The cost of IVF will differ between every couple. You can receive IVF treatment free on the NHS, but this is only available if you meet certain criteria.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published fertility guidelines about who should have access to IVF on the NHS in England and Wales.
The guidelines recommend that IVF should be offered to women under 43 years of age who have been trying to get pregnant through regular unprotected sex for two years, or who have had 12 cycles of artificial insemination.
The final decision about who can receive IVF on the NHS is made by local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). Their criteria might be stricter than those recommended by NICE.
CCGs may consider factors including how many children you already have, your weight, age and whether or not you smoke. In some cases, you might only be offered one round, rather than the usual three.
If your CCG’s criteria means you are not eligible for IVF on the NHS, you’ll need to seek treatment at a private clinic.
Different clinics will price treatments differently but, generally speaking, one treatment of IVF will cost somewhere in the region of £5,000 or more.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority puts the cost of a cycle of IVF at between £4,000 and £8,000. It could be more if you have ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), if your partner also needs treatment, for example, for a sperm retrieval operation or if you need to store sperm or embryos.
So the cost of your treatment will depend on several factors, and the prices will vary from clinic to clinic. You’ll also need to pay for the fertility drugs prescribed during your treatment. This can cost a couple of hundred pounds.
If you’re considering private IVF treatment, it’s important to assess all the costs involved. For instance, your clinic might also charge for scans and consultant appointments during your treatment. You’ll need to factor in all these additional expenses, including the cost of travelling to and from the hospital and any time you need to take off work.
Luckily, most, if not all, fertility clinics offer an IVF payment plan to make it easier to split and manage the costs. It’s also worth noting that some clinics offer IVF cycles at a reduced rate if you donate some of your eggs for others to use – although this will not always be an option.
If you want to calculate how much your treatment could cost, use our fertility treatment calculator.
To find out if fertility finance could be an option, check out our Fertility Finance Checker.
