What Are The Costs Of IVF?
Updated: Jan 22, 2020
While many couples can have a bun in the oven within a few months of trying, others may struggle with infertility and have more difficulty getting pregnant. If you're a hopeful parent with poor fertility test results, don’t despair – there are many options available when it comes to fertility treatments. In this article, find out the basics of IVF to determine if this assisted reproductive technology can help get you closer to having the little one of your dreams.
What is In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF)?
In-vitro fertilisation, or IVF for short, is a procedure where eggs are extracted from a woman's ovaries (or an egg donor), then fertilised in a lab dish with sperm from a partner or a donor. The embryos created are then cultured to a multi-cell stage, where they are now referred to as blastocysts. It’s crucial to note that not all fertilised eggs successfully develop into a blastocyst.
But what percentage of fertilised eggs make it to blastocyst, exactly? Well, about 30 – 50% of them. The blastocyst is then transferred back to the patient’s uterus – or a partner’s, in the case of reciprocal IVF.
Once the embryo (s) has been transferred, there’ll be a 2-week waiting period to see if the treatment has worked. For most hopeful parents, one cycle of IVF will take between four and six weeks (from hormone treatment to embryo transfer).
IVF success rates
According to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the chances of a successful IVF differ based on your age:
Under 35: 29%
35 – 37: 23%
38 – 39: 15%
40 – 42: 9%
43 – 44: 3%
Over 44: 2%
Pros and cons of IVF
Advantages of IVF
Achieves a successful pregnancy – Ultimately, IVF helps many patients who would have been otherwise unable to conceive healthy babies.
Safe track record – Since the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978, millions of IVF babies have followed worldwide.
Screens for inherited diseases – You may opt for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) or pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) to ensure that your conceived child will not suffer from any genetic disorders (like Huntington’s Disease).
Disadvantages of IVF
May fail – The success of conceiving with IVF is not guaranteed, and patients often have to undergo more than one cycle of treatment.
Carries potential side effects and risks – As a medical treatment, IVF comes with the potential of developing side effects, such as weight loss and severe ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS). Also, IVF carries a higher likelihood of multiple pregnancies, which, in turn, can compromise an IVF baby’s health.
Can be expensive – IVF treatment is not cheap; the costs of medication and blood tests can mount up quickly, especially if you need to undergo multiple rounds of treatments to conceive.
How much does IVF cost?
According to market research firm Opinium, the price for a single IVF cycle ranges from £2,650 to £4,195 (with the average being £3,348). Surprisingly, costs for IVF were often higher outside London, with clinics in Glasgow and Oxford among the most expensive.
Also, do note that those fees typically don’t include consultation fees or fertility drugs, of which the costs vary from clinic to clinic. All in all, you can expect to spend anywhere between £3,855 and £7,175 for a single cycle. That's considerably higher than the cost of IUI (Intrauterine insemination), which ranges from £800 to £1,300.
Ready to learn more? Our team at Fertility Portal have curated and reviewed a list of fertility clinics in London.
