Before we had our daughter, I had almost $2K saved up to use while I was a stay at home mom. I went through almost all of it on medical bills before she was born. I still carry massive credit card debt because I spent over a decade being unable to work full time.
There are SO many costs that they don't tell you a gd thing about that has absolutely nothing to do with keeping the kid alive after birth. I know people that walk out of the hospital with literal tens of thousands in dollars of debt for having a kid + future dr. visits. They're a fortune
This is why I never try to change anyone's mind when they tell me they aren't sure they want kids. I get it. They're expensive and time consuming - fuck, they are ALL-consuming! To each their own 🤷♀️ (I love my kids, and they are worth all of it. Every penny, every pain, all the lost sleep)
meanwhile, with our insurance, we got out of there with essentially an expensive adoption fee. Even people who are 'doing the right thing' and fully insured have massively different experiences
My son's birth involved an attempted induction that lasted 48 hours. I tapped out and had a c section. The cord was wrapped around his neck, twice. Without insurance, we would've had to pay out over $40K.