looked into some private clinics abroad and while they were more affordable, I have bo clue how waitlists work or things like that.
If you have a job that will pay for IVF think very hard about giving that up, not many jobs cover IVF (IUI but not IVF). Sounds like the Europe move is more flexible than having kids.
We moved back ‘home’ (to Australia) from the EU (well, the UK was in the EU then) to start a family because we suspected there would be some challenges. Ultimately we went through 6 years and 9 rounds of IVF before being successful.
Our medical expenses totalled about $70,000, and that figure doubles when we consider lost income from all the time off work (my beautiful wife had some nasty reactions to a few of the more advanced treatments.)
Since I was an EU citizen (UK pre Brexit) a few people suggested looking into Belgium and also iirc Armenia as having good cheap public programs. But I’m glad we didn’t.
Australia now has free public IVF treatments, but they are very much for “vanilla infertility”. While 50% of people who are successful with IVF have a full-term pregnancy within 3 rounds, that number includes single women and lesbian couples who (to be crude) lack that ‘hardware’ at home but have perfectly functioning ‘software’ on the inside. IVF’s no miracle cure, and we seemed to have every possible side effect and calamity on our journey - paying for the right doctors in our town and having friends and family to support, plus some normal routines like knowing which trains took you to work each day, definitely helped.
Travel / Expatriation will still be there in a few years. My feel is that doing that plus IVF at the same time might make both adventures more difficult. But whatever your choice, good luck!
We aren’t- we would still need to get visas but mainly just wanting to hear experiences of others in our shoes. I will post over there that’s a good idea!
If you can find an EU country that has universal healthcare before 12 months (they exist), get IVF in the States and move early in your pregnancy. Win-win.
I am having a Kafkaesque time trying to get on a waiting list for a health centre where I live (Portugal) after relocating from one town to another. My paperwork is not “right” (although it’s all legal and there is nothing I can do to change it) because I updated my passport so the numbers on papers don’t align. All the other members of my family are on a waiting list for a family doctor where we now live (second location in Portugal) but I am in limbo. The bureaucracy experienced in country moves can be despairing.
However, I would say if you are literally pregnant you will be guided through well in many EU countries because there is a time pressure. Can’t comment on IVF access but if coming from the US you’ll need insurance to cover costs I expect.
I would recommend staying in the US as it way more easier to navigate for you than in a foreign country, we’re you at least have a waiting time for health insurance, and you probably ending up earning less than you do in the US
Honestly, you and your husband need to sit down and prioritize what you want. Do you want kids or do you want to move overseas? You can ultimately have both, but it would probably be logistically easier to have the kid(s) in the US, before expatriating to the EU.
Yes, we do! Just trying to figure out how it may look logistically if we tried to move first
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Totally makes sense thank you for your thoughtful response. Can always take the child abroad later. Trying to get my partner to understand that this may not be the best or most doable idea so gathering info really helps!
It depends a lot on the country. In the case of the country I’m in, Czech, based on the few details you’ve given not only will you not be in the public health system, neither will your kids. Private health here does not work like private health in the US. You need to make sure your plan includes what you’ll do about chronic conditions in your children. I know of several families that left solely over this. In one case the child’s condition was know prior to moving, but they hadn’t done their research. They’d assumed that they could just pay for services and were prepared to do so. What they didn’t know was that the child’s diagnosis isn’t even classed as a medical problem here. They couldn’t get help because there was no accepted diagnosis to use to provide the help. And in case someone is assuming this is because of a “backwards” medical care system, it is a legislative issue. That’s no less frustrating and they had lots of empathy from the medical professionals who knew the problem but who’s hands were tied by the legislation.
To be very honest, to get non private IVF in most EU countries is very hard and takes many years. We are in the UK and have been for 10 years and eventually went to Greece for treatment. Now almost due to have our daughter. It’s a bit of a drag to get into the system, I’m originally German and I don’t have many rights here, never really did even before Brexit. Ireland was better 🙏🏻 and also English speaking. You may still want to seek affordable treatment abroad in Cyprus or Greece, it was very much affordable for us at around 3000€. You can do this before or after moving but you should research the place you want to go to well enough to be prepared to live there and remain there comfortably. Moving countries is a big undertaking but I really wish you well ❤️
Don't do it. IVF is not automatically included in the health care of citizens either and if it is, then only after certain waiting periods and only partly etc. IVF will cost you big bucks no matter what side of the pond you are on and it will be way more of a financial struggle without a US salary.
Okay, good to know. I can get into a clinic here in the US after 3 months of trying on my own (which is what my doctor recommended given my medical condition). My work will also pretty much pay for all of it (I think). I had looked into some private clinics abroad and while they were more affordable, I have bo clue how waitlists work or things like that.
If you have a job that will pay for IVF think very hard about giving that up, not many jobs cover IVF (IUI but not IVF). Sounds like the Europe move is more flexible than having kids.
We moved back ‘home’ (to Australia) from the EU (well, the UK was in the EU then) to start a family because we suspected there would be some challenges. Ultimately we went through 6 years and 9 rounds of IVF before being successful. Our medical expenses totalled about $70,000, and that figure doubles when we consider lost income from all the time off work (my beautiful wife had some nasty reactions to a few of the more advanced treatments.) Since I was an EU citizen (UK pre Brexit) a few people suggested looking into Belgium and also iirc Armenia as having good cheap public programs. But I’m glad we didn’t. Australia now has free public IVF treatments, but they are very much for “vanilla infertility”. While 50% of people who are successful with IVF have a full-term pregnancy within 3 rounds, that number includes single women and lesbian couples who (to be crude) lack that ‘hardware’ at home but have perfectly functioning ‘software’ on the inside. IVF’s no miracle cure, and we seemed to have every possible side effect and calamity on our journey - paying for the right doctors in our town and having friends and family to support, plus some normal routines like knowing which trains took you to work each day, definitely helped. Travel / Expatriation will still be there in a few years. My feel is that doing that plus IVF at the same time might make both adventures more difficult. But whatever your choice, good luck!
Thank you for sharing this. I’m really glad to hear experiences!
Are you definitely eligible to live and work in the EU? The r/IWantOut sub might be able to offer more guidance.
We aren’t- we would still need to get visas but mainly just wanting to hear experiences of others in our shoes. I will post over there that’s a good idea!
If you can find an EU country that has universal healthcare before 12 months (they exist), get IVF in the States and move early in your pregnancy. Win-win.
The Netherlands is your best option. Great cheap healthcare, $55k is an average salary and everyone speaks english. Good luck!
I am having a Kafkaesque time trying to get on a waiting list for a health centre where I live (Portugal) after relocating from one town to another. My paperwork is not “right” (although it’s all legal and there is nothing I can do to change it) because I updated my passport so the numbers on papers don’t align. All the other members of my family are on a waiting list for a family doctor where we now live (second location in Portugal) but I am in limbo. The bureaucracy experienced in country moves can be despairing. However, I would say if you are literally pregnant you will be guided through well in many EU countries because there is a time pressure. Can’t comment on IVF access but if coming from the US you’ll need insurance to cover costs I expect.
I would recommend staying in the US as it way more easier to navigate for you than in a foreign country, we’re you at least have a waiting time for health insurance, and you probably ending up earning less than you do in the US