We are lucky in our family that -- thanks to my employer -- we have good health care coverage. The birth procedure for each of our three daughters cost us very little out-of-pocket. (That's in terms of money -- my wife certainly endured short-term discomfort that you can't express in dollars.) However, we still receive a hospital bill that shows the fees as billed to the insurance company. We've kept each of these and included them in the girls' "baby books" as proof-of-receipts in case we ever wanted to return them. (Never considered going through on that threat...)

That initial cost is just the beginning. Bringing children into the world is relatively inexpensive compared to the longer term cost of raising them to independence. It's an investment -- worth every cent.