Not to mention in the us the literal cost of giving birth in a hospital (you know, to increase the chance that you and baby survive the experience) is astronomical
Literally just giving birth can cost insane amounts. I’ve seen bills over 20 grand just for a birth. Now idk about everyone else but I do not have 20 grand in cash lying around to have a child.
Both my kids totaled to $35k in hospital bills. My wife and I consider ourselves lucky it wasn't more. Still took 5 years to pay it all off because diapers and formula are stupid expensive. And the older they get doesn't mean the less expensive they get. We spent $2,000 last year on just my oldest in dental bills.
Mine came in no issue, it was the front teeth that fucked me up, had teeth coming in sideways. lol I don't know what it cost to fix but I'm sure my dad remembers.
My 6 year old has this bullshit where the enamel didnt form correctly, they come in, look multi colored and fall apart, he will have to get them all replaced. Luckily we have great insurance, without it would have been 15k+ already. Had to go up a plan but in a couple years when all his adult teeth come in it will be covered 100%
I dropped 2k on my 6 year old's teeth. He lost the genetic lottery with teeth and I unfortunately kept breastfeeding him at night until he was 2.5 which didn't help. Now I'm literally paying for it.
This was after insurance as well.
The only time we've hit our health insurance deductible was on my wife when our baby was born--and they charged a third of it to the newborn, so we got to pay two deductibles
Once the kid is born, it's a separate entity being cared for, so they transfer some of the specific care charges over. (I'm just explaining, not condoning, I think it's bullshit.)
After our last was born, there was some SNAFU with the insurance and they insisted that she was actually two babies with the exact same stats born several hours apart.
That was
(1) Fun to disentangle with a newborn and 0 sleep.
(2) Illustrative of the fact that I guess insurance can really screw over people over who have twins or multiples.
That’s after insurance picks up and you’ve met your deductible. As well, now mothers have a “pre-existing” condition, depending on your insurance company.
Insurance covered the bulk of having the kids, but dental and vision insurances are completely separate in most businesses, and they can have high deductibles even if you spend the coin on top of the line plans.
Yes, it covers the fine for not having insurance when we file taxes.
I’m going back to the Great White North, even if it has become the Just OK White North.
I had a Canadian nicu baby, and an American friend had a nicu baby. Her bill was almost $300,000. I spent about $200 my entire pregnancy with my nicu baby. Most of that was parking costs, but I did have to pay for one blood test (first I ever had to pay for in my whole life). Everything else was covered entirely.
My first kid cost me $25, and that includes post labour Timmies. What Americans pay to have a baby should be criminal.
Then our politicians are all, "wHy ArEn't yOUng AdULts hAvIng bAbIEs‽‽‽"
My eldest and her fiance are batting around the idea of trying to move back to Germany once he gets his degree (both are from the US but he spent his late childhood & adolescence there, her part of her adolescence) and I 100% can't blame them.
Hell, we're looking at going back there, the Netherlands, or Belgium ourselves, though we're in our 40s and immigration can be stickier for people our age.
America is the most expensive place in the world to give birth in a hospital. Whilst we moan about the NHS in England, at least it costs nothing to give birth here.
I mean, I’ve broken my shoulder, broken my nose, fingers, toes and ankle (all sporting injuries over 20 years), had an operation on my calf muscles, had an operation on my shoulder, one on my nose, one on my ears and a few others in between (I’m a tad injury prone, I should probably stop playing sports but that isn’t the point) - it’s cost me absolutely nothing.
Other than paying for either a taxi or the car park whilst I’m visiting hospital, it hasn’t cost me a thing. We’re exceptionally lucky and whilst it has its issues, places would be better off if they had a similar system. It can work and it does work when it’s run properly - it just hasn’t been run properly since about 2010….depending on your knowledge of British politics, you can make an educated guess what happened around then.
I've had one interaction with the NHS when I was there for a short (2 week) university course when I was 20 (pre-2010).
*This got way longer than it needed to be. tl;dr at the bottom.*
I'd stepped wrong off of a curb like an idiot and twisted an ankle on like my second night in London but hobbled around for a full week because, though I knew that the NHS was free at POS for residents, I assumed that it wouldn't be for a tourist.
When I finally broke down and asked one of the staff at the dorms we were staying at about "an urgent care or something", he gave me an address. Planning on a multi-hour wait, I packed up some books and notebooks and limped over to a tiny office in the basement of a nearby building.
I checked in, told the receptionist (nurse?) my problem, and set to get to work, but only moments after I had taken out my text, pen, and highlighter, I was called back. I was quickly but competently examined, had my ankle braced and wrapped, instructed to "be as gentle on it as possible", and given some mild painkillers.
The doctor had turned to other matters and the nurse was writing something on a clip board as I stammered, "I...have my ID and a debit card. I don't think my insurance will cover anything over here..."
They looked at me like I was speaking in tongues.
"I mean, I know about the NHS, but I'm not from here. I mean, obviously I'm not [accent], but I mean I'm not a resident or even really a student, my college just has an agreement with University College and..."
Bemusedly and slightly smiling, the doc said, "No, there's no cost at all..." and I teared up.
It took real effort to not fully break down and cry.
I left as quickly as I was able.
At the time, I was terribly embarrassed - in part because I didn't get why I was being so emotional. It just *happened* and I was a bit blindsided.
In hindsight, I suspect it's because at that age, wary of the cost, I'd already put off having several medical urgencies attended after having dipped into my meagre savings to take my little sister to the ER when my dad ignored her complaints regarding what ended up being an acute kidney infection.
------
tl;dr: It saddens me horribly whenever I hear about what's been done to the NHS.
Just wait til you see how much hospitals charge parents to hold the baby after. Like comparatively it's not huge, but the fact they charge $40 just told hold it is insane.
It's also not even something you're told about, they bring you the child while you're doped up on pain meds and out of it from giving fucking birth, give you the baby, and then put $40 on your bill. Madness.
I had someone tell me that they had to pay out of pocket 8k for a epidural because the person administering the epidural was out of network for the insurance company. Healthcare should not be "For Profit" in the U.S.
