Paying for Parenthood: How Much IVF Really Costs
Raising kids is expensive. In fact, it’s recently been calculated that a middle-class family spends $235,000 raising a child until the age of 18 (not including college!), and if adjusted to the rate of inflation, that number climbs to $295,000 (SOURCE: Investment News).
But for countless couples with fertility issues, there’s an outrageous number that comes into play before the child is even conceived: the price of IVF.
According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, the average IVF cycle costs just over $12,000 (Source: National Infertility Association). But that figure hardly tells the whole story, because while IVF is seemingly its own self-contained fertility option, it is dependent upon many other factors and procedures. Additionally, that number represents the cost of a single IVF cycle. Since many women do not become pregnant from their first IVF attempt – myself included – we need to undergo numerous cycles, so this number, and all the numbers associated with it, quickly doubles, or triples, or quadruples, or …
So just how much does IVF really cost? Find out after the jump.
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Office Visits with Endocrinologist: $200 - $400 Each
First step on the fertility journey is an appointment with a reproductive endocrinologist (RE). Luckily, many women can see fertility-center nurses and ultrasound technicians for their monthly monitoring after establishing themselves as a patient with the RE, as this will save a wee bit of money. But initial appointments and certain follow-ups require meeting with the RE.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo: iStockphoto -
Blood Work: $200 - $400
Fertility centers screen your blood (and your husband's or male partner's) for certain diseases, like HIV, and genetic mutations, such as Fragile X and Cystic Fibrosis. After the one-time full panel of blood work, women continue to get a vial of blood drawn at each visit to check hormone levels, and that's a whole separate fee.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo: 123RF Stock Photo -
Routine Screenings and Ultrasounds: $150 - $500 Each Visit
To monitor a woman's cycle, ultrasounds and general screenings are done quite often during the month. Beginning with a Day 3 ultrasound and continuing right up to their egg-retrieval or artificial-insemination procedure, these ultrasounds can sometimes be upward of 5 to 8 a month, depending on the woman's cycle and other possible issues, like cysts or endometriosis.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo: iStockphoto -
Semen Analysis: $50 - $300
If a woman has a male partner, or if she is using a known sperm donor, the fertility center will have to run tests on the semen to screen for disease and genetic mutations.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo: iStockphoto -
Donor Sperm: $400 - $900
It's hard to believe that something so small can cost so much. Sara and I paid $850 out-of-pocket for our sperm, and thus far it has been the only thing not covered by my insurance. Different sperm banks charge different fees for sperm, and while you can certainly "shop around," beware of sperm banks with loose requirements on the amount of children a donor can father, and always choose one that goes above and beyond the basic standards for genetic testing.
Source: Babble
Photo: iStockphoto -
Use of Egg Donor: $12,000 average
Some women are unable to use their own eggs for pregnancy and opt to use an egg donor. But doing so adds an additional huge chunk of change onto their fertility bills.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo: iStockphoto -
Fertility Medications: $3,000 - $5,000 per month
The pharmaceutical company ought to be ashamed of itself for charging what it does for fertility drugs – but I'm not holding my breath for that. Pictured above are the drugs for one month of a full-dose IVF cycle. Few insurance companies cover the cost of fertility drugs.
Source: The National Infertility Association
Photo rights belong to author -
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI): $350 - $865
Intrauterine insemination is often tried before women go forward with IVF, for a variety of reasons. It's less invasive and less expensive, but it's also not as successful as IVF.
Source: The National Infertility Association
Photo: iStockphoto -
Full IUI Cycle: $2,000 - $2,500
If a woman wants to do an IUI cycle that includes an ovulation-induction drug (like the one pictured above) and fertility meds – which will increase the likelihood of success – the price goes up.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo rights belong to author -
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): $1,000 - $1,500
ICSI is used to ensure the sperm makes it into the egg. For some couples, male-factor infertility is a major – if not the – issue behind their fertility problems, so injecting the egg directly with sperm eliminates the need for those little guys to be good swimmers. For others, like Sara and me, ICSI allows us to not use all of our sperm, as a smaller amount is taken for ICSI to fertilize the eggs.
Source: The National Infertility Association
Photo: iStockphoto -
Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD): $3,200 - $3,500
This is also known as embryo screening. This procedure can diagnose genetic conditions or chromosomal disorders before pregnancy occurs.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo: 123RF Stock Photo -
Full IVF Cycle: $7,500 - $9,000
Aside from the initial appointment with the RE, the numerous transvaginal ultrasounds, blood work, genetic screening, and hormone injections, women undergoing IVF must have their eggs retrieved. The woman is given anesthesia and the RE, along with an assisting nurse, uses a vacuum-like scope to gently remove the eggs from their follicles. The procedure is fairly quick, but the woman is tender and uncomfortable for a few days afterward.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo: iStockphoto -
Embryo Cryopreservation Procedure and Storage: $700 - $900 for Procedure / $600 - $1,000 for Storage
With the average IVF cycle yielding anywhere from 7 to 20 eggs, and considering the fact that the egg-retrieval procedure is invasive (and expensive), women will freeze their embryos for a possible – and likely! – second or third or fourth or fifth or however many cycles it takes before a pregnancy is achieved and successful.
Source: Top Fertility Docs
Photo: iStockphoto
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