Why Do Fertility Treatments Cost So Much?
Fertility treatments can be extremely expensive. The costs that go into fertility treatments are high. In addition, state and federal health regulations impact the price of fertility treatments, as well. Health care providers have to pay for liability insurance to stay in business, and these rates can be quite high. The market issues of supply and demand play a part, too. If, for example, you live in an area with a large population but very few fertility health care providers, rates will tend to be higher.
The biggest factor in determining how much fertility treatments cost, however, is the type of treatment that you are using. One of the least expensive fertility procedures includes intrauterine insemination, or IUI. In this procedure, the sperm are washed, concentrated, and directly injected into the uterus of the woman. This greatly increases the number of sperm that make it into the fallopian tubes, which is where sperm can fertilize an egg. IUI can use sperm from the male partner or from a donor. IUI is not effective if the male has problems with his sperm, such as a low sperm count or abnormal sperm. IUI is often coupled with medications to help a woman ovulate, such as Clomid. IUI will cost in the neighborhood of $350 for the basic procedure. If you use donor sperm, the cost will be higher because the fertility clinic has to screen and pay for the sperm donors.
One of the highest costing fertility treatments is IVF. IVF refers to In Vitro Fertilization. If a woman does not have any success with IUI, she will often be a candidate for IVF. In IVF, eggs are retrieved from the woman. Sperm are then used to fertilize the eggs outside of the womb in the lab. Once the eggs are fertilized, creating embryos, the embryos will then be transferred into the uterus around three to six days after the eggs were retrieved. IVF is one of the oldest ART treatments, and has been in use for over three decades. IVF is by far one of the most expensive forms of fertility treatments, and you can expect to pay at least $7,500 for this treatment. If you need a sperm donor for IVF, it will cost an extra $2,000 or more; if you need to use donated eggs, the extra cost rises by nearly $15,000. The complexity of the IVF procedure combined with the equipment needed to perform the procedure and to store embryos make this cost so much.
Compared with other medical treatments requiring similar expertise and equipment, fertility treatments are comparable in terms of how much they cost.
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