IVF Cost

I thought it could be worth showing you some of the responses that I have had from clinics around the world to give an insight into the way that they operate and the costs that they charge at the specific clinic.

As an idea of the cost of IVF in Hungary I am going to start with the Kaali Inst IVF Center in Budapest. After emailing them for information on their IVF treatment I received a very promptlyand informative reply. I have taken out a little of the information that is specific to me, but what remains is a complete picture of the IVF cost and the IVF success for my age group. I hope you find this useful.

I must say that this request was made in the early days of me looking for information and I had not structured my letter as I had for all other responses on this site, so this was borne out of a general enquiry. I have added the US$ values in red.

This was a great response to a very general letter and the clinic will certainly be on my shortlist.

Hi,

Age unfortunately significantly impacts on pregnancy rates. At the age of 40 success rates are half of that among women under the age of 35. Age alone could be the explanation in your case…… Anyway, regardless of the problem at the age of 42 you should do IVF. This gives you the best chance and IVF success rates are around 15% at this age. This is unfortunatly not too high.

A typical cycle follows these steps. We usually start with an initial consultation (preferably in the first half of the cycle). During this meeting we review the past infertility records, review the treatment itself and set a schedule up. If further tests are needed we provide you with a list. You are also given a treatment plan and the following details, dates can be set up via email. This is a one day visit to the Clinic in Budapest.

Most IVF cycles are preceeded by some type of pretreatment. Most often this is a brief course of oral contarceptives. The stimulation is started after the pill. You can do the first 5 days of stimulation while at home, we only need to see you on day 6 of stimulation. Usually another 5 days of stimulation follows before we move on with the egg retrieval and embryo transfer. This altogether means a 10-12 days stay in Budapest. You may travel as early as the day of transfer.

The total expense of an IVF treatment is made up of three parts. The evaluation (consultation, labs, ultrasound etc.) is about 300 EUR (approx. US$410) if done by us. Most of the evaluation can be performed by your local physician as well. An IVF cycle is 1500 EUR (approx. US$2,035), if ICSI is needed as well it is an additional 500 EUR (approx. US$680). If the medications are purchased in Hungary on average they cost 1000-1200 EUR (approx. US$1,355 – US$1,625). Medications costs vary however based on ovarian response. Please let us know if you have any further questions about our IVF program or if you wish to set up an initial consultation!

Sincerely,
Peter Kovacs MD
Kaali Inst IVF Center
Budapest, Hungary

The contact information for the clinic is:

Kaali Institute
Istenhegyi ut 54/A
1125 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: 36-1-202 2802 Fax: 36-1-214 6050
Email: info@ivfpregnancycenter.com

Web: http://www.ivfpregnancycenter.com/

Peter Kovacs MD

http://www.metrofertility.com – Minimal stimulation IVF is an option at the Alexandria fertility center, Metro Fertility Care. It is an alternative to traditional IVF. Dr. Nancy Durso describes it as a combination of pills and injections. Minimal stimulation IVF consists of fewer injections and less cost of medications. This procedure is best suited for women with a previous tubal ligation, couples with male factor and those without insurance coverage for IVF treatment. For more information about minimal stimulation IVF, please visit http://www.metrofertility.com. You may contact Dr. Nancy M. Durso at: Metro Fertility Care 6355 Walker Lane Suite 500 Alexandria, Virginia 22310 Phone: 703-313-6997 Website: http://www.metrofertility.com

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Oh my gosh this is incredible…

I saw the interview of a Ryan Higgins and Frank Kern – you can check it out here – that could change the way you manifest anything you want into your life. I then set about making my own personal mind movie – rather fiddly as I didn’t have their great software – but I ended up with something I was very happy with – my own mind movie showing my life the way I would like it to be!

The the REALLY INCREDIBLE happened!!!!

In LESS THAN one week:

– I lost half a stone in weight; no diet, no additional exercise!

– I gained £125 (almost $250) from nowhere!!! One cheque through the post and the other deposited in my bank account, totally unexpected (and unearned!!!)

– I could stop my German Shepherd from barking incessantly at every thing that moved!!!

