applying for life insurance if you have gd or some other medical condition during pregnancy

hb7 · March 2017

I have gestational diabetes and am concerned about applying for life insurance after the pregnancy and going through the medical underwriting. Even though it typically does go away after pregnancy I would imagine that premiums will be higher. Has anyone heard any guidelines for how long to wait? I asked my doctor and he said that labs such as cholesterol may even be off for up to a year after pregnancy, though I have never had a problem with cholesterol. I would prefer not to go without life insurance for a year. Any thoughts?

Pancake227 · March 2017

I'd ask your representative. I remember when we did ours the rep told me they are more lax when you're pregnant so to do it then. I'm not sure if that goes for everyone everywhere.

visualcircus · March 2017

I would go ahead and get it. I got the life insurance quotes during my first pregnancy and it's worth the peace of mind from having coverage.

smallanimal · March 2017

GD stops being a condition in the vast majority of cases, once the baby is born, and in our country you do not need to declare it. If later on you DO get diagnosed with (normal) diabetes, that's a different story, but for now I would say assume that the moment the baby pops out, you are "cured", that's what I got told. It will probably not cover your birth related eventuality of loss of life, but will cover everything else.

MWoodside · March 2017

I would get follow up bloodwork post-pregnancy with your dr to check the results, and if they look good go ahead and apply. I am planning to purchase a term policy post pregnancy once I am back to my normalish weight since I don't want to be penalized for a higher BMI while shedding the pregnancy pounds. Right now I just have a policy through work, but I want term, too.

MWoodside · March 2017

But honestly I cannot imagine GD wouldn't be a factor into your rate b/c if you get pregnant in the future it could come back and be an issue again.

catem07 · March 2017

@MWoodside I didn't think about the weight thing. Do you know if you get penalized for being "overweight" or is it just for being "obese" (I use quotes because BMI is such a bunk measurement...)? DH and I are going to meet with our financial guy to get more life insurance once baby is born but I hadn't thought about that piece. We both have policies through work but a) want more and b) are hoping to get new jobs in the next 6 months.

Magheeta · March 2017

Definitely talk to your agent about this. They will know how to advise you on this, and there could be a "grace" type thing for pregnancies. My company had some major changes happen while I was pregnant, so I basically lost all of my life insurance. We had to go through our agent to purchase more (we should have done this a long time ago, anyway) and she didn't seem concerned with there being a huge difference in rates. I did notice that my cholesterol was high, which is really unusual for me. Turns out, your cholesterol can be higher during pregnancy, so I would think follow up labs after having the baby would help with that.

I shopped rates online generically (good health, non smoker, etc) and the rates came out to about the same after the blood work and physicals were done. I was about 20 lbs heavier than usual, and had higher cholesterol, too. Just throwing that out there, but you should definitely talk to your insurance agent.

Taylor72 · March 2017

@catem07 my DH and I got life insurance and he was seriously like 1 point into the "overweight" category and the guy doing it said it was such a joke but that he would probably be penalized for it soooo magically...my husband grew a few inches that day and was in the "normal" (major eyeroll) range

MWoodside · March 2017

BMI is a factor for sure. DH just got quotes and the rates increase as BMI increases. We are going through Financial Peace University currently and the instructors wife recommended I wait until I am back to my normal weight (within normal/healthy BMI) b/c she got life insurance while she was pregnant and paid much higher premiums as a result of the higher BMI. It's so much better to buy it as young as you can b/c the premiums are so much cheaper, but yeah I am waiting until I am down to normal weight. Who knows how that will go this time. With DD1 it took me about 9 months, with DD2 I was there by 8 wks b/c she had a lot of dietary restrictions and I was nursing so I had them as a result.

