{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.016054421768707482, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0010884353741496598, 'mean_word_length': 5.635379061371841, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Banking on infertility: medical ethics and the marketing of fertility loans.

In 2012, a number of news headlines captured a growing trend in fertility medicine—the increased presence of lenders specializing in fertility loans, often promoted or featured by fertility clinics and physicians. Streamlining the financing of assisted reproduction connects patients with loan company representatives either on-site or through a clinic’s webpage. While medical professionals and clinics do not receive a commission for product promotion, this recent spate of news reports identified investment opportunities for physicians in private lending firms and some of the physicians involved in such investments. In facilitating the process to obtain credit and, in some instances, benefiting financially through equity ownership in private lending firms, participating physicians declare this a “win-win situation” with no clear conflict of interest. The emergence of these specialty lenders seems a natural development in the current fertility market, but the growing use of private fertility loans suggests the need for further inquiry. Academic and legal discourse has given a good deal of attention to the political economy of fertility medicine, emphasizing the demand for this market as well as the need or potential for greater oversight. Largely absent from this dialogue is an evaluation of the current reality of financing fertility treatment in the United States and the ethical concerns present for both patients and physicians. The costs of treatment for the childless and infertile together with the increased requirements for fertility clinics and physicians operating in this rapidly expanding, highly competitive environment necessitate heightened scrutiny of a practice that, left unchecked by the profession, may lead to greater controversy and, potentially, more aggressive state intervention. The emergence of fertility lenders is, in part, a product of demand. Many patients cannot afford fertility treatments and have insufficient, if any, insurance coverage. Despite the best efforts of infertility advocacy groups to expand mandatory coverage, many Americans remain unable to cover the range of treatments necessary to achieve a live birth. Traditionally, fertility patients have employed a variety of ad hoc arrangements to finance treatment, but the emergence of this type of lender represents a fundamental shift in the parenthood marketplace, ensuring easy access to credit, albeit at a price. Although some legal barriers to assisted or alternative reproduction persist, the expense of treatment remains the primary impediment to assisted reproduction in the United States. Costs vary substantially, dependent on such variables as the medical diagnosis, the treatment regimen prescribed, and the number of treatments or cycles. While some patients achieve success with noninvasive techniques that are relatively inexpensive, procedures such as in vitro fertilization and the use of donor gametes, a surrogate, or genetic testing can quickly lead to insurmountable costs, particularly if multiple cycles or forms of treatment are involved. Costs also vary substantially for different populations pursuing assisted reproduction, particularly for the structurally infertile. Lesbian or single women need only donated sperm for artificial insemination, a basic procedure that can be performed by a physician or at home, while gay or single men must use more expensive interventions. The costs associated with procuring oocytes or a surrogate are substantial given the potential medical Banking on Infertility: Medical Ethics and the Marketing of Fertility Loans