After 5 years of fiscal discipline, my wife and I finally got our consumer debt under control and had earned a respectable credit score.  We decided to start a family.  We spent the next 4 years battling infertility with the ‘cheaper’ options before we had to admit that IVF was our last chance to get pregnant.  None of this was covered by health insurance.

BUT, we had learned our lessons about credit cards and went to the bank, instead, to ask for a $20,000 loan to cure our infertility.  They told us that they didn’t do unsecured personal loans anymore but generously offered us a credit card with a 25% interest rate.  Torn between either financial security or a chance at a family, we chose a family.  We’ve spent the last 5 years drowning in debt as a result of corporate greed.

Now we live in Germany where IVF is included in the socialized healthcare; and our bank, noticing how much we are struggling financially, offered us an 11% credit line to help clean up our U.S. debts.

We were the 99%, but now we know that there is another way.