How much does a single cycle of IVF cost at .... ?

[Patsy99]

I thought this would be a useful thread to help make informed decisions.

We've just done a cycle at ARGC and it cost more than we expected, although the clinic were upfront about charges so I'm not blaming them.

The total cycle from first appointment to pregnancy test = £13,000.

That was £7800 for the core IVF (including meds/blood tests/scans) = £7800

The costs specific to us (but seemingly pretty common) were:-

Hysteroscopy and cyst aspiration = £1500
Immune testing = £1100
Natural Killer cell treatment = £1600
Blastocyst transfer/embryo freezing/gestone = £1000

Any more for any more?

[faeriefruitcake]

Bloody hell. I went to Derryford in Plymouth, Ocean Suit and it cost about 2,500 and we had ICSI.

[eurochick]

Ouch. That seems very expensive.

[GeekPie]

About £5000 for ICSI. We had to pay for extra drugs as there was a few complications which meant I had to be on downregs for 6 weeks.

[Patsy99]

Where did you go GeekPie?

[Patsy99]

eurochick - I agree it's VERY expensive, certainly more than we thought. On the other hand, ARGC has a much higher success rate per cycle than anywhere else. I guess it's worth weighing up how many cycles you could have for the same money elsewhere and also what your fertility issue is. If it's straightforward blocked tubes it might not be necessary to go for such intensive IVF.

I think the extra expense comes from 2 blood tests a day in the second week of stimulation whilst they fine tweak the follicles, plus all the controversial immune system testing/treatment.

[FatimaLovesBread]

Ours cost £1075 for IVF with ICSI and sperm freezing. It will be another £350 of we get any frostiness tomorrow. I did egg sharing though so it reduced the cost.
Without egg share it would have been about £4.5/5k.

The other clinic we looked at charged about the same for egg share and around £4k full price plus any additional freezing.

[eurochick]

Patsy I read somewhere that ARGC are pretty fussy about who they take on. Which probably helps their stats.

We are about to start our NHS cycle of IVF but I have been thinking about where to go if that doesn't work. ARGC is on the shortlist, primarily because of the immune stuff (I have already had immune tests and treatment alongside non-IVF cycles; it would be good if I went to an IVF clinic that supported the immune treatment).

How did you manage to have 2 blood tests per day? My workplace is fairly tolerant about me popping out for drs appointments but I think twice a day for a week might test their patience!

[Patsy99]

Actually I've heard that rumour that ARGC only takes "good" patients before, but I honestly don't think its true. The majority of the women I've met there have already had failed IVF elsewhere, sometimes many cycles. I seemed to be quite unusual for having gone there for a first cycle, they almost seem to pride themselves on the hard cases.

I had to take the second week of stimulation off work. The first week was just one blood test a day about 8am and a scan every 3 days, which was fine. The second week however was a blood test at 7:30am, a scan about 9am, a second blood test about 1pm then sometimes a second scan about 3pm (!). Then they looked at the results and fine tuned the meds every day.

I thought their customer care was not good, you are definitely just a small cog in a very busy machine. But I couldn't fault how thorough they were.

I'm not sure how I feel about all the immune treatment stuff really. £1500 for an IVIG transfusion is a lot of money when the HFEA says it's nonsense. Still in for a penny, in for a lot of pounds .....

[Manda472]

We went to Argc after 5 fails at the bridge center thinking that they probably wouldn't touch us with a barge pole. But they were great and explained about fsh and how it effects egg quality and that they would pick the best cycle for us.
We had partial success with them and both cycles had a bfp which sadly didn't carry on
As for the service they are victims of there own success. Mr T does oversee every patient daily and u are def treated individually.
Even though they are pricey compared to others I would def recommend them.

I went onto donor in the end and went to Spain and now a mummy of 2 so there is light at the end of the tunnel

[eurochick]

That is a crazy amount of monitoring! I have to say that puts me off a bit. Thanks for sharing the info.

I'm sure I read somewhere that ARGC has a strict FSH level cut off.

[Manda472]

Ideally they like it under 10 but in our case they looked at previous cycles (where the bridge let me cycle at 18!! and never said a thing until I didn't respond and had spent a fortune at the point on drugs) and went ahead on a 10.7 and an 11 I think.
So not set in stone

[Patsy99]

Manda - how much did the Bridge work out per cycle compared to ARGC? It's tricky to get a clear idea of how much IVF will actually cost.

