IVF: Costs + Medications

In our previous post, we covered the basics of the IVF treatment process.  Everyone’s process may look a little different in terms of calendar and appointment timing, as well as which medications to use, but overall, you can expect these steps to take place during your IVF cycle:

If you’re ready to move forward but want to know about getting started… here is some other information that you may find helpful, like how much it costs!

 

We have awesome insurance, but unfortunately we don’t live in a state where infertility treatment is covered through insurance.  Our insurance covered diagnostic testing and a little bit of the medication.

There are many things you can do to help cover the costs of IVF.   There are some phenomenal scholarship and grant opportunities around that you can apply for such as Resolve, Attain Fertility, AGC Scholarship Foundation, Journey to Parenthood, etc.  You can do a search on the internet for these resources.

Check with your IVF treatment facility, too, to see if they have any medication rebate programs.  Depending on the fertility pharmacies they work with, there may be a rebate program set up with your doctor that allows you to receive 10-50% back on your medications!  These programs can offer a great amount of savings on your IVF treatment plan.  You will receive contact information through your treatment facility and are typically directed to an online application where you may have to submit your most recent tax return with the application before they determine a rebate percentage you are accepted for.  Also, when you receive a call to pay for the medication your doctor requests from the fertility pharmacy, ask them to run your insurance, even if your insurance doesn’t cover fertility treatments.  Our pharmacy ran our insurance anyway and we were shocked to find that the insurance did cover a portion of a couple of the medications!  This saved us around $200 on medication.

You can also start a side business to help with funding.  My side business I started has been a huge help in covering IVF costs.  I love that this specific company is all about health and wellness and can help support anyone through the different stages of life, including infertility struggles.  (more info on this is our Preparing for Conception)

We also happened to get a pretty good tax refund from the previous year that came right in time for our treatment cycle and went towards paying for our medication!  Talk about great timing.

You have probably done your fair share of research, looking high and low to determine what your final cost will be for your IVF cycle.  Each treatment center has its own costs, medication regimen, fertility pharmacy to work with, etc. and so IVF costs fluctuate from doctor to doctor.  Here is the breakdown of costs for our IVF cycle:

Our facility charges about $7,000 for an IVF cycle (and I just found out they lowered the price this year to $5500 – other facilities might be lowering their rates as well!).  This does not include the baseline appointment fee, consultation appointment fee, nor the diagnostic testing appointments.   After the baseline appointment codes went though the insurance company, the appointment was around $250.  We also chose to pay an additional $1500 for one year’s worth of freezing for extra embryos we weren’t using in our first cycle.

The medication for our IVF cycle was $2500, but we ended up paying $1700 after our insurance covered a portion of the medication.  We also were forced to switch our fresh cycle to a frozen cycle due to the very high possibility of OHSS.  We paid an additional $750 for our frozen transfer medication.  We were quoted around $1200, but we still had some unused medication from our IVF cycle that was going to be used then and we didn’t get to.  Another win!  All-in-all, the IVF cycle was around $11,000.  Our other posts about our IVF journey talk about the medications that were used during the cycle.

Here is a more visual overview of our IVF treatment costs:

• $250 Baseline Bloodwork and Ultrasound Appointment
• $7000 IVF Treatment Plan
  • Covers in-cycle bloodwork and ultrasound appointments, ultrasound, egg retrieval with anesthesia, one fresh/frozen transfer, ICSI, assisted hatching, first HCG-beta pregnancy test
• $1500 Embryo Freezing (for remaining embryos)
• $2500 Medication for Egg Retrieval cycle and our Frozen Embryo Transfer cycle

TOTAL: $11,250

For those of you who are curious, here is a list of the medication we were prescribed:

IVF Egg Retrieval and Fresh Embryo Transfer Cycle:

• Birth Control Pills – Desogen
  • Covered by Insurance
  • Picked up from local pharmacy
  • Used during IVF Ovarian Suppression phase
• Misoprostol Tablet
  • Covered by Insurance
  • Picked up from local pharmacy
  • Used night before hysteroscopy procedure to help dilate the cervix
• Doxycycline – Antibiotic
  • Covered by Insurance
  • Picked up from local pharmacy
  • One prescription to use after hysteroscopy procedure
  • One prescription to use after the egg retreival procedure
• HCG Dilution – Follicle Stimulator Injection
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used during Ovarian Stimulation phase
•  Gonal-F – Follicle Stimulator Injection
  • Partially covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used during Ovarian Stimulation phase
• Cetrotide – Injection prevents premature ovulation
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used during Ovarian Stimulation phase
• Pregnyl – HCG Ovulation Trigger Injection
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used prior to Egg Retrieval
• Leuprolide – Ovulation Trigger Injection (does not contain hcg)
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used prior to Egg Retrieval
• Estradiol Tablets
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used after Egg Retrieval
  • Helps thicken the uterus lining for Embryo Transfer
  • Helps support placenta function and blood flow to your uterus
• Crinone 8% Progesterone Gel
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Supports progesterone levels in pregnancy until placenta is producing enough progesterone on its own

 

IVF Frozen Embryo Transfer Cycle:

• Birth Control Pills – Desogen
  • Covered by Insurance
  • Picked up from local pharmacy
  • Used for four to sixs week during Ovarian Suppression
• Pregnyl – HCG Ovulation Trigger Injection
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used one week prior to FET to trigger ovulation
  • Note: Since we used the Leuprolide trigger for our Egg Retrieval, we already had the Pregnyl still on hand from the previous cycle.  We didn’t have the pharmacy fill a new prescription and used the one we already paid for two months prior.
• Estradiol Patches
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used about one week after period started
  • Helps thicken the uterus lining for Embryo Transfer
  • Helps support placenta function and blood flow to your uterus
•  Estradiol Tablets
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Used about one week after period started
  • Helps thicken the uterus lining for Embryo Transfer
  • Helps support placenta function and blood flow to your uterus
  • Note: We also had some of these leftover from the Egg Retrieval cycle that we didn’t use, so we didn’t get the full prescription filled.
• Crinone 8% Progesterone Gel
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Supports progesterone levels in pregnancy until placenta is producing enough progesterone on its own
  • Note: We also had some of these leftover from the Egg Retrieval cycle that we didn’t use, so we didn’t get the full prescription filled.
• Progesterone Ethyl Oleate Injection
  • Not covered through insurance
  • Ordered through fertility specialized pharmacy
  • Supports progesterone levels in pregnancy until placenta is producing enough progesterone on its own

 

Remember, there are multiple medications that can be used for each step of the IVF process, and your doctor may choose different medications than the ones used for our regimen, simply because they each have their own preference.

What else can you do now that you are ready to move forward with IVF or other infertility treatments?  Prepare your body for conception!  Read about how both you and your partner can prepare for conception, even if you’re not at a point where you can afford infertility treatments just yet.  It’s amazing how the right nutrients and wholefood supplements can heal your body and support your body through the infertility process.

Want a fun way to document your infertility journey?  Check out our Infertility Journey Milestone cards you can print and use as photo props on your blog or to share your journey with friends and family on social media, or you can even print these and journal on the back for a special keepsake of all the special moments in your journey!