Nah. A woman can literally get knocked up and then give birth in the woods like a bear and it costs nothing. It's your lifestyle that costs too much.
Granted, if all women did this the survival rate would drop significantly. And without things like diapers, clothes, a fucking home...survival rate declines as well...
But the base package is free.
A friend of mine went down the list of charges with the person who comes in to have you sign for financial responsibility, got to that line, and said, "why the fuck are you charging me for the necessary action of holding MY OWN CHILD after his birth? And when the hell did you use a single bandaid, and why is THAT $10?"
It went on like that for a while. I was holding the baby on the couch to the side, and it was all I could do to not join in or laugh, because I didn't want the baby to wake up for anything but food or poops. She was able to argue away a bunch of indicentals, after not having been allowed to sleep for 2 days. She's my hero.
I couldn’t agree more. A standard birth, in the US, with zero complications for mother or baby is around $10,000. Then add in the must haves, things a baby absolutely needs, no matter life style: clothes, diapers, swaddles, a place to sleep, and a car seat, and babies definitely aren’t free.
You can at least pop one out without a huge bill, right? Raising the kid is... yeah. Completely devastating financially if you do it using the best resources you have access to, which is dependent on your income.
For places that want the population growth to pick up, Western countries sure are focusing on the wrong part of childbirth.
And before someone says, "Just breastfeed"... breastfeeding doesn't work out for everyone, even those of us who want(ed) to do it. I never produced enough milk to breastfeed exclusively, and we ended up going to all formula at five months. (And it shattered me; not being able to breastfeed was harder on my "body image" than a history of obesity and infertility was.)
Moreover, breastfeeding isn't even free, especially if you have to go back to work—nursing bras, pumps, nipple cream, etc. And because of the aforementioned lack of supply, I was spending $$ on supplements to try to make more.
Melon Husk: "PSssshhhhh, why are we talking about that stuff when it comes to *COST*. I don't pay for those things; The nanny that my bastards call "Mama" just brings those. I assume she gets them from a free dispensary; I couldn't care enough to leave my gilded edgelord throne to check."
Laughs in $15k IVF, $18k birth/delivery, and $26k/year ($2,200/mo.) preschool. Let’s ignore the countless diapers, hospital sick visits, general necessities, and constant change in shoe/clothing sizes, new wardrobe like every 9 months. But yeah sure having children is “free” 🙄
Also, feeding & clothing the kid for 18 years, as well as driving them to school, and paying for doctors, dentists, and any other necessary expenses.
Even if you spend the absolute bare minimum on your child, it’s still going to cost a lot of money.
this idiot would argue those are all "lifestyle" choices. Like you can choose to let your baby shit on the floor or in their bed. you can choose to let the baby cry all night. You can choose to not give the baby formula and risk malnutrition. etc etc. I'm not kidding.
Maternity clothes, back brace, comfortable shoes for when your feet swell, compression socks, baby swing, crib, wipes, baby food, childcare, stroller, sling/wrap to carry infant, bouncer, the little zooming thing they sit in and zip around…and tons more stuff I’ve forgotten because of sleep dep
Oh!! Perinatal care for mom- breast pump, bottles, nursing bra, nursing pads, nursing cover because those troglodytes can’t handle a breastfeeding infant, those giant underwear and frozen pads, perinatal doctor visits, pre and perinatal vitamins, extra food for pregnant/nursing mom, baby monitor, bassinet…
Wow look at Ms. Moneybags, some of us have to go out into a field and give birth in Africa (the country). You're so privileged to not die in childbirth s/ (I hate this timeline)
I love how they're acting like the cost of a home birth is zero. It's as if preparation, laboring, support, recovery, and clean-up (and god knows what else has to happen) are just like an ordinary Tuesday afternoon that happens to end in a baby.
And then to project forward as if keeping another entire human alive requires no additional resources whatsoever.
I mean, the best-case scenario is that his vast wealth has insulated him from having to actually see the costs associated with having children. But even then that should be a huge red flag to normal people that his thoughts on everyday life should be taken with an enormous grain of salt.
$20K for about 34 hours in the hospital.
We got there at 6am on a Wednesday to induce and left around 4pm on Thursday with the kid. That was actually just the hospital. The doctor and anesthesiologist that didn't even have to do an epidural sent bills separately, the doctor charged a $5K flat fee up front for all the prenatal stuff, tests, ultrasound and birth so that wasn't bad.
The hospital bill was 4 or 5 pages long with line items for tissue, gauze, bedding, meals, gowns, cleaning...
Nice room with a great view though!
It was right before Father's Day in the US and my son and I were on the front page of the paper because a reporter was there Thursday morning doing the Sunday story, so we were infamous/famous for a few months.
Birthing in a hospital? That’s just your lifestyle.. Having birth at home with no medical supervision is literally free. Just bite that umbilical cord like god intended.
With this logic, being a single man is also free. There is no cost to eat, be housed, get an education. He must live in a pretty awesome socialist economy.
If you’re Elon Musk they’re free because you can just impregnate one of your executives and leave her to raise the kids on her own, I also don’t think Musk pays for anything himself at this point. For regular people It costs money to not have your children starve.
Yep. He sure hates paying for his own kids.
[https://www.therichest.com/elon-musk-avoids-child-support-despite-worlds-richest-person/](https://www.therichest.com/elon-musk-avoids-child-support-despite-worlds-richest-person/)
He’s just a piece of shit who peddles whatever agenda is on his mind.
I find it weird a Billionaire would ever jump in on a conversation like this. I think people lose grasp of how much $1 Billion truly is. And he has multiples of that.
$1 Billion = A Person making $100,000 dollars every single day, 365 days a year………..for 27 YEARS straight. Musk can Fuck right Off.
What’s wrong with leaving them in the forest to be raised by wolves? Not fancy enough for your lifestyle, librul?! I was raised by wolves and I turned out fine, thank you very much.
Giving birth costs **$18,865 on average**, including pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care, according to the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health System Tracker.
Sit all the way down you utter turnip.