MWoodside · March 2017

Not to derail this thread, but along the same lines of future financial planning it's really important to have a will when you have kids to make sure the child/children go to who you want in case both of the parents pass away.

catem07 · March 2017

@mwoodside That's something that's weighing on us a bit. I actually thought about bringing it up on the board. Our solution right now is for Baby to go to my mom, but (in my opinion) that's a bad long-term solution because my mom is 63, pretty much ensuring that before she graduates from college Baby would be orphaned a second time. We wouldn't want our kids to go to either of our brothers (at least not at this point in their lives).

pammasu0909 · March 2017

GD mommy here. I have additional life insurance through work, not on my own so I don't know if it matters but I disclosed the GD after my last baby and still got coverage with no extra costs to me.

schef070911 · March 2017

@catem07 We haven't finalized a will yet since we will move several months after LO is born and will have to get it signed/on file all over again, but for that reason my mom suggested we make either my brother/SIL or DH's BIL/sister guardians. We are going to go with his side because they are older than us and already have small children (but can always revise as situations change). We will also set up a trust with DH's sister and my brother as the trustees (so they can make balanced financial decisions together). Our plan is to have the will drawn up by the time we move (July) and signed/notarized once we get there.

Right now I have life insurance through work but DH is a student and does not. Once we move we will both get it and before then I need to read up on all our options!

HGRich · March 2017

Oof. DH and I do Dave Ramsey, and still haven't made a will. We don't know who we want her to go to. DH's parents are quite a bit older than mine and have both had cancer, but my parents haven't taken good care of their health either. None of our collective six siblings are married or stable. Primarily because most are younger. But our youngest siblings, for both of us, are in very serious relationships that will probably lead to marriage and are about to graduate college. So basically we want to see which one gets married and stable jobs first. Haha. But that's also waiting a bit long to make a will. It could be a couple of years still.

Eta DH is trying to lose some pounds before getting a new life insurance policy. He had one, currently doesn't, and won't get another until he's reached his weight goal. I keep telling him I'd rather he just had one even if the cost was higher. Or he just needs to hurry up and lose the weight! Lol.

kitkat8387 · March 2017

I applied for life insurance a couple of months ago and during the medical exam I was definitely getting worried because I am currently overweight (obviously, due to pregnancy) and have high cholesterol (also due to pregnancy which I didn't realize was a thing until I panicked at the number and did some research - never had high cholesterol in my life). However, it doesn't seem to have impacted my rate at all - I ended up getting the original rate I was quoted for a healthy non-smoker. My insurance is through Allstate. I would assume GD would be treated similarly.

We set up a living trust with a lawyer last month too, which includes all of the guardian nominations and everything. We also struggled with choosing a guardian...we ended up going with my mom, although she is 55, because she is in excellent health and lives nearby. DH's parents are in their 60's and also live 2,000 miles away, and have had a few health issues over the years. Backup is my BIL, who is not married but is 30 and pretty mature. My other BIL and my brother are both 27 but have the maturity level of teenagers, so those were not practical options lol.

catem07 · March 2017

kitkat8387 said:

My other BIL and my brother are both 27 but have the maturity level of teenagers, so those were not practical options lol.

My life, except my brother is 31. BIL is only 23, so a little more acceptable.

KirstinH88 · March 2017

High fives to all of you who are doing some serious adulting with life insurance and wills. FFMC, but apparently, I'm sucking at that. I've thought about who I would want to have the boys in case of an accident, but nothing has even been talked out or written out. And life insurance....yea.... I need to adult a little better...

MWoodside · March 2017

pammasu0909 said:

GD mommy here. I have additional life insurance through work, not on my own so I don't know if it matters but I disclosed the GD after my last baby and still got coverage with no extra costs to me.

Term is totally different in that regard.

MWoodside · March 2017

@HGRich, we do Dave Ramsey, too. We are in FPU currently, last week is the last class. I love it!

This isn't directed at anyone in particular, just sharing info. So if you don't have a will it really won't matter who you want the child/children to go to. If multiple people want the kids and it isn't documented in a will what your choice was then those people can all fight for the kids. Same with any money you leave behind. It all gets held up in probate. It is so hard to formally choose who you want to do what! For our children, we chose the family member (and his spouse) who seems to be most aligned with us in terms of how to parent. We utilize attachment and gentle parenting techniques so we don't want a spanker or authoritarian person raising our children, etc. But we did out a separate person in charge of finances b/c that was this person's forte. Just food for thought. Also, my employer had a benefit that paid for our will costs so that was neat!