It may not sound much, but all of this was in my mind movie and it happened IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK!!! I’m stunned! I’m bowled over! I’m elated, excited – I want to watch my mind movies all day every day!!!!!!

Anyway, I had also made the How to get pregnant – Mind Movie that is on this blog. Now there is something really important I need to say about this – YOU WILL NOT GET PREGNANT BY JUST WATCHING THIS MOVIE TWICE A DAY! The way mind movies work is that they focus your mind (an incredibly powerful machine that does a lot more work subconsciously than it ever does consciously) on what you want. That means that your subconscious then becomes employed at looking out for everything that can help you to achieve what you are focussed on and things, therefore, just appear to be there when you need them. It does not mean you would no longer need IVF or some assisted method, but it will focus your mind in a positive way on making these successful.

Seriously though, I’m amazed at the results that I have had, so quickly. They may be the small things in life, but give it time and what could happen to those big dreams!! You see, Ryan figured out this powerful way to tap into the Law of Attraction that practically guarantees you’ll get whatever you want.

And the surprising thing about it is it is SUPER easy to do, you can start doing it right now…and if your looking for health, wealth, spirituality or love then Ryan is giving pre-made mind movies on these subjects absolutely FREE – these were the basis I used for my own mind movie – pick them up here.

So if you’re really serious about increasing your power to manifest anything you want into your life super fast, you need to check this out right now – we all deserve to get what we want in life!

I’m extremely excited about this, because it could literally transform your life. So be sure you share your story with me when you start doing this, OK?

I read an article in Heraldsun recently that said “Infertile women’s brains – and not just their bodies – may be blocking them from conceiving a baby.” In my career I do a lot of work on leadership development and overcoming limiting beliefs so this really rang a chord with me.

Not long after reading the article I came across Ryan Higgins – who’s that I hear you say – well, Ryan creates what he calls mind movies, and they’re brilliant! You can check them out at here.

So what has this got to do with how to get pregnant? Especially if you are looking for an IVF pregnancy or want to increase your chances of IVF success? Well, I’ll explain. If even part of the issue of becoming pregnant is down to the mind then any help to put us in the right mindset will be useful. What mind movies do is use the power of a technique called neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to help us to attract the things that we want into our lives – the principle works, I’ve experienced it! Ryan calls it the Law of Attraction.

Firstly I’ll explain what NLP is; then I’ll describe to you how the movies use this technique; and finally I’ll tell you what you need to do with the movie that I have produced for you, and of course, what it could do for you.

How to Get Pregnant with NLP

As I’ve already said, NLP stands for neuro-linguistic programming. The neuro part is about your neurological system. Thought processes will activate the neurological system and this affects physiology, emotions and behaviour. The linguistics is about the language that we use and the way this influences our experiences. Finally the programming is the internal processes and thinking patterns that we use to make decisions, solve problems, learn, evaluate and get results.

Let’s take a look at some of the better-known names that use NLP techniques. There is the guru, Tony Robbins, famous for the fire walks. If, however, you are not into self-help gurus, but you like a bit of TV, then names like Derren Brown and Paul McKenna may be more familiar to you. Much of the work that these people do is based on the principles of NLP and I think we can all agree that they produce some spectacular results!.

The basic principle of NLP is to know what you want; visualise it in all it’s detail; make all of your language fit your visualisation; then repeat until it is programmed into your internal system.

How to Get Pregnant – Mind Movie

What Ryan’s Mind Movies do is help considerably with this process. The visualisation is external, in front of your eyes in a movie – easier to capture than having to focus your mind internally. The movies include affirmations – that is, positive statements, written in the present tense (as if you already have them) that communicate a belief to your mind – these help to change our internal programming. On top of all that there is music that brings out emotion and positive energy.