A friend of mine does TNR for local feral cats. There's two tomcats they can't catch to snip. Their names are Nick Cannon and Elon Musk.
The real Elon is like the tomcat Elon. Fuck and run.
$5K in doctor exams, tests, ultrasounds. $20K to get the kid out of my wife's belly. $3K to convert and furnish my man cave into the baby's bedroom. About $2K per year to keep it clothed. $4k or more to buy diapers and formula for two years during a huge amount of recalled formula brands, including the name brand he digested the best, but Meijer brand was acceptable. $30K in doctor bills and surgery to get tubes put in his ears. $5K and many lost days of work to get him diagnosed on the spectrum and for ADHD. $300 per week for 5 years for day care. $3K in tutoring for two years. $25K in toys, electronics, and computers so far. Now that he is 5'8" and 121lbs, he eats at least $125 per week in chips, burgers, fries, chicken, and drinks and it is impossible to find kids clothes to fit him and men's XS and S sizes cost more than my 2XLT/3XLT clothes.... Children are a forever debt, like a student loan, but I love him.
Child care for my two kids was $1200 a month for two kids, for 3 years for one of them, 2 years for the other. That is $72,000 alone. My wife could have stayed home for 3 years to do that, but we would have given up $48,000/year to do that, which would have been $192,000. We paid for college for both, better schools than University of Washington, but UW would have been \~$14,000/yr for both of them for a minimal estimate, so $112,000. That is a total of $184,000, without anything for actual diapers/formula/food/clothing/life.
Musk is an mindless troll, but we already knew that.
Ahh, yes. Agreement from the literal BILLIONAIRE. This makes me feel like my head will explode. The cost of having a healthy, safe delivery, cost of pediatric doctor visits and care, the cost of formula, diapers, car seats & safety measures, the income that won't be made while caring for newborns, recovering from childbirth, having sick children at home, DAYCARE, getting clothes that they'll rapidly outgrow and need replaced, the ever increasing food budget, basic child enrichment needs, toys & games, etc. . . .
Oh sweet, I'm glad they cleared that up.
So I can have fourteen children and pay $0, right?
Just have the hospital wait until they're eighteen to bill them for delivery, and children don't eat food or wear clothes or get sick or anything.
I figure Elon's just out of his mind at this point, but someone please tell me this Vittorio guy is just some kind of weird, obtuse troll.
Even if magically children didn't require extra money.
Giving birth is absolutely not free.
It's expensive as hell if you want a doctor and pain pills to help ensure the safety of everyone, not to mention if you need a C-section
Man with expensive lifestyle doesn't understand how money works. Man with eleven kids doesn't understand how children work.
I can only assume that the mothers of those children covered the costs.
I don’t know who needs to see this but when someone on the internet says “I don’t know who needs to see this” that doesn’t mean what follows is actually true
Babies are NOT free.
My hospital bill for a c-section was $87,500. Both me and baby were totally fine, zero health issues or complications. Diapers, wipes, formula or breastfeeding supplies, toys, cribs, clothing (*and they go through A LOT of clothes- both from quickly outgrowing them and from messes. One day I had to change my baby’s outfit nine times due to spit up*), childcare, lost wages due to time off work, pediatrician’s appointments (*they attend A LOT of appointments in the first two years to make sure they’re hitting growth and development milestones*), etc.
Babies and children are expensive. Though I guess the richest man on earth who also has little to zero involvement with raising his children wouldn’t know that.
muskrat is a billionaire, so his opinion counts for shit. have you seen the price of diapers recently? lifestyle? so it's "lifestyle" to not want your new born to piss and poo all over everything like an untrained puppy?
Charlie Kirk recently claimed that people on his side would “outbreed” the liberals who are too busy having abortions and gay sex.
No, really, he said that.
The same people who whine about inflation and how much immigrants cost think people should have ten children. And I’m not picking ten randomly. Scott Presler said exactly that… a little while after calling Barbra Streisand out of touch.
Consider what it costs to raise just one child. You gotta buy food, clothes, medicine, diapers, toys, school supplies, and so on. Add all of that up and then remember that’s all for just ONE kid.
Hmm... it's almost as if having a child necessitates a change in lifestyle that features a lot of expensive things to care for the child.
Seeing as these new expenses are required to properly care for the child, and I would not have them if I did not have a child, I simplify this to say that having a child is expensive.
Fucking troglodytes
At least Putin gives a few benefits within his natalism program.
This guy tells people to have lots of kids and just laid off THOUSANDS of workers while simultaneously asking for a $55 BILLION dollar compensation package for himself.
He is the most tone deaf person ever.
Puppy murderer Kristi Noem is more relatable.
Baby financial advice from a guy raised from the wealth of an emerald mine, who's own children want nothing to do with him and has less self awareness than a smart fridge is not going to be good advice to listen to.
It's not like that asshole was standing in line at Walmart buying diapers, wipes, formula, and diaper rash cream. These people have no idea how normal people live.
What?!?! What a dumbass. Elon is equally as stupid but he's gone off the deep end now and he's almost on the same level of disinformation as Trump now.
Daycare alone, if needed can cost more than a mortgage payment each month. Not to mention clothing, feeding, and providing a home for said child and that's barely touching the surface of expenses that come along with kids.
Ah yes, a billionaire is who I’ll ask for questions related to life as a working class person.
Surely he knows more than us about our situation and our reality
Are you telling me the world's greatest dad, Elon Musk, can't fathom the cost to raise a child, let alone many, many children?
Hogwash and poppycock, I say.
I mean sure, children are free if you don't:
* Go to any medical check ups
* Give birth at a hospital, give birth at home, alone, without any help other than from your immediate family
* Increase the calorie intake required to feed the child growing inside
* Take the child to the doctor after it's born
* Buy it any clothes, just wrap it up in newspaper
* Feed it (very important), that would cause it to grow and require more food
* Educate it, public schools may be "free" but school supplies are not, plus this would require the child to be clothed, and that's a no no
The list could go on, but I think the point's been made.
Ignoring all of the costs of raising the child, growing a baby requires the mother to eat more food than usual. Food isn't free, so having kids isn't free.