KirstinH88 · March 2017

Random question because you guys all have me thinking a bit deeper. Would it be weird to will your children to someone who isn't family? My top choice would be my mom. I'm not even sure that she would want to take on that responsibility heaven forbid something happen, because she is living her single, child-free life now (haha!). But other than that, I want someone who is financially stable and can provide not just the love I'd want my kids to receive, but the material things as well (I understand this may come off completely wrong....). Anywho, DH's mom is just not an option in my mind because of the financial stability issue. My sister and my SIL already have 3 kids each and I feel like they are full with responsibility as well and wouldn't want to add to their plate, plus they just don't parent how I do. All this to say, if my mom didn't want that responsibility of raising her grandsons, would it be weird to have someone like my best friend be the person. The boys call her "Auntie first name" but she isn't married, has no kids, but has her life together and would make an amazing mother (I am so rooting for her to pop out babies soon).

rachelmiller03 · March 2017

@KirstinH88 My best friend (B) has our other friend (C) as her children's legal guardian should anything happen to her. Her (B's) husband passed away suddenly when she was 12 along weeks with her youngest, so she really got all of her affairs in order after that. I am the second in the will, should other friend (C) be unable to take the kids at that time. When she spoke with both of us, we both made it fully aware that we would make sure her family was still a huge part of her kids lives.

schef070911 · March 2017

@KirstinH88 Yes, you can absolutely do that (and I think lots of people do!) BUT I'd definitely create a will if that if yours and YH's wishes. I don't know about in all states, but I think that in Texas if no will is in place the guardian for the kids is court-appointed.

MLS6212 · March 2017

*Lurking from March 2016*

I was diagnosed with GD during my pregnancy. About three months after I gave birth my husband and I applied for life insurance through Policy Genius (which I highly recommend). We had to answer questions about our current and past medical history where they learned that I had GD. Even though it resolves itself after pregnancy and my bloodwork showed normal A1C levels I still ended up in the highest risk non-smoker category due to the past history of GD. However, the difference between the lowest cost premium and the one I qualified for was only $10 a month ($24 instead of $14). Our agent said that in a couple of years I could request a review of the policy and if I can demonstrate that my A1C levels were within normal range over an extended period of time, I might qualify for the lower premium.

I hope this helps!

catem07 · March 2017

@KirstinH88 We will probably eventually select non-family guardians. I suppose there's a chance we could choose DH's cousin, but other than that there aren't any "qualified" family members.

Magheeta · March 2017

The biggest reason DH and I never finished our wills (I promise we will get to it asap) is because we couldn't decide on who to leave the kids to. We really don't want them leaving North Texas (our families both live in South Texas) and our lifestyle is very different from the rest of our family. We have agreed to leave them to our friends who live here and we have been in a close relationship with for the past few years. We just need to talk to them about it first so it's not totally awkward should something happen.

hb7 · March 2017

MLS6212 said:

*Lurking from March 2016*

I was diagnosed with GD during my pregnancy. About three months after I gave birth my husband and I applied for life insurance through Policy Genius (which I highly recommend). We had to answer questions about our current and past medical history where they learned that I had GD. Even though it resolves itself after pregnancy and my bloodwork showed normal A1C levels I still ended up in the highest risk non-smoker category due to the past history of GD. However, the difference between the lowest cost premium and the one I qualified for was only $10 a month ($24 instead of $14). Our agent said that in a couple of years I could request a review of the policy and if I can demonstrate that my A1C levels were within normal range over an extended period of time, I might qualify for the lower premium.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the info! I'm glad that they said you may be able to lower your rates in a couple of years. Do you think I would be better off waiting 6 months instead of 3 and hopefully get 2 normal A1C tests since they do those every 3 months? I'm thankful for all the replies. Its giving me a lot of food for thought. I got what I thought was a very high quote for term life insurance at the beginning of my pregnancy (before I had gestational diabetes), but I am an older mom and also the agent thought the amount of coverage that I thought I needed was overkill.

I have heard the rule of thumb is to get 7-10 times your income in coverage and also cover any debts that you have so your spouse does not have to worry about it.

Thanks for the tip about Policy genius. I will be sure to check it out.

teamla-2 · March 2017

I don't know how life insurance in the states works, but I imagine they may want to know about GD not due to any pregnancy risk factors necessarily, but because it makes it more likely you might get Type 2 later in life?