[Manda472]

I think that our last few goes at the bridge cost about £8k- due to me being on top whack of drugs per night and stimming for so long.
Argc were about £10k which was again being on 600iu of drugs, daily monitoring and towards the end twice daily blood tests and very occasionally double scans.

But one thing I did learn was that u can buy your drugs anyway and you need to shop around, it's shocking the difference in prices.
I loved Argc and wish we had gone there first.

[Patsy99]

Thanks

[joycep]

This is all very helpful thanks for starting although the costs have made me feel very sick. Argc is probably my first choice just because they get the results and it's close to work. 13k though is unbelievable although if I ended up with a baby I wouldn't mind - well apart from being resentful that we had to spend it in the first place. Anyway It would just be the fear of it not working and the extra stress of that. However we spent £10k spread over last year on numerous treatments like IuI and I guess this would give a better chance.
Anyway Patsy was it successful for you a Argc?

[Patsy99]

It certainly was, I may be a bit broke but I'm pregnant.

The cycle was amazingly successful. Even though I'm 41 they collected 33 eggs, got 24 embryos and 11 of those made it to day 5 or day 6 good quality blastocysts. I transferred one, froze the other ten and am pregnant.

I found it stressful and the intensity of the monitoring a bit overwhelming. On the other hand I appreciate they were trying to develop as many of the follicles to 20mm as they could to get good eggs, and it worked.

I wish I'd been better prepared for the costs though which is why I started this thread. They did give us a scale of all their prices but I hadn't realised how it would all add up.

Now I'm on the miscarriage prevention stage (I've had 2) so it's ongoing monitoring and treatment.

[joycep]

Patsy - oh that's great news! Is this your first? Also one of my biggest issues is going to be doing this next to a full time job. On no account can I let them know I am doing ivf - mostly men in the office and not many of us. I can walk to Argc in about 7 mins so do you think I can get away with doing this without anyone knowing? I can take a week off as holiday in that second week of scans but are there lots of other trips I will have to make way for?

[Patsy99]

It's my first cycle of IVF but not my first pregnancy. I have 1 DC and have been trying for over 3 years to have another.

You can generally have the blood tests and scans between 7:30 - 9am so I went on the way to work (my office is about 30 mins away). I took the second week of stimulation off so I was available to do whatever was needed.

Apart from that, I took 1 day sick leave for the hysteroscopy/cyst aspiration (I said it was a minor op on my endometriosis). I took another day sick leave for the egg collection ("). I took another day's annual leave for the IVIG transfusion as it takes about 3 hours to do. Our embryo transfer was at the weekend.

So in total I took 6 days annual leave and 2 days sick leave.

Can't you mention "women's trouble", it tends to make men mumble and look at their shoes in my experience.

[CaipirinhasAllRound]

Wow £13k!
I haven't had IVF but have looked into. I am a member of Benenden through work and they have a centre in Kent which looks reasonable, plus you get 25% off if you're a member (they're like Bupa but for public sector and charities)

Consultation Costs
Initial consultation £150.00
Investigations Package - including semen analysis, blood tests (FSH,LH,E2,AMH), and ultrasound scan. This is a fixed price if all investigations are undertaken through BFC, otherwise investigations are charged individually as shown below. £275.00
Follow-up consultation £100
Ultrasound Costs
Ultrasound scan £110.00
Semen
Semen analysis £90.00
Semen freezing and storage for one year £300.00
Semen freezing and storage for 3 months £250.00
Annual Storage Fee £250.00
IVF Procedures
IVF single cycle including sedation £2500.00
ICSI (if required - add to IVF Cost) £1000.00
Blastocyst Culture (if required - add to IVF Cost) £300.00
HFEA License Fee (IVF and ICSI) £75.00

Cycle costs are package costs. They include clinical support during the treatment cycle (ultrasound scans, theatre charges, anaesthetic charges for egg collection, doctor's fees, post-op recovery where applicable, and one follow up Consultation for failed IVF/ ICSI treatment if booked within 6 weeks of a pregnancy test).

benendenfertilitycentre.org.uk/offers/the-costs.aspx

[joycep]

Thanks Patsy. Womens problems is a good one. You have given me a good picture of what to expect though. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

[tupbebek]

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www.turkey-ivf.com

[PlacidWay]

The In Vitro fertilization procedure is costly, but also depends on where it is done, which medications are necessary, how many cycles need to be attempted, and how much medical insurance will cover. In the United States, the average cost of one cycle may reach upward to roughly $12, 400. The same procedure in the Czech Republic costs around $4,000, while Thailand facilities offer the same procedures for about $4,500 and in Turkey it may cost $2000 up.