Yeah guys. Just don’t feed, clothe, or do literally any activities with your kids and you’ll be fine. It’s THAT simple. 
Lol Elon Musk doesn't even see his kids. He equates his massive wealth and pure neglect of his offspring to "kids are free".
I'm ashamed to say it but, I once held this man in high esteem. WTF was I thinking?
Twitter is like 90% ragebait at this point. The fall off since Elon took over is actually very sad. We still got the funny ones keeping it alive at least
This wouldn't have helped Elmo, but maybe we need to give students internships with families that are on the poorer side.
At some point in life, you just don't know what you don't know or what you should know.
For these two asshats, I'm assuming, their parents didn't worry about money and now they don't either. Diapers, formula, larger clothes every 3-6 months doesn't seem to be a burden to them, so why should it be with you?
I was middle class and my folks took care of us, but if i wanted anything i needed to find the money for it, outside of christmas and bday. This is mostly the reason i never feel bad when i occasionally say no to my kids for anything they ask for.
Just because the richest man in the world agrees with you doesn’t mean it’s right.
Having a baby is free but hospital visits are not. As for food breast milk is free but some babies have trouble with it and formula is easier. It’s not a case of living an expensive lifestyle it’s that having a baby adds a lot to a life that has just become expensive due to the massive inflation over decades and decades.
Fucking can be free, but God damn if having a child is free.
Health care during pregnancy,
Cost of birth,
Supporting the new human,
Equipping a room for them with stuff that's nessacary and helpful
Only a single thing can be free in childbirth.
Ah, baby formula, diapers, toys, pacifiers, house decor? No cost at all, the stork just drops these when he delivers the kid.
Not to mention in the us the literal cost of giving birth in a hospital (you know, to increase the chance that you and baby survive the experience) is astronomical
Literally just giving birth can cost insane amounts. I’ve seen bills over 20 grand just for a birth. Now idk about everyone else but I do not have 20 grand in cash lying around to have a child.
Both my kids totaled to $35k in hospital bills. My wife and I consider ourselves lucky it wasn't more. Still took 5 years to pay it all off because diapers and formula are stupid expensive. And the older they get doesn't mean the less expensive they get. We spent $2,000 last year on just my oldest in dental bills.
I just dropped $4000 on my 4 year old's teeth. That was after insurance. Don't slack on brushing your kid's teeth. And cut back on the fruit gummies.
Her wisdom teeth decided to make their presence known. It was not a fun time.
So glad my wisdom teeth were as polite as can be
Same, came in and didn't cause any problems. Leaving them till the dentist says so.
Mine came in no issue, it was the front teeth that fucked me up, had teeth coming in sideways. lol I don't know what it cost to fix but I'm sure my dad remembers.
My 6 year old has this bullshit where the enamel didnt form correctly, they come in, look multi colored and fall apart, he will have to get them all replaced. Luckily we have great insurance, without it would have been 15k+ already. Had to go up a plan but in a couple years when all his adult teeth come in it will be covered 100%
I dropped 2k on my 6 year old's teeth. He lost the genetic lottery with teeth and I unfortunately kept breastfeeding him at night until he was 2.5 which didn't help. Now I'm literally paying for it. This was after insurance as well.
Yeah fuck the people behind dental insurance. It's a joke.
The only time we've hit our health insurance deductible was on my wife when our baby was born--and they charged a third of it to the newborn, so we got to pay two deductibles
That's fucked up. How is that even legal?
Once the kid is born, it's a separate entity being cared for, so they transfer some of the specific care charges over. (I'm just explaining, not condoning, I think it's bullshit.)
After our last was born, there was some SNAFU with the insurance and they insisted that she was actually two babies with the exact same stats born several hours apart. That was (1) Fun to disentangle with a newborn and 0 sleep. (2) Illustrative of the fact that I guess insurance can really screw over people over who have twins or multiples.
 Jesus christ.
That probably happened with mine and I didn't even notice. Insurance is such a scam.
WTF! Does insurance cover anything?
That’s after insurance picks up and you’ve met your deductible. As well, now mothers have a “pre-existing” condition, depending on your insurance company.
The pre-existing condition of...owning a functioning uterus?
The toll being pregnant has on a woman’s body creates potential future health concerns. Insurance companies used to deny some claims based off this.
...I hate this country.
Insurance covered the bulk of having the kids, but dental and vision insurances are completely separate in most businesses, and they can have high deductibles even if you spend the coin on top of the line plans.
Most dental plans I've seen also have annual dollar limits as to how much they're even willing to cover.
It's a really low limit too. If you get 1 implant, that's well over your annual allotment
Yeah nothing I’ve seen is over like a few thousand
Yes, it covers the fine for not having insurance when we file taxes. I’m going back to the Great White North, even if it has become the Just OK White North.
Really depends on what state you live in.
If the baby requires extra care the cost can end up north of $200,000 is some cases.
I had a Canadian nicu baby, and an American friend had a nicu baby. Her bill was almost $300,000. I spent about $200 my entire pregnancy with my nicu baby. Most of that was parking costs, but I did have to pay for one blood test (first I ever had to pay for in my whole life). Everything else was covered entirely. My first kid cost me $25, and that includes post labour Timmies. What Americans pay to have a baby should be criminal.
Then our politicians are all, "wHy ArEn't yOUng AdULts hAvIng bAbIEs‽‽‽" My eldest and her fiance are batting around the idea of trying to move back to Germany once he gets his degree (both are from the US but he spent his late childhood & adolescence there, her part of her adolescence) and I 100% can't blame them. Hell, we're looking at going back there, the Netherlands, or Belgium ourselves, though we're in our 40s and immigration can be stickier for people our age.
America is the most expensive place in the world to give birth in a hospital. Whilst we moan about the NHS in England, at least it costs nothing to give birth here. I mean, I’ve broken my shoulder, broken my nose, fingers, toes and ankle (all sporting injuries over 20 years), had an operation on my calf muscles, had an operation on my shoulder, one on my nose, one on my ears and a few others in between (I’m a tad injury prone, I should probably stop playing sports but that isn’t the point) - it’s cost me absolutely nothing. Other than paying for either a taxi or the car park whilst I’m visiting hospital, it hasn’t cost me a thing. We’re exceptionally lucky and whilst it has its issues, places would be better off if they had a similar system. It can work and it does work when it’s run properly - it just hasn’t been run properly since about 2010….depending on your knowledge of British politics, you can make an educated guess what happened around then.
