Ohio mom’s hospital bill for twins’ birth costs more than a college degree: ‘America can feel…’

As birth rates in the U.S. continue to drop, one mother's TikTok post about her hospital bills is striking a chord across generations. Emily Fisher, (_e_fish_), a 36-year-old from Ohio, recently gave birth to twin daughters and took to TikTok to share what many are thinking, but few say out loud: having kids in America can feel financially impossible.

Her video, which quickly went viral, seemed like a rant, but she had her bills handy and did a quick breakdown of real numbers. After a closely monitored pregnancy and a scheduled C-section, Fisher was shocked to see that her insurance had been billed more than $120,000 for delivery and care. Though she only paid about $2,800 out of pocket thanks to what she calls “great insurance,” she knows that level of coverage is far from common. “If I didn’t have that,” she said, “I probably would’ve had to file for bankruptcy, " she is heard saying in the video. 

Each of her twin daughters was billed separately for care, over $15,000 each, as medical charges stacked up like college tuition receipts. One hospital visit for a mild headache and precautionary testing during pregnancy cost over $9,000. “They weren’t even born yet, and they’ve already been billed more than my entire student loan debt,” she said, half-laughing, half-stunned. She told Newsweek,  "With housing, food, and childcare costs outpacing wages, the things that used to be within reach for a lot of families (like our parents' generations) are becoming unattainable. We can't expect people to buy into having kids when the costs of having them are more than it costs to get a college degree."

What started as a personal opinion has now turned into part of a bigger national conversation. According to the CDC, the U.S. fertility rate dropped by another 3% in 2023, hitting historic lows. Fisher also said that when she experienced a headache at seven months pregnant and her blood pressure was only slightly elevated, the hospital tested for preeclampsia, monitored the babies' heart rates, gave her two extra-strength Tylenol pills, and performed blood work, and for that, the bill came up to $9,115.

Recent data backs her up. A 2017 study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated it would cost a middle-income family about $233,000 to raise a child to age 17. Adjusted for inflation, a child born in 2025 could cost families over $318,000, and that doesn’t include college. Today, that figure is even higher, with some estimates now topping $400,000. Fisher said that even with a bachelor’s and master’s degree, the cost of infant daycare alone will soon outpace her entire student debt. Two years of childcare for her twins, she says, will cost more than her college education. And she's not alone. A Pew Research study found that cost was one of the top unspoken reasons young adults were choosing not to have children. 

You can follow @_e_fish_ on TikTok for more such videos.