Can't Afford IVF? Become A Starbucks Barista
NEW YORK (CBS NEWS) — For some couples, finding a job that offers benefits to cover infertility could be the difference between having kids and not. One in eight couples in the United States has trouble getting pregnant and the cost of fertility treatments is not cheap.
You might expect a tech company or big bank to offer coverage for treatments like in vitro fertilization, but Starbucks also offers the perk – even for part-time baristas.
Now, some women are taking jobs there, in hopes that becoming a barista will get them a baby.
"It was the darkest time of my life. Our marriage really took a hit," said Shannon Iagulli.
Iagulli and her husband Nic desperately wanted children. But four years into their marriage, it seemed Shannon couldn't get pregnant.
"You go through your life hearing you grow up, you fall in love, you get married, you have kids so it doesn't happen, you don't understand. Why is my body not doing it, why isn't the medicine working? Why can't I give my husband a child?" Iagulli said. "Two years ago exactly this time, was probably the first time I ever heard the word divorce, that's where Starbucks came in."
Iagulli learned the company offered an unusual benefit: coverage for in vitro fertilization. On average, IVF costs $20,000 per cycle, with most couples going through two to three rounds before getting pregnant.
"I mean, you think barista, you think 18-year-old working to go through school, not a 27-year-old woman trying to have a baby," Iagulli said.
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