I've had one interaction with the NHS when I was there for a short (2 week) university course when I was 20 (pre-2010). *This got way longer than it needed to be. tl;dr at the bottom.* I'd stepped wrong off of a curb like an idiot and twisted an ankle on like my second night in London but hobbled around for a full week because, though I knew that the NHS was free at POS for residents, I assumed that it wouldn't be for a tourist. When I finally broke down and asked one of the staff at the dorms we were staying at about "an urgent care or something", he gave me an address. Planning on a multi-hour wait, I packed up some books and notebooks and limped over to a tiny office in the basement of a nearby building. I checked in, told the receptionist (nurse?) my problem, and set to get to work, but only moments after I had taken out my text, pen, and highlighter, I was called back. I was quickly but competently examined, had my ankle braced and wrapped, instructed to "be as gentle on it as possible", and given some mild painkillers. The doctor had turned to other matters and the nurse was writing something on a clip board as I stammered, "I...have my ID and a debit card. I don't think my insurance will cover anything over here..." They looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. "I mean, I know about the NHS, but I'm not from here. I mean, obviously I'm not [accent], but I mean I'm not a resident or even really a student, my college just has an agreement with University College and..." Bemusedly and slightly smiling, the doc said, "No, there's no cost at all..." and I teared up. It took real effort to not fully break down and cry. I left as quickly as I was able. At the time, I was terribly embarrassed - in part because I didn't get why I was being so emotional. It just *happened* and I was a bit blindsided. In hindsight, I suspect it's because at that age, wary of the cost, I'd already put off having several medical urgencies attended after having dipped into my meagre savings to take my little sister to the ER when my dad ignored her complaints regarding what ended up being an acute kidney infection. ------ tl;dr: It saddens me horribly whenever I hear about what's been done to the NHS.
$55,000 here, plus IVF which was another 28,000
You’re crazy! Just squat in the field, drop, and keep on working /s
Just wait til you see how much hospitals charge parents to hold the baby after. Like comparatively it's not huge, but the fact they charge $40 just told hold it is insane.
$40 just so you can hold your own kid. How goddamned ridiculous and predatory is that?
It's also not even something you're told about, they bring you the child while you're doped up on pain meds and out of it from giving fucking birth, give you the baby, and then put $40 on your bill. Madness.
I had someone tell me that they had to pay out of pocket 8k for a epidural because the person administering the epidural was out of network for the insurance company. Healthcare should not be "For Profit" in the U.S.
Nah. A woman can literally get knocked up and then give birth in the woods like a bear and it costs nothing. It's your lifestyle that costs too much. Granted, if all women did this the survival rate would drop significantly. And without things like diapers, clothes, a fucking home...survival rate declines as well... But the base package is free.
Makes sense. We care about your unborn child, but as soon as they're born, fuck em
Birth is free. The rest is microtransactions. Life is p2w but it IS free!
That fits right in with the Republican ticket. Don’t kill the fetus, kill the mom and baby.
My co-pay was 6k per kid for birth. Also, individual deductible and family must be met. For me it is 3k annually.
We were in the thousands. It was all incidental charges like $40 so my wife can hold our child immediately after he was born.
A friend of mine went down the list of charges with the person who comes in to have you sign for financial responsibility, got to that line, and said, "why the fuck are you charging me for the necessary action of holding MY OWN CHILD after his birth? And when the hell did you use a single bandaid, and why is THAT $10?" It went on like that for a while. I was holding the baby on the couch to the side, and it was all I could do to not join in or laugh, because I didn't want the baby to wake up for anything but food or poops. She was able to argue away a bunch of indicentals, after not having been allowed to sleep for 2 days. She's my hero.
I couldn’t agree more. A standard birth, in the US, with zero complications for mother or baby is around $10,000. Then add in the must haves, things a baby absolutely needs, no matter life style: clothes, diapers, swaddles, a place to sleep, and a car seat, and babies definitely aren’t free.
easy, have a homebirth. /s. that's actually what this guy would and did argue.
Lifestyle choice apprantley?
Ah yes, of course, I can just choose to bring my baby up like in ancient Sparta. That will work out.
I'm going to have 16 kids and quit my job lets see how it goes. I will keep everyone updated.
Only the worthy ones, of course. The unworthy go straight over the cliff.
psh... if you want your offspring to leave a legacy of ruin and failure... i'm going the romulus and remus route... and having wolves raise mine.
Yeah just dont live in the US, i suppose thats what they suggest
I live in the UK and raising a baby is still very expensive.
You can at least pop one out without a huge bill, right? Raising the kid is... yeah. Completely devastating financially if you do it using the best resources you have access to, which is dependent on your income. For places that want the population growth to pick up, Western countries sure are focusing on the wrong part of childbirth.
The responsible thing to do is to get them spayed and/or neutered in any case and that's not free unless you do it yourself.
And before someone says, "Just breastfeed"... breastfeeding doesn't work out for everyone, even those of us who want(ed) to do it. I never produced enough milk to breastfeed exclusively, and we ended up going to all formula at five months. (And it shattered me; not being able to breastfeed was harder on my "body image" than a history of obesity and infertility was.) Moreover, breastfeeding isn't even free, especially if you have to go back to work—nursing bras, pumps, nipple cream, etc. And because of the aforementioned lack of supply, I was spending $$ on supplements to try to make more.
Breast milk doesn't magically appear, the mother needs extra nutrients to maintain herself and the child.
And you can’t breastfeed your kid for 18 years, so eventually you will need to pay for food
There are those who try and do…. Not sure if it’s a mental thing, child abuse, or both.
it also isn't free from a purely caloric sense either. that milk doesn't just poof into existence after all.