As I have said, Ryan describes this as the Law of Attraction – if you repeatedly tell yourself what you want in the right way, then all the resources that you need to achieve that thing will come to you. Previously I had tended to call it the Power of Positive Thinking. It does work! I know. I remember when I broke my ankle last year – so badly I needed a metal plate and screws put in to hold it together. Everybody I spoke to who had gone through a similar thing had been left with a limp. I swore I would walk properly again! I focussed my mind on not limping and when I went back to the hospital two months after having my plaster off both the surgeon and the radiologist were stunned! It was the power of my mind. My focus was never on “I do not want to limp” my focus was always on “I will walk properly” – an important distinction, the brain does not process negatives very well. In the first sentence the primary word is “limp”; just like when you say “do not forget” the primary focus is “foget”, whereas if you say “I must remember” the primary focus is “remember” – try changing your language slightly and see the affect it has!

Anyway, enough of the theory, let’s get down to what we are really interested in – how to get pregnant. Whether you are looking to get pregnant naturally or through IVF it is important that we deal with the mind. If you have ever heard yourself saying “I’m never going to have a baby and I want one so badly” then you need to keep reading – you’ve already conditioned your mind into the negative.

I have taken Ryan’s Mind Movie techniques and I have created a Mind Movie for getting pregnant and having a healthy baby.The movie is designed to programme you into creating the right environment and behaviour to become pregnant, have a healthy pregnancy, deliver your beautiful, healthy baby naturally and love them to bits (I doubt that you need any help with the last bit!)

IMPORTANT: What you need to do to help you get pregnant

1. Watch How to get Pregnant – Mind Movie twice a day, preferably first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Keep watching it; it will only take seven and a half minutes of your whole day to watch it twice. With the Mind Movies some people have had results in a matter of weeks, others have taken a few months; just keep watching, your whole body is being reprogrammed as you watch. It does not matter if you are trying to conceive naturally, through IVF or through some other assisted method, the movie should still benefit you.
2. If you feel that this movie does not suit you and would like one made for your personal situation please contact me through the contact page and I will do my best to create one for you.
3. When you get a result, or just feel better about everything, please leave me a comment here; I would absolutely love to hear from you.

So what are you waiting for – press the play button NOW!

(Please make sure your speakers are switched on).

Welcome everybody!

It has taken me a while to write this post – I can be a bit shy talking about such personal issues – but I thought I should put up an introductory post here to tell you who I am and why I have developed this blog.

I imagine that if you are visiting my IVFcost.net blog you, like me, are looking to get pregnant and have been recommended IVF.

My husband and I spent about eight years hoping that the natural thing would happen, the natural way. It didn’t! Eventually, when I was 39, we started taking all the tests. After a gruelling year or more we were told that the reason I had never become pregnant was “unexplained” and, due to my age, we should go for IVF – an IVF pregnancy is our only hope!

The problem then was that I had turned 40 and was no longer eligible for treatment on the NHS (we are based in the UK where you can get one or more cycles paid for by the NHS if you are 39 or under). So we were faced with having to pay for the treatment ourselves.

This posed additional problems for us as we were only just getting on our feet having lost absolutely everything when we returned to the UK after living in Zimbabwe. Then, just as we thought we may be in a position to get started, my mother was taken seriously ill and we have had an added financial burden of caring for her needs.

So, we have a desire, but we have no money!!! I’m sure we are not alone in this! It has meant that the IVF cost is crucial to us. In addition, as I write this I am now 43! This means that the IVF success rate is diminishing for me – rapidly!! We need IVF treatment that is effective and cheap!

Not being one to give up easily I decided that I should start researching and, to help me to focus my results whilst also helping others in a similar position to us, I started this blog.

I hope that you find the information here useful. It is a collection of things that have struck a chord with me, together with the IVF cost research that I have done. There are a few excellent things that I have come across – in particular the How to get Pregnant – Mind Movie, please take a look at it!

I wish you every luck with achieving your dream of a beautiful, healthy baby – perhaps we’ll meet in the delivery room!

Mrs. Croc. xxx 

The Times have announced that Spain, the Czech Republic and Crete are becoming very popular destinations for the Irish when they are looking for IVF treatment with donor eggs. After one or two unsuccessful cycles with their own eggs, couples in Ireland are put off by the lack of legislation in their own country regulating egg donation – not sure anonymity can be guaranteed for a donor or payments for expenses to the donor. In addition to this concern there is the attraction of a much lower IVF cost abroad. Instead of paying 10,000 euros for donor eggs in Ireland they can be paying 9,500 euros in Barcelona, with a waiting time of just 2 to 4 weeks; around 3,200 euros in Brno, Czech Republic, with a waiting time of 8 months; or a waiting time of 2 months in Crete.