As for wills, we waffled a long time because we weren't sure who would get our boys. The way we ended up doing it, my best friend is their guardian with her husband, but if she's unwilling or has passed away herself (!), they would go to my cousin and his wife instead of my best friend's hubby. We didn't want to burden him with two more kids in the unlikely event he was already a single parent (and not as deeply connected to me as she is). So my friend and cousin are basically the primaries in 1-2 order. If that makes sense.

hb7 · March 2017

Another thing, I just asked an insurance agent. He seemed to think I can apply as soon as I get the all clear but I'm still suspect.

MLS6212 · March 2017

hb7 said:

MLS6212 said:

*Lurking from March 2016*

I was diagnosed with GD during my pregnancy. About three months after I gave birth my husband and I applied for life insurance through Policy Genius (which I highly recommend). We had to answer questions about our current and past medical history where they learned that I had GD. Even though it resolves itself after pregnancy and my bloodwork showed normal A1C levels I still ended up in the highest risk non-smoker category due to the past history of GD. However, the difference between the lowest cost premium and the one I qualified for was only $10 a month ($24 instead of $14). Our agent said that in a couple of years I could request a review of the policy and if I can demonstrate that my A1C levels were within normal range over an extended period of time, I might qualify for the lower premium.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the info! I'm glad that they said you may be able to lower your rates in a couple of years. Do you think I would be better off waiting 6 months instead of 3 and hopefully get 2 normal A1C tests since they do those every 3 months? I'm thankful for all the replies. Its giving me a lot of food for thought. I got what I thought was a very high quote for term life insurance at the beginning of my pregnancy (before I had gestational diabetes), but I am an older mom and also the agent thought the amount of coverage that I thought I needed was overkill.

I have heard the rule of thumb is to get 7-10 times your income in coverage and also cover any debts that you have so your spouse does not have to worry about it.

Thanks for the tip about Policy genius. I will be sure to check it out.

Personally, I would not put off purchasing life insurance. You never know when you'll need it and saving a few bucks a month on your premium isn't worth possibly losing your spouse while uninsured.

Regardless of how recently you've had bloodwork done, you will likely have to get tested again during the application physical (it was really convenient because a nurse came to our house first thing in the morning). In my case I had to do a two hour glucose test at three months postpartum and I failed. My OB's office said that I would need to follow up with my family physician, but likely I would be diagnosed as having impaired glucose tolerance and higher risk for diabetes in the future. In the meantime, I had to get a fasting blood draw for the insurance application. As I never had issues with my fasting glucose levels I passed that portion of the test but due to my history of GD I ended up in a higher risk category (I was 31 at the time, non-smoker, average weight and BMI, by the way). I took the results of the bloodwork to my family physician as it was the first time I was seeing her since my previous doctor had retired. She said my A1C levels were great so I have no idea why I failed the two hour glucose test. So it turns out that bloodwork from the life insurance application process was a blessing in disguise.

MWoodside · March 2017

@MLS6212, do you mind if I ask how many Xsalary your policy is? Not the amount but how many x your salary. I'm curious b/c DH got the best health category and his is more than your quote for 10X his salary. I am going to have him check out policy genius! I just texted him to get a quote from them.

@hb7, 10x salary is the Dave Ramsey recommendation.

@KirstinH88, I don't think it's weird at all to chose a non-family member! Someone that will take the best care of your kids is most important. And wills have 3 choices listed (at least ours does) in order of preference. We have identified a separate list of people (also order of preference) to oversee the money.

MLS6212 · March 2017

@MWoodside We didn't choose the amount based on salary. My husband is a data geek and made some spreadsheets showing lots of different scenarios at 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 years based on who the surviving spouse is and what our debt would be at the time. He's insured for more than I am because he makes more than I do. We only did a 20 year policy because by then our house should be paid off and our kids will be adults (or close to it depending on when we have #2).

Just my two cents, we prefer Clark Howard over Dave Ramsey. We are Christians and can appreciate Dave Ramsey's journey, but we know several people who have spent lots of money they didn't have on Dave Ramsey's "financial solutions" and they're still drowning in debt. Clark Howard doesn't charge for his advice. Check out the difference between their websites and how much is for sale at Ramsey's versus Howard's.

MWoodside · March 2017

I'll check him out, thank you!

Want a personalized experience?

applying for life insurance if you have gd or some other medical condition during pregnancy

Re: applying for life insurance if you have gd or some other medical condition during pregnancy

Choose Another Board

Search Boards