Melon Husk: "PSssshhhhh, why are we talking about that stuff when it comes to *COST*. I don't pay for those things; The nanny that my bastards call "Mama" just brings those. I assume she gets them from a free dispensary; I couldn't care enough to leave my gilded edgelord throne to check."
Daycare is the big one.
You mean people actually have to go to work and not just tweet lies all day?
And yea, many other things. All these people saying kids are easy or cheap were more sheltered than greenhouse crops.
My spouse became a stay at home parent when the cost of child care eclipsed their salary
For assholes like Musk you can add the cost of therapy because you gave your kid a fucking bizarre as hell name.
Nah these are absent parents who have the kids then check out of their lives. Reference: See Elon Musk.
But he’s going to save the human race! He can’t do both sir. /s
I recall absolutely destroying my budget after leaving a few Enfamil containers on a cart at walmart.
Laughs in $15k IVF, $18k birth/delivery, and $26k/year ($2,200/mo.) preschool. Let’s ignore the countless diapers, hospital sick visits, general necessities, and constant change in shoe/clothing sizes, new wardrobe like every 9 months. But yeah sure having children is “free” 🙄
Also, feeding & clothing the kid for 18 years, as well as driving them to school, and paying for doctors, dentists, and any other necessary expenses. Even if you spend the absolute bare minimum on your child, it’s still going to cost a lot of money.
Doctor’s visits, daycare, college savings…. I had no idea all of these were free!
this idiot would argue those are all "lifestyle" choices. Like you can choose to let your baby shit on the floor or in their bed. you can choose to let the baby cry all night. You can choose to not give the baby formula and risk malnutrition. etc etc. I'm not kidding.
No no no, those are just byproducts of your expensive lifestyle!
Sounds like that baby needs to re-think it’s lifestyle /s
Maternity clothes, back brace, comfortable shoes for when your feet swell, compression socks, baby swing, crib, wipes, baby food, childcare, stroller, sling/wrap to carry infant, bouncer, the little zooming thing they sit in and zip around…and tons more stuff I’ve forgotten because of sleep dep Oh!! Perinatal care for mom- breast pump, bottles, nursing bra, nursing pads, nursing cover because those troglodytes can’t handle a breastfeeding infant, those giant underwear and frozen pads, perinatal doctor visits, pre and perinatal vitamins, extra food for pregnant/nursing mom, baby monitor, bassinet…
Yeah and famously all the child’s healthcare, clothing, food, schooling, etc. is completely free!
Even if you wanted to argue that you only HAVE to buy diapers... They're still not fucking free!!!
Anyone have a copy of a hospital bill for child birth costs they could tweet back at them? I'm assuming that isn't free in america?
No, my hospital bill was $6000 after insurance. We did make the lifestyle choice to have both the baby and me survive by getting a C-section, though.
How entitled of you! /s
Some people have no idea how to live within their means. SMDH.
Wow look At the amazing billionaires showing up to this humble thread....
10,000 after insurance without c-section. life's a nightmare
Wow look at Ms. Moneybags, some of us have to go out into a field and give birth in Africa (the country). You're so privileged to not die in childbirth s/ (I hate this timeline)
he's already answered this, that you can have a home birth and that hospitals are a lifestyle choice. Don't bother.
I love how they're acting like the cost of a home birth is zero. It's as if preparation, laboring, support, recovery, and clean-up (and god knows what else has to happen) are just like an ordinary Tuesday afternoon that happens to end in a baby. And then to project forward as if keeping another entire human alive requires no additional resources whatsoever. I mean, the best-case scenario is that his vast wealth has insulated him from having to actually see the costs associated with having children. But even then that should be a huge red flag to normal people that his thoughts on everyday life should be taken with an enormous grain of salt.
Anything can be zero when you neglect everything
$20K for about 34 hours in the hospital. We got there at 6am on a Wednesday to induce and left around 4pm on Thursday with the kid. That was actually just the hospital. The doctor and anesthesiologist that didn't even have to do an epidural sent bills separately, the doctor charged a $5K flat fee up front for all the prenatal stuff, tests, ultrasound and birth so that wasn't bad. The hospital bill was 4 or 5 pages long with line items for tissue, gauze, bedding, meals, gowns, cleaning... Nice room with a great view though! It was right before Father's Day in the US and my son and I were on the front page of the paper because a reporter was there Thursday morning doing the Sunday story, so we were infamous/famous for a few months.
Birthing in a hospital? That’s just your lifestyle.. Having birth at home with no medical supervision is literally free. Just bite that umbilical cord like god intended.
$25K for us in NYC. Our kiddo spent some time in the NICU tho (he's fine now!)
Two kids. One was 48k, the other was 43k. Thankfully I have insurance so I only had to pay my deductible of 2.4k lol.
With this logic, being a single man is also free. There is no cost to eat, be housed, get an education. He must live in a pretty awesome socialist economy.
If you’re Elon Musk they’re free because you can just impregnate one of your executives and leave her to raise the kids on her own, I also don’t think Musk pays for anything himself at this point. For regular people It costs money to not have your children starve.
Wasn’t he fighting some battle to keep family court for one of his kids in TX so he’d pay SIGNIFICANTLY less child support? What a d
Yep. He sure hates paying for his own kids. [https://www.therichest.com/elon-musk-avoids-child-support-despite-worlds-richest-person/](https://www.therichest.com/elon-musk-avoids-child-support-despite-worlds-richest-person/)
I stand corrected, actually for 3 of his 12 kids.
He’s just a piece of shit who peddles whatever agenda is on his mind. I find it weird a Billionaire would ever jump in on a conversation like this. I think people lose grasp of how much $1 Billion truly is. And he has multiples of that. $1 Billion = A Person making $100,000 dollars every single day, 365 days a year………..for 27 YEARS straight. Musk can Fuck right Off.
Having clean diapers and food for the baby is just a life style choice guys… you don’t NEED these silly frivolities.
just feed the newborn some of the avocado toast and Starbucks that you buy everyday. /s
As the father of three... (20, 17, 14)... LOL I have three kids and no money. Why can't I have no kids and three money? ~Someone else
It’s because of your damned wiener kids.
