IVF and cost of treatment is very expensive. Prices may vary depending on several conditions. In the U.S. the average basic price per cycle of IVF costs $12,000 and can reach as high as $15,000. The lowest cost of IVF is $10,000. Understanding the treatment of IVF and cost will give a variety of options on what steps should be taken.
There are instances that some fertility clinics may only charge less than $10,000 which may not be the total amount for IVF and cost of the treatment. It is best to ask the total cost which includes charges on ultrasound, monitoring, purchases of fertility drugs and others. Frozen embryos from a previous cycle is cheaper than doing a complete IVF cycle with fresh embryos. For a frozen embryo transfer (FET), the average cost is $3,000.
The basic treatment of IVF cost is a $12,000 but it can be much higher if there are other additional assisted reproductive technologies (ART). ART such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), extra cost is $1,000 to $1,500. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) may cost more than $3,000. Embryo freezing may reach up to several hundred dollars. If donor egg is used, the cost can be much higher and can reach from $25,000 up to $30,000 per cycle. It is less expensive to use a sperm donor as it will cost from $200 up to $3,000, or as high as $13,000 and $17,000 on one cycle. The cheapest of the donor choices is embryo donation and it is usually cheaper than the usual IVF cycle. For an embryo donor cycle, it will cost between $5,000 and $7,000, with the presumption that the embryo has been made already.
Payment programs for IVF
There are fertility clinics which offer payment programs to make treatment of IVF and cost more affordable. Refund programs are also available to assist couples in avoiding total loss in expenses if their treatment did not prosper. If the amount that was paid was $30,000 and if pregnancy fails even after multiple treatment cycles, the fertility clinic will refund a portion of that amount. However, there is no assurance that these programs will have successful results. But they guarantee that portion of the money is refunded if the outcome of the IVF treatment is negative. The terms differ from one clinic to the other and there are qualifications for these. It is important to make it clear which fertility clinics consider a productive cycle before signing anything with the refund program.
When choosing a fertility clinic, it is not only important to compare their prices but also their success rates. It will not be a good choice if a fertility clinic offers a very low cost but has very low success rates and if pregnancy was only achieved with multiple cycles.
Micro IVF
Aside from the regular IVF treatment there is also another approach called Micro-IVF or Mini IVF. Mini IVF or minimal simulation IVF is a rather new method where lower doses of fertility drugs are used and requires less monitoring of the maturing embryos before they are moved to a fertilized lab. It costs on average $5,000. The treatment of IVF and cost differs from mini IVF because there is less medication used in mini IVF.