The Coalition for Family Building offers two types of grants. You can only apply for ONE type of grant.

• Financial Assistance Grants: The Chicago Coalition for Family Building offers financial grants (maximum award is $10,000) for eligible costs towards family building. You should apply for this grant if you have insurance coverage for IVF and require third party reproduction, donor eggs, donor sperm or use of a gestational carrier. Funds will be paid directly to the service provider(s) and not to the individual receiving the grant.
• IVF cycle grant: If you receive an IVF cycle grant you will receive a donated IVF cycle from one of our partner practices. You should apply for this grant if you do not have insurance coverage for IVF and are planning on pursuing IVF with your own eggs. Please note that we try to align services with the practice where you have already established care, but there is no guarantee that an IVF Cycle Grant will be with the applicant’s current physician and you may be granted a cycle at another practice.

An IVF cycle grant covers the following:

• All professional medical fees for patient's pre-cycle physical exam (if required and usually done by REI office), ovulation monitoring, egg retrieval, laboratory services (oocyte ID, ICSI, embryo prep), embryo transfer
• Unless otherwise covered by insurance, laboratory fees for hormonal monitoring (E2, P4, HCG up to four tests each)

The donated IVF cycle EXCLUDES the following:

• FDA testing for patient and spouse, and for gamete donors or surrogates
• Anesthesia for egg retrieval
• Genetic screening / testing of intended parents
• PGD / PGS
• Cryopreservation and storage fees for gametes and/or embryos
• Medication

If you are 41 or less and planning to pursue IVF with your own eggs then you should apply for an IVF cycle grant. If you need assistance to cover the cost of IUI, frozen embryo transfer, donor sperm, donor egg or gestational carrier then apply for a financial services grant

Financial Assistance Grants can be used for the following expenses:

• medications
• embryo cryopreservation (embryo freezing)
• embryo donation
• pre-implantation genetic screening/diagnosis (PGS/PGD)
• third party reproduction (costs of securing donor egg, donor sperm, and gestational carrier)
• egg freezing due to cancer, medical diseases that impair infertility
• vasectomy reversal
• TESE
• adoption fees from any licensed adoption agency
• attorney fees for adoption or third party reproductive cases

No, the Chicago Coalition for Family Building will not accept applications requesting more than $10,000.

No. Family Building Grants will only cover the expenses listed above.

In addition to IVF cycles, we may offer PGT, and legal services for third party reproduction. Applications will be reviewed by the medical advisory board and recommendations for additional services will be made by the board. You cannot apply for additional services but please describe your needs accurately in your personal statement to help guide the board

The Chicago Coalition for Family Building will work with the grant recipient in organizing payments to your fertility clinic, adoption or third-party agency. No payments will be made to grant recipients.

If you need to undergo an egg retrieval, then conduct PGT and then undergo a frozen embryo transfer, then please apply for an IVF grant if you have no insurance coverage (IVF cycle is the most expensive part of this process). However, if you have insurance coverage for IVF but are hoping to have additional funds to help cover the cost of PGT then apply for a financial assistance grant.

All grants must be used within twelve months from the date of the award.

We anticipate notifying applicants of grant decisions in September of the grant making year. The entire grant process is managed by volunteer staff, and we take these decisions very seriously. Therefore, we do not rush this process. Recipients who are awarded grants will receive an email and a phone call. Please include the best number to reach you at on your application. Applicants that did not receive a grant will be notified by email.

We do require grant recipients to be willing to share photos of themselves, their story via Facebook, our web page and other social media outlets. We publish our success stories to inspire others and share our mission.

We ask our recipients to attend CCFB events and hope that you will join us in our fundraising efforts by forming a fundraising team. You are not required to raise a specific amount of money but please know, every dollar helps!

• Reside in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin or Iowa.
• Have a diagnosis of infertility certified by a medical provider, with the exception of the following:

• Have an annual household income of less than $200,000
• For requests for infertility treatment, you MUST have completed all required medical testing within the specified time frames. Applicants who do have this information within required time frames will not be considered. Incomplete applications will not be sent on to review by the medical advisory board
• If you are applying for a grant to do IUI, IVF, Gestational Carrier with your own eggs, or Egg Freezing for Medical Indications, you MUST meet ALL of the following criteria:

• Applicants who do not meet ALL of these criteria will not have their applications reviewed.
• If you are applying for a grant for IUI, IVF or FET (utilizing your own eggs or donor eggs), you must have a body mass index less than 40.

If you are 41 or younger and planning to pursue IVF with your own eggs then you should apply for an IVF cycle grant. If you need assistance to cover the cost of IUI, frozen embryo transfer, donor sperm, donor egg or gestational carrier then apply for a financial services grant. If you have insurance coverage for IVF (even partial coverage) you are not eligible for an IVF cycle grant

You should apply for the specialty grant “Sophie’s Gift – PGD for Life.” This special grant is funded specifically for couples who carry a genetic disease and wish to prevent transmission to their child.

We estimate that 10 IVF cycle grants and 5 financial grants will be awarded in 2023. Final numbers are still contingent upon funding.

Unfortunately, past procedures or previously incurred costs are not eligible for Family Building Grant funds.

Yes. A Family Building Grant may be used for a vasectomy reversal.

Yes. A Family Building Grant may be used for IVF in this situation.

All applicants requesting support for adoption must provide a letter from their adoption agency that they have completed the home study process. No exceptions will be made.

Women must be 41 years or younger by January 1, 2023 to be eligible to apply for a Family Building Grant to utilize your own eggs.

Yes. Your annual household income must be less than $200,000 (pre-tax) to apply for a Family Building Grant. We will verify this information from your last tax return. In order to be eligible to apply, a tax return must be received from all parties applying for a grant; no exceptions will be made.

No. Without a tax return naming the individuals applying, we are unable verify your income and therefore cannot consider your application.

No. You must be a resident of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin or Iowa at the time of application in order to apply.

No. Only applications submitted through our online system will be reviewed.

The personal statement is the best way to let the Medical Advisory Board know who you are and why you should receive a grant. It is a large part of the scoring process and is a great way to increase your chances of getting a grant. The applications are scored by the medical advisory board and the personal statement accounts for a large number of points. Applications that do not have personal statements will likely not have enough points to secure a grant.

No. The application fee covers the cost of using the online application system. We are unable to refund any application fees.

The following tests MUST be completed within the specific timeframes:

No, you do not need to submit lab results to apply for Family Building Grants to cover adoption or surrogacy costs.

Yes, a semen analysis is required.

Both women will need a letter from their fertility practice and copy of the required bloodwork and testing. The partner planning to donate eggs needs ovarian reserve testing, FSH, AMH, estradiol, antral follicle count and must meet our age and ovarian reserve criteria. The partner planning to carry must have a documented normal uterine evaluation and meet BMI requirements.

No, results are not required if you are planning to use donor eggs.

As the embryos have already been created, you do not need to provide ovarian reserve testing, blood work or semen analysis results.

The applicant would need to provide the following information: ovarian reserve testing, sperm analysis and a letter certifying that the intended gestational carrier has received medical clearance.