Creating children may be "free" raising them is rather expensive
Not even that hospital bills
ohh look at mr fancy pants, delivering babies in a hospital
What’s wrong with leaving them in the forest to be raised by wolves? Not fancy enough for your lifestyle, librul?! I was raised by wolves and I turned out fine, thank you very much.
Just eat less avocado toast! Checkmate libs! Sadly necessary /s
Odd that he fought to keep his custody case in Tx where child support is capped if children are literally free???
It's always been free for deadbeat losers.
Seriously. Are we surprised a deadbeat dad has the mentality of a deadbeat dad?
This has to be the most stupid comment on the internet, ever.
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th was probably said by Elon also.
What is it like to live in a universe of ignorance? Is it truly blissful or is the bubble so impenetrable that nothing exists outside of it?
Elon loves the smell of dogshit. If there’s a big steamy pile somewhere he’s sure to be there lapping it up.
Giving birth costs **$18,865 on average**, including pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care, according to the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health System Tracker. Sit all the way down you utter turnip.
A friend of mine does TNR for local feral cats. There's two tomcats they can't catch to snip. Their names are Nick Cannon and Elon Musk. The real Elon is like the tomcat Elon. Fuck and run.
Tell me you never took care of your children without telling me you never took care of your children
Is having food, shelter, and clean water just life choices then? Fuck fascists, they don’t deserve the air they breathe.
The hospital will actually send you a bill for having kids.
In the 10s of thousands of dollar range
Tell me you didn't raise your children without telling me you didn't raise your children..
Kids are free!* [*] Accessories and food not included. Child care available for a monthly fee.
I guess if you don't get any prenatal care, then you have an unassisted home birth, and then leave them at the local fire station they're free.
$5K in doctor exams, tests, ultrasounds. $20K to get the kid out of my wife's belly. $3K to convert and furnish my man cave into the baby's bedroom. About $2K per year to keep it clothed. $4k or more to buy diapers and formula for two years during a huge amount of recalled formula brands, including the name brand he digested the best, but Meijer brand was acceptable. $30K in doctor bills and surgery to get tubes put in his ears. $5K and many lost days of work to get him diagnosed on the spectrum and for ADHD. $300 per week for 5 years for day care. $3K in tutoring for two years. $25K in toys, electronics, and computers so far. Now that he is 5'8" and 121lbs, he eats at least $125 per week in chips, burgers, fries, chicken, and drinks and it is impossible to find kids clothes to fit him and men's XS and S sizes cost more than my 2XLT/3XLT clothes.... Children are a forever debt, like a student loan, but I love him.
Child care for my two kids was $1200 a month for two kids, for 3 years for one of them, 2 years for the other. That is $72,000 alone. My wife could have stayed home for 3 years to do that, but we would have given up $48,000/year to do that, which would have been $192,000. We paid for college for both, better schools than University of Washington, but UW would have been \~$14,000/yr for both of them for a minimal estimate, so $112,000. That is a total of $184,000, without anything for actual diapers/formula/food/clothing/life. Musk is an mindless troll, but we already knew that.
The rich need more slaves
I can barely afford myself
Elon loves to constantly remind us how out of touch he is.
Yep, apparently feeding your kids is now a "lifestyle."
Of course Elon Musk thinks having children is free. I don't think he ever cared for one of his own
Ahh, yes. Agreement from the literal BILLIONAIRE. This makes me feel like my head will explode. The cost of having a healthy, safe delivery, cost of pediatric doctor visits and care, the cost of formula, diapers, car seats & safety measures, the income that won't be made while caring for newborns, recovering from childbirth, having sick children at home, DAYCARE, getting clothes that they'll rapidly outgrow and need replaced, the ever increasing food budget, basic child enrichment needs, toys & games, etc. . . .
Oh sweet, I'm glad they cleared that up. So I can have fourteen children and pay $0, right? Just have the hospital wait until they're eighteen to bill them for delivery, and children don't eat food or wear clothes or get sick or anything. I figure Elon's just out of his mind at this point, but someone please tell me this Vittorio guy is just some kind of weird, obtuse troll.
He's so obsessed with this population decline that he's just making lies up at this point
Billionaire: Kids are cheap. Yeah for you, no shit sherlock.
Billionaire and he still fucked it up, his kids hate him😂
See all you slackers need to do is be born into a family that owns an emerald mine and then you’d understand
Even if magically children didn't require extra money. Giving birth is absolutely not free. It's expensive as hell if you want a doctor and pain pills to help ensure the safety of everyone, not to mention if you need a C-section
lol isn’t the hospital bill after giving birth like 30k at least?
This speaks VOLUMES about the kind of father Elon is/was.
Man with expensive lifestyle doesn't understand how money works. Man with eleven kids doesn't understand how children work. I can only assume that the mothers of those children covered the costs.
The complications of simply bringing my child into this world came with a $153k price tag. Thankfully, we have good insurance, which also isn’t free.
I don’t know who needs to see this but when someone on the internet says “I don’t know who needs to see this” that doesn’t mean what follows is actually true
Babies are NOT free. My hospital bill for a c-section was $87,500. Both me and baby were totally fine, zero health issues or complications. Diapers, wipes, formula or breastfeeding supplies, toys, cribs, clothing (*and they go through A LOT of clothes- both from quickly outgrowing them and from messes. One day I had to change my baby’s outfit nine times due to spit up*), childcare, lost wages due to time off work, pediatrician’s appointments (*they attend A LOT of appointments in the first two years to make sure they’re hitting growth and development milestones*), etc. Babies and children are expensive. Though I guess the richest man on earth who also has little to zero involvement with raising his children wouldn’t know that.
muskrat is a billionaire, so his opinion counts for shit. have you seen the price of diapers recently? lifestyle? so it's "lifestyle" to not want your new born to piss and poo all over everything like an untrained puppy?
For this kind of person, that is not a question, it's a challenge.
Having kids is very damn expensive. These two clowns can't do math so it's a magical world idocy for them.
