Wife Sent Her Husband A $175K Invoice For The Birth Of Their Fourth Baby
Seems like it should be more...
Natalia Deriabina | Shutterstock The cost of giving birth is nothing short of astronomical. Most parents, whether it's their first baby or they've been through the rodeo before, are usually prepared to be hit by the sky-high hospital bill that comes shortly after they've just pushed out a human and had their lives changed forever. After welcoming her fourth baby with her husband, a mom named Vanessa Taylor admitted that she had a solution to the six-figure bill that they got after she had given birth.
In a TikTok video, Taylor, all in good fun, itemized the costs she would be billing her husband and the reasons why she should be compensated for birthing their child. While it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, it definitely does highlight the sobering reality for many parents in this country.
A wife sent her husband a $175k invoice for the birth of their fourth baby.
"Here's everything I charged my husband for the birth of our fourth child," Taylor began in her video. She explained that not only was she charging for the actual labor, but also the nine-month period leading up to the birth of their baby.
She insisted that for the incubation and housing, along with a "fully-furnished" womb that had "24/7 temperature control," her husband would be getting charged $8,000 for nine months. That ended up totaling out to $72,000. On top of that, Taylor pointed out that there were doctors' appointments and administrative fees, including labs, ultrasounds, waiting room time, commuting back and forth, and co-pays.
"That's why it's at $5,000. Then we have pain and suffering, both physical and emotional. This includes stuff like morning sickness, heartburn, swelling, food aversions, and unsolicited advice from strangers," Taylor continued. "That's priced at $20,000."
Taylor didn't stop there, claiming there were also convenience and handling fees of $3,000, then the actual delivery fee of $10,000, with an extra $5,000 tacked on because Taylor didn't give birth with any medication. For postpartum recovery, she insisted that her husband owed her at least $3,000, with an extra $500 a night for all the sleepless nights she'd have moving forward.
And then finally, Taylor admitted that she was charging her husband at least $40,000 for what she called the "liquid gold premium," which she explained was compensation for the reality of breastfeeding and the pain that usually came from that. All in all, the invoice came out to roughly $175,000.
Society doesn't want to give up the fairytale version of pregnancy and birth.
Krakenimages.com | Shutterstock
Talk to any woman who has endured a pregnancy, and she'll likely paint a picture that looks a lot different than the Hallmark version most people have in their heads. That rapidly changing body isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Sure, there are amazing moments like hearing that little heartbeat for the first time or feeling those kicks, but there's also months of being poked and prodded by doctors and upset stomachs and headaches and sore backs and sleepless nights, and the list goes on.
Remember when Princess Kate Middleton was applauded for her bravery, showing off her post-birth body? Bravery? Why, because she dared to emerge from the hospital and get photographed before her body was perfectly at pre-pregnancy weight and proportions again?
Everyone wants to glamorize the entire birthing process, but they are unwilling to acknowledge what it actually looks like. A piece for PBS reported that back in 2020, Frida Mom, a company that sells postpartum products, tried to offer a more realistic depiction of life after a new mom leaves the hospital in an ad for the Oscars. According to the outlet, the ad featured a "woman recently home from the hospital. The loose skin of her stomach showed stretch marks, and she was wearing disposable mesh underwear that hospitals commonly give new mothers for incontinence and bleeding. The woman shuffled past her stirring infant to the bathroom, where she struggled to sit on the toilet. She winced in pain and used a spray bottle of water to clean herself — toilet paper is often abrasive and painful after vaginal delivery. ABC and the Academy Awards rejected the commercial." Let that sink in for a second.
Even with insurance, the costs of childbirth are astronomical.
The U.S. has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in developed countries. Part of that rests on the fact that no one wants to even talk about women's health as separate from men's health, let alone invest any money into researching it. Add to that the fact that most people talk about birth like it's this thing you should do, and then immediately be able to start working in fields again. That minimization is why, when lower-income mothers are priced out of pregnancy and childbirth care, no one seems to give a hoot. The mentality is, women have been doing this since the beginning of time, it's no big deal.
According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), the out-of-pocket cost of giving birth, even with insurance, is $2,854. In total, pregnancy and childbirth for someone with private insurance costs about $18,865. That's without any complications at all.
Most of that is paid by the insurance plan, but it can still result in higher insurance premiums down the line. Even though the $2,854 figure is just one fraction of the overall cost, it represents the bills new parents have to pay on their own for a single birth.
However, there might be hope on the horizon for parents. A bipartisan group of senators announced a bill called the Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act (S.1834) in May 2025, which aims to eliminate all out-of-pocket costs related to prenatal care, childbirth, and postpartum services for those with private health insurance.
"This idea is simple and powerful: Pregnancy and childbirth are normal parts of family life. So, insurance companies should treat it like the routine care it is and cover the cost—not stick people with huge medical bills," explained Sen. Hyde-Smith said in a statement announcing the legislation.
Whether or not this bill ends up getting passed definitely doesn't erase the reality that many parents often end up going into debt just to have a baby. While Taylor was only joking about sending her husband an invoice, a $175,000 labor bill isn't that out of left field for many families, and it's just another reminder that women's healthcare needs to stop taking a backseat.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