At the age of 43, what was fascinating for me was that most of these women were aged between 40 and 45. Read the full article here.

So whether you need donor eggs or are using your own eggs, the IVF cost can be significantly less in when you go abroad.

We may only be 5 years away from dramatically increasing the success rate of IVF treatment – although at the moment only mice are benefiting!

A team of scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a microfluidic chip that can measure the health of an embryo by determining the nutrients that they take in.

The process is still in the early stages, and there is still some controversy as to whether it can be effective in increasing the IVF success rate. If it is it may be too late for me, but it will be a great move for the younger women – anything that can reduce the number of IVF cycles, and hence the stress and cost, will be loved by us all!

Check out the full article here.

There is now a new pioneering procedure that can increase the chances of pregnancy by almost 50% over traditional IVF procedures – hence reducing your total IVF cost. It uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the embryo, this stops ice crystals forming since it is fast frozen using this coldest form known to man (minus 190 degrees Celsius).

The procedure is said to be helpful to women that have difficulties in conceiving, women diagnosed with cancer who want to freeze a number of eggs in case chemotherapy leaves them infertile and women who want to put off having a family for professional reasons.

At the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, 17 out of the 39 women offered the treatment so far had fallen pregnant. The first baby born in the UK using this method was a healthy 7lb 10oz baby girl. Read all about it at here.

Are you trying to get pregnant but have been told you need IVF? Do you have to bear the IVF cost yourselves? Have you been searching for a quick resource that compares the IVF cost around the world? Well now it’s here! Finding a list of the IVF costs worldwide for informed decisions on where you can get cost effective treatment is very difficult – I know I’ve been trying and failed! So I decided to compile one for you. Here are the results – the only up-to-date list of worldwide IVF costs on the internet. This article addresses three areas:

1. The costs that are incurred for any one IVF cycle
2. A comparison of the basic IVF treatment cost across the globe.
3. An estimate of the total basic IVF cost to get pregnant according to age and country based on average success rates.

The first thing you need to understand is how the total cost of an IVF cycle is made up. During any particular cycle the costs will include:

• Initial consultation (can be 6% to 10% of the basic IVF treatment cost).

• Basic IVF Treatment (varies by country as outlined in Table 1) Usually includes doctor’s fees for egg collection and embryo transfer, embryologist’s fees for intro fertilisation, anaesthetics, ultrasound scans, theatre charges.

• Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (can be 28% to 40% of the basic IVF treatment cost) Creation of embryos by direct injection of sperm into egg, procedure used for male infertility but increasingly common in standard IVF.

• Hormonal drugs (can be 20% to 80% of the basic IVF treatment cost) Precise cost will depend on which drugs are prescribed for stimulating the ovaries. A Times Body & Soul survey also found high variation in prices charged by pharmacists.

• Embryo freezing Sometimes included in the basic IVF cost. Other clinics can charge up to 20% of the basic IVF treatment cost, plus around 10% of the basic IVF cost per year for storage and between 20% and 100% of the basic IVF treatment cost for later thawing and transfer.

• Other investigations Immunological therapies: can be upto 50% of the basic IVF treatment cost. Preimplantation genetic screening, to pick the best embryos: can be 55% to 120% of the basic IVF treatment cost. Both procedures are offered by a few clinics, though there is little published evidence that they are effective.

• Regulatory fee (dependant on the country) can be 4% to 5% of the basic IVF treatment cost. Charged separately by some clinics and rolled into the general cost by others.