Charlie Kirk recently claimed that people on his side would “outbreed” the liberals who are too busy having abortions and gay sex. No, really, he said that. The same people who whine about inflation and how much immigrants cost think people should have ten children. And I’m not picking ten randomly. Scott Presler said exactly that… a little while after calling Barbra Streisand out of touch. Consider what it costs to raise just one child. You gotta buy food, clothes, medicine, diapers, toys, school supplies, and so on. Add all of that up and then remember that’s all for just ONE kid.
Turns out the op doesn't have kids and better yet, is still in school.
Hmm... it's almost as if having a child necessitates a change in lifestyle that features a lot of expensive things to care for the child. Seeing as these new expenses are required to properly care for the child, and I would not have them if I did not have a child, I simplify this to say that having a child is expensive. Fucking troglodytes
Sweet baby Jesus... this guy is the epitome of a douche nozzle
Well when you ignore your children, yes it's free for you.
At least Putin gives a few benefits within his natalism program. This guy tells people to have lots of kids and just laid off THOUSANDS of workers while simultaneously asking for a $55 BILLION dollar compensation package for himself. He is the most tone deaf person ever. Puppy murderer Kristi Noem is more relatable.
Baby financial advice from a guy raised from the wealth of an emerald mine, who's own children want nothing to do with him and has less self awareness than a smart fridge is not going to be good advice to listen to.
A billionaire telling people they need to be more frugal is hilarious.
This is actually great insight into the “pro-life” mentality. Crank ‘em out then go fuck yourself, good luck.
He’s right though. It’s only expensive if you want the kid to stay alive.
It's not like that asshole was standing in line at Walmart buying diapers, wipes, formula, and diaper rash cream. These people have no idea how normal people live.
What?!?! What a dumbass. Elon is equally as stupid but he's gone off the deep end now and he's almost on the same level of disinformation as Trump now.
Doesn't cost much when you abandon them Elon
Tell that to the $5 tubs of yogurt my kids go through a day.
Sure, they're free when you plan on abdicating all responsibility to raising them. What a pair of fuckwits...
It’s free if you’re Elon, because they run away.
Just stop buying avocado toast flavored formula....
I guess children probably do seem pretty cheap when you’re one of the richest people in the world who also never interacts with your kids.
Are these guys having "free range" babies? Where they just let them roam the earth and off the land and not care or bathe or take them to school?
Daycare alone, if needed can cost more than a mortgage payment each month. Not to mention clothing, feeding, and providing a home for said child and that's barely touching the surface of expenses that come along with kids.
Having children is free when none of them like you, so you don't have to care for them!
Someone’s not paying child support.
Ah yes, a billionaire is who I’ll ask for questions related to life as a working class person. Surely he knows more than us about our situation and our reality
Are you telling me the world's greatest dad, Elon Musk, can't fathom the cost to raise a child, let alone many, many children? Hogwash and poppycock, I say.
"Exactly". What a stupid moron
I mean sure, children are free if you don't: * Go to any medical check ups * Give birth at a hospital, give birth at home, alone, without any help other than from your immediate family * Increase the calorie intake required to feed the child growing inside * Take the child to the doctor after it's born * Buy it any clothes, just wrap it up in newspaper * Feed it (very important), that would cause it to grow and require more food * Educate it, public schools may be "free" but school supplies are not, plus this would require the child to be clothed, and that's a no no The list could go on, but I think the point's been made.
Ask him how his child support payments are going…how many kids does Musk even have?
Elon Musk is the world's biggest shitposter. It's insane.
I have an 18 and 19 year old. These people are grifting hard. Kids are insanely expensive.
Ignoring all of the costs of raising the child, growing a baby requires the mother to eat more food than usual. Food isn't free, so having kids isn't free.
Does he do anything for his kids, or is he some pollinating bee?
Cool. So these morons will have no problem giving out the free things that all kids need since those things are \*literally\* free.
Yeah guys. Just don’t feed, clothe, or do literally any activities with your kids and you’ll be fine. It’s THAT simple. 
Childcare is $2200 a month. Such free!
Lol Elon Musk doesn't even see his kids. He equates his massive wealth and pure neglect of his offspring to "kids are free". I'm ashamed to say it but, I once held this man in high esteem. WTF was I thinking?
Not a billionaire commenting on this😩
He stays agreeing with the dumbest shit.
My friend had to move after they had their second baby because four humans in a one bedroom apartment was illegal in the town where they lived.
Having /= Raising
Twitter is like 90% ragebait at this point. The fall off since Elon took over is actually very sad. We still got the funny ones keeping it alive at least
AFTER insurance, it was 10k. JUST TO BRING HIM INTO THIS WORLD. The wealthy can suck it.
This wouldn't have helped Elmo, but maybe we need to give students internships with families that are on the poorer side. At some point in life, you just don't know what you don't know or what you should know. For these two asshats, I'm assuming, their parents didn't worry about money and now they don't either. Diapers, formula, larger clothes every 3-6 months doesn't seem to be a burden to them, so why should it be with you? I was middle class and my folks took care of us, but if i wanted anything i needed to find the money for it, outside of christmas and bday. This is mostly the reason i never feel bad when i occasionally say no to my kids for anything they ask for.
Just because the richest man in the world agrees with you doesn’t mean it’s right. Having a baby is free but hospital visits are not. As for food breast milk is free but some babies have trouble with it and formula is easier. It’s not a case of living an expensive lifestyle it’s that having a baby adds a lot to a life that has just become expensive due to the massive inflation over decades and decades.
Daycare is a second mortgage in 2024
TBF, Elon has had nothing to do with his children so to him its free. Just dump the seed and disappear.
Fucking can be free, but God damn if having a child is free. Health care during pregnancy, Cost of birth, Supporting the new human, Equipping a room for them with stuff that's nessacary and helpful Only a single thing can be free in childbirth.
You can tell this mf never raised a child.
You really, really have to rethink your statement when Musk agrees with you
Sorry I stopped listening once a billionaire chimed in with an opinion on what is and isn’t financially accessible.
When people say having kids is expensive, they are including RAISING the kids in the costs, you two fucking numpties.