Treatment Cost Only Makes up a Portion of Total Cost 

IVF costs provided by many clinics often do not include fees for additional services. Most of these services are an essential part of fertility treatments, so knowing how much they cost is important in making an informed decision.

Consultations

Before you receive a treatment, you and your partner will need to schedule a consultation session with one of the fertility specialists at your chosen clinic.

Consultation costs are generally not included in displayed treatment cost.

The initial consultation will cover the following:

• You and your partner’s health history.
• Possible cause(s) of infertility and available treatments.
• Suitable preliminary tests to determine the right treatment option for you.

The provided costs are estimates only. Please enquire your clinic for exact costs.

After preliminary tests are performed, your fertility specialist will schedule follow-up consultation sessions to discuss your test results.

At most fertility centres, subsequent consultation sessions incur a lower fee but are not eligible for Medicare rebate.

During these follow-up sessions, your specialist will provide you a detailed list of treatment item number and associated costs.

Preliminary Tests

Your fertility specialist may arrange several preliminary tests for you and/or your partner to determine what treatments are suitable. These tests may include:

• Blood test.
• Semen analysis for men.
• Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) test for women.
• Diagnostic imaging such as ultrasound and X-ray.

These tests can cost up to hundreds of dollars. However, they are often covered by Medicare.

Consultation fees generally do not include the costs of preliminary tests. However, this may vary amongst clinics, so it is recommended that you contact the clinic for more accurate information.

Medication

Medication is not only required before the initial IVF cycle, but also subsequent cycles even during frozen embryo transfers.

The cost of these medications will inevitably accumulate and are unfortunately not included in treatment costs. Typically, these costs can be up to couple of thousands of dollars.

However, if you’re eligible for Medicare, the rebate can reduce the final medication cost down to around $200.

Hospital Day Surgery and Anaesthetics

Egg extraction is usually performed outside of fertility clinics either in hospitals or facilities that are closely affiliated with clinics.

As a result, this cost of this process is usually not included in IVF treatment and can cost around $1000 if not more.

Private hospitals usually charge much higher fees compared to surgery facilities owned by fertility clinics themselves (for example, Adora Fertility). In particular, the cost also varies depending on the type of sedation administered (either local or general).

In Australia, private health insurance is mandated to provide coverage for out-of-clinic care, particularly in hospitals. This means if you have private health insurance, part of the hospital day surgery and sedation fee will be covered by your insurer. However, the extent of coverage differs amongst insurance companies, so you should contact your insurer for more information.

Embryo Freezing & Transfer

A single IVF cycle can produce multiple embryos. Whilst the strongest embryo is transferred into the woman’s womb, the rest are usually stored at low temperatures for future use.

Embryo freezing allows subsequent IVF cycles to be conducted without the need for additional egg extraction. This avoids unnecessary surgery costs if the first IVF cycle is unsuccessful.

However, embryo freezing and storage incur additional costs at most clinics. Further, frozen embryo transfer (FET) using these embryos is often considered a separate treatment to IVF, so it also incurs additional costs.

To find out about the exact costs of embryo freezing and storage, contact your clinic through our website.

Treatment

In Australia, Medicare covers common fertility treatments like IVF, making the process of having a baby much more affordable. The extent of Medicare rebate varies among states and can be found on our website.

However, the actual cost of treatment may be more expensive than what it seems.

Treatment costs published by clinics are generally per cycle. In Australia,  a woman on average takes 2.6 cycles to have a baby. This means an out-of-pocket cost of $4000 (after Medicare rebate) for a single IVF cycle can quickly become ~$12,000 after two unsuccessful cycles. This number also excludes costs of additional services already mentioned.

Making Fertility Affordable

At IVF Options, we believe fertility treatment costs should be transparent and made affordable for patients. Learn about IVF payment options.

Example IVF Cycle Costs

Estimated treatment and additional out-of-pocket costs for 1 IVF cycle at a mid-priced clinic in Australia.

A single IVF cycle ranges from bulk-billed with $0 for treatment through to fully customised comprehensive treatment that can cost more than $9,000 a cycle. In each case, there are additional out-of-pocket costs associated with each cycle, that are not covered by Medicare or Private Health Insurance. Additionally, while clinics quote IVF in terms of ‘cycles’, the national average live birth success rate is 26%, meaning most women in Australia will need multiple IVF cycles in order to have a baby.

To illustrate the total cost of a treatment cycle, we’ve selected a mid-priced clinic along with mid-range costs for extra costs not included in the treatment cycle. When budgeting for IVF treatment, we recommend saving or applying for a medical loan that covers 3 IVF treatment cycles. In some cases, for example if you have a particular complex fertility issue or are of an advanced age in terms of treatment, your specialist will give you a better indication of success rates by cycle, which you can use to budget.

Learn more about IVF success rates.