To HODL or have kids? The IVF Bitcoin Babies paid for with BTC profits – Cointelegraph

Hold Bitcoin till the very end or sell a little bit to start a family? For one Bitcoiner in northwest London, it was a no-brainer.

Noodle (a nickname), a Brit who first heard about Bitcoin around 2012, took profits on his Bitcoin buys to pay for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment for his wife. He told Cointelegraph he has no regrets, about his decision to start a family using fiat-denominated profits from buying, holding, a then selling Bitcoin.

Noodle first found out about Bitcoin at the tail end of 2012, when 1 BTC was worth roughly $13.

The now-defunct marketplace Silk Roadwas a place where early Bitcoin users could buy and sell pretty much anything using Bitcoin as the in-house currency. At the time, Noodle didnt necessarily dismiss Bitcoin despite his gym buddy's recommendation, but it passed him by until a close friend explained how to buy cannabis with Bitcoin on the Silk Road.

Once his close mate had explained that they might be able to use the Bitcoin to buy real-world items, Noodle was convinced:

The price of Bitcoin has since risen almost 400x higher, to a $20,000 bear market value in 2022. For Noodle in 2013, he explained it was actually quite difficult to obtain Bitcoin it was a really convoluted process. However, he persevered and managed to obtain Bitcoin to buy goods. Unknowingly, Noodle had alsotripped down the rabbit holeand his Bitcoin journey had just begun.

For Noodle, Bitcoin opened his eyes to finance, education and a whole world of new information. From fractional reserve banking tothe Federal Reservetocurrency debasement and how money works, Noodle was hooked. Naturally, Noodles wife with whom hed been since 2008, was exposed to Noodles newfound passion.

The passion eventually rubbed off as in 2014, Noodles wife took some of the newly married couples wedding money to buy Bitcoin. Noodle jokes, And who would know [...] that that Bitcoin would then go on to effectively fund IVF which is not fuking cheap!

The Noodle family had always planned to have kids. Sadly, due to the medical condition of his wide, conceiving was a challenge. They sought medical advice and soon realized that they may have to undergo fertility treatment:

IVF is a fertility technique in which an egg is removed from the woman's ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilized egg is returned to the woman's womb to grow and develop.

The process is time-consuming, expensive and has a success rate of 4% to 38% depending on various factors. Plus, as Noodle alluded to, there is still a stigma attached to IVF treatment, despite being a regular occurrence in Noodles home country, the United Kingdom.Noodle continued:

So Noodle sold some Bitcoin. In sum, Noodle converted north of $70,000 in Bitcoin into government-issued poundsover the course of a few years. The fiat-denominated profits paid for several rounds of IVF treatment for both of his children leading to two healthy babies.

Without Bitcoin, Noodle explained he would have likely taken out a loan to pay for the treatment: Family is important to me, and I would have thrown anything and everything at it in order to try and make it work. But we were very fortunate that we had some Bitcoin, and I didn't sell it for a long time.

Related: The UK 'Bitcoin Adventure' shows BTC is a family affair

With Bitcoin, Noodle and his wife were able to live their dream of starting a family, but debt free. As for whether or not there might be any more Bitcoin baby Noodles running around northwest London soon, Noodle joked, I think we're done with two kids unless the price goes super crazy!

Noodles story is part of an upcoming crypto story on Cointelegraphs YouTube channel. Subscribe here.

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To HODL or have kids? The IVF Bitcoin Babies paid for with BTC profits - Cointelegraph