This IVF cost information was according to The Times, January 10, 2008 – to give an indication of how these will affect the total IVF cost around the world the figures, which originally were for UK clinics, have been converted into percentages of the basic IVF treatment cost, and it has been assumed that the percentages will be similar across the globe. Please note that if you, for example, purchase your homonal drugs in a different country to where you have your IVF treatment then the percentage will not be an accurate reflection of costs. The major extra cost on top of the basic IVF treatment cost that everybody has to bear is the hormonal drugs. The amount of hormonal drugs that are required depend upon your:

• age;
• length of infertility, and
• physical condition of your uterus and endometrium (uterine lining)

Understanding what makes up the IVF cost is important, and a great resource for this, and how to select a clinic can be found here. Bearing in mind what makes up the IVF cost we can now look at the basic IVF treatment cost across the world. It was very difficult to find comparative IVF cost figures from around the world. After much searching I realised that such a resource did not exist. As a start I took some figures from an article in Human Reproductive Update, Vol.8 No.3, 2002, An international survey of the health economics of IVF and ICSI by John A. Collins. The article had determined IVF costs for 26 countries for 2002. Taking an average inflation rate in healthcare expenditure of 3.5% I have used their figures to project these IVF costs forward and give estimates for 2008 and 2009 – these can be seen in Table 1 – all costs have been converted to US$. I then searched the internet and made some personal enquiries to find actual IVF costs now – August 2008. It was not possible to find costs for all 26 countries (although I am still trying!) on the original list from John A. Collins, however I did find the costs for countries that were not on the list. All these costs can be seen on Table 1 – all costs have been converted to US$. To understand the costs that I found there are a few notes that you should bear in mind:

• Some of the costs include medication (hormonal drugs) whilst others do not. If the comments column does not indicate whether medication is included or not then I was unable to ascertain if it was included – I will need to make more enquiries.
• If there is no figure in the “upper cost” column then the results are only based on one clinic. I had no way of knowing if this would be a cheap or an expensive clinic for that country, but it is a cost that can be achieved there.
• If both an upper and lower cost is given then prices for at least two clinics were obtained – again this does not reflect the cheapest and most expensive clinic for that country but the lowest and highest IVF cost that I found.
• Even when the cost of medication is given in the comment column, or included in the cost, it must be noted that this can vary according to age and the infertility problem that you have.

Although currently there are still a lot of gaps in the table please keep checking my IVF cost blog as I intend to continue with this research.

Having found the basic IVF cost you have to realise that this will not be the total cost that you will pay in order to have a successful pregnancy through IVF. IVF success rates depend on a number of factors including:

• age;
• number of embryos replaced, and
• cause of infertility.

The HFEA (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority) gives the average success rates from 2005 for each age group as:

• 29.6% for women under 35 years old;
• 23.6% for women aged 35 – 37 years old;
• 18.2% for women aged 38 – 39 years old;
• 10.0% for women aged 40 – 42 years old;
• 3.2% for women aged 43 – 44 years old;
• 0.8% for women aged over 44 years.

Using these figures I have calculated the average total IVF cost for each age group in each country. These can be seen in Table 2.

The chance of a pregnancy through IVF is increased if more embryos are replaced. The more embryos that are replaced the greater the chances of a multiple birth, since each embryo has a chance of developing to full term. Since multiple births is the single greatest risk to health in IVF the HFEA in the UK have imposed restrictions on the number of embryos that can be transferred in IVF to a maximum of two for women under the age of 40 and a maximum of three for women aged 40 or over who are using their own eggs (if you are using donated eggs the maximum is two). In India, however, these restrictions do not apply and six or seven embryos can be replaced at any one cycle, hence increasing the chances of pregnancy but also increasing the risks. To date I do not have details of the legal limits in all of the countries, however if you keep checking my IVF Cost blog I do intend to continue with this research. The cause of infertility is very specific to you. It is not an area which I will address at the moment. Having an estimate of the total IVF cost in each country now puts you in a position to be able to make an informed decision on the best country to focus on for your IVF treatment. India clearly comes out as the cheapest country on IVF cost. India also has the benefit of a vast amount of experience – they were the second country in the world to have a successful pregnancy with IVF, only a couple of month after the UK in 1978. In India many of the doctors have been trained and have practised in the West and are fluent in English. However, if you are from Europe and want to stay closer to home, Hungary (a beautiful country, and so clean. I have had personal contact with one of the clinics there and their communication was excellent) and Latvia (I have never been so I cannot comment) appear very good options. For a truely excellent, must-read book for helping you with the issue