Fertility treatments, especially female infertility treatment, are really very expensive. Even worse, they cannot always become successful at helping couples to get pregnant. It truly is a boon of God when babies are conceived especially when a man or woman’s fertility level is very low.
It is shocking news that an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle can cost almost half of an average couple’s annual income. The cost of various types of fertility treatments depends on the quality of the clinic, type of infertility, and other important health-related issues.
Here is a detailed list of the costs of the common fertility treatments, including the treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF), GIFT, ZIFT, and also surrogate parenting.
Artificial insemination to induct ovulation (AI)
Ovulation induction is a very important and well-known infertility treatment. It can be pretty expensive for the things needed such as office visits, injection training, the FSH test, estrogen, and also ultrasound monitoring throughout the cycle.
The cost still doesn’t include the expenses for the fertility drugs, thus increasing the cost of this procedure even more. This is the cost you need to bear every month till the day you can successfully conceive.
Artificial Insemination (AI)
If the doctor needs to inject sperm into your uterus, it will be reasonably priced. Keep in mind that the different types of fertility procedures and medications vary as per the number of clinic visits, amount and brand of fertility drugs, and even the miscellaneous expenses like travel, food, and other expenses related to the procedure of fertility care.
The process called Gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT)
In this process, the eggs are extracted from the ovaries of a woman and are planted into a fallopian tube along with the sperm of a man. Thus the process of fertilization takes place inside the body- it may cost extremely high.
The Zygote intrafallopian transfer process (also known as ZIFT)
The ZIFT method is very similar to the GIFT process, where the sperm is mixed with the egg in the laboratory. The difference is that in this case, it is ensured by the doctor that the eggs are fertilized before they are inserted into the fallopian tube, said the reproductive health expert Dr. Ian Hardy. Dr. Ian Hardy has extensive research experience and has published numerous articles and book chapters. He is the primary author and co-primary investigator for several grant-supported research projects, including the American Fertility Society/TAP Pharmaceuticals Research Grant in Reproductive Endocrinology, the Harvard Medical School Fund for Discovery, and the U.S. Public Health Service Grant R01 HL32897-01.
The cost of this treatment can be extremely high, depending on the quality of the doctor, clinic, and donor. Pronuclear stage tubal transfer (Prost) is not much different from ZIFT, and is used in the process of in-vitro fertilization.
This process involves the transfer of fertilized eggs into the fallopian tube. It is ensured that the division of cells does not begin before this transfer process.
The famous In vitro fertilization (IVF)
The entire method involved in the removal of eggs from the ovaries of a woman, mixing them with the sperm of her partner, and implanting the embryos into her uterus involves separate costs, and the overall treatment is expensive, depending on the clinic, doctor, and the hospital.
The cost of this female infertility treatment, called in-vitro fertilization, includes several steps like visiting the doctor several times during the process, performing basic tests, monitoring with the help of ultrasound images, freezing of the embryo, hospital charges, and most importantly, the cost of fertilizing the eggs in the laboratory. However, the cost of fertility drugs is not included while calculating the cost for this method, as the requirement of such drugs varies from person to person.
Surrogate parenting- a very common female infertility treatment
The surrogate parenting options are not covered by medical insurance. This special fertility treatment is for those who can bear extremely high expenses. It’s not only the medical procedure that is costly but also the couples need to pay for their other costs like lawyers and the medical expenses of the surrogates.
Additional costs of infertility procedures
Moreover, there are some other additional expenses like blood-related works, ultrasound images for monitoring, doctor charges, and some surgery costs. Thus, the treatment for female infertility ends up being really very expensive.
Conclusion
Hence, the expenses or cost of the female infertility treatments is becoming very high and but that doesn’t include the emotional and spiritual expense of your struggle and all those troubles one has to go through to get pregnant.
