If you’re wondering how much money fertility procedures cost, look no further! Here are the costs of ten infertility treatments, which I found in a book about infertility. 

“We compare investing in your fertility with gambling or investing in the stock market,” write Julie Vargo and Maureen Regan in A Few Good Eggs. “There are no guarantees. Spending more money on infertility may give you more chances at conception, but there is still no assurance you will have a biological child.” 

For more info on A Few Good Eggs: Two Chicks Dish on Overcoming the Insanity of Infertility, click the book cover. If you’re gonna read the about the cost of these 10 infertility treatments, make sure you’re sitting down, preferably with a glass of wine – or maybe a stiff Scotch! 

The Cost of 10 Infertility Treatments

“All costs are average, of course, and subject to change at the whim of the industry and your doctor,” write Vargo and Regan. “Interestingly, the cost of various procedures can vary greatly depending on where you live. In our limited study, it seems to be the bigger the city, the higher the price.”

1. Fertility drugs. Clomid is one type of fertility drug, and it makes up the major cost of the treatment cycle, say these writers. Clomid or other gonadotropin injections ranges from $50 to $4,000, depending on your treatment plan, the drugs involved, and your cycle. “We suggest checking different pharmacies to get the best prices on drugs,” write Vargo and Regan. We suppose if you live near the border, you could get your drugs in Canada or Mexico – at least until the bureaucrats in Washington shut down the over-the-border prescription pipeline.”

2. Artificial Insemination (AI). If the doctor injects sperm into your uterus, it’ll cost $250 to $750.

3. Sperm wash. This procedure removes weak and unhealthy sperm, and costs an average of $150.

4. Ovulation induction with artificial insemination (AI): Ovulation induction costs around $1,600 for “office visits, injection training, baseline FSH test, and estrogen and ultrasound monitoring throughout the cycle.” The $1,600 doesn’t include fertility drugs, making the cost of this infertility procedure fairly high – I think this is the cost per month until you get pregnant.

5. In vitro fertilization (IVF). “The average cost of removing eggs from a woman’s ovaries, mixing them with her partner’s sperm, and implanting the resulting embryos into her uterus is about $9,000, although fees for this procedure range from $7,000 to $15,000, depending on the doctor, clinic, and hospital,” write Vargo and Regan in A Few Good Eggs. The cost of this infertility procedure includes office visits, baseline tests, estrogen and ultrasound monitoring, hospital retrieval costs and embryo freezing, in-lab fertilization expenses, hospital transfer costs, and physician services – but not fertility drugs.

6. Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT): If the fertility clinic mixes the eggs and sperm in a lab, and the doctor ensures the eggs are fertilized before inserting them in your Fallopian tubes, it’ll cost you about $7,000 to $15,000.

7. Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT): The eggs and sperm are mixed in the lab – same as the GIFT – but in this time, the doctor ensures the eggs are fertilized before inserting them into the Fallopian tubes. The cost of this infertility treatment is about $7,000 to $$15,000, depending on the doctor, donor, and clinic.

8. Donor eggs. “The cost is $10,000 to $50,000 and includes compensation to the egg donor as well as the egg retrieval and subsequent IVF,” write Vargo and Regan. “The donor’s eggs and egg retrieval are never covered by your insurance.” This infertility procedure revolves around getting donor egg(s) from a fertile woman and mixing them with sperm. Cross your fingers and pray it works – because the cost of this fertility treatment is insanely high!

9. Surrogate parenting. Never covered by medical insurance, this infertility treatment can cost from $15,000 to $60,000 – and the money goes to lawyers, agencies, and the surrogates’ medical expenses.

10. Extra infertility procedures. Plus, there’s the blood work, lab tests, various medical procedures, sonograms, office visits, anesthesia, and surgeries such as hysteroscopies and laparoscopies…all running from $300 to $10,000.

Yikes, I didn’t realize when I started writing this how expensive infertility treatments are! I knew it was expensive – we’ve done AI and only one cycle of Clomid and that alone blew the budget – but I had no idea how much infertility treatments cost.

If you have any questions or thoughts about the cost of infertility treatments, comment below…and, read 9 Ways to Save Money for Infertility Treatments for help with your budget.