Can I Afford In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)?

If you're having difficulty getting pregnant, and other fertility treatments such as fertility drugs have failed, you may be considering IVF. If your health insurance doesn't offer coverage for artificial insemination, the significant costs of IVF can be overwhelming. Prices do vary between fertility clinics, so you'll save money by comparison shopping. Remember, however, that value isn't just what you pay, it's also what you get, so research the fertility specialist you'll be seeing, and also find out if the price charged by the fertility center is all inclusive.

Base Price

Okay, so what does in vitro cost, anyway? While the average IVF patient pays around $12,000 per treatment, in vitro fertilization prices in the United States usually range from $10,000 to $15,000 per treatment including medication. This price includes the IVF counseling, and the general steps involved, which include ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, fertilization, selection, and embryo transfer.

À la Carte Services

Additional assisted reproductive technology procedures, of course, cost more. Although not comprehensive, this list should give you an idea of pricey services and procedures that you might find you need during the course of your in vitro cycles:

• $1,000 - ICSI: A single sperm is injected directly into an egg.
• $3,000 - PGD: Genetic testing of embryos.
• $200 to $3,000 - Use of a sperm donor.
• $25,000 to $30,000 - Use of an egg donor, and unfortunately, this is per cycle.
• $5,000 to $7,000 - Use of an embryo that has already been created and been frozen. Notice that embryo donation is cheaper than regular IVF cycles.

Your health insurance policy should be your first stop in determining your IVF financing. Most insurance policies do not cover invitro fertilization, or any infertility procedures, and those that do typically do not cover the full IVF cost.

Check with your benefits department or your private health insurance policy provider to verify coverage and limitations. The majority of fertility clinics offer financing options for in vitro procedures to make them more attainable for couples seeking treatment.

You may also qualify for a refund program, where you pay a set fee, usually between $20,000 and $30,000, and the clinic will refund part your money if you do not get pregnant after three or four IVF treatment cycles. Not all couples qualify, and the terms vary from clinic to clinic.

Before deciding on a refund program, make sure you understand what is considered a successful cycle: a positive pregnancy test or a successful birth. If the refund program considers a positive pregnancy test a success, and you have a miscarriage, then you’ve lost your chance for the refund and another treatment cycle under the program.

While you compare the prices of various clinics, you should also look at their success rates. When studying the success rates of various IVF clinics it is important to understand that pregnancy rates do not equate to live birth rates, so always check what the statistics are presenting. If an IVF clinic is cheaper, but their success rates are low, the cost of IVF at that clinic may be higher because you will need more IVF cycles to have a baby, making the cost of your overall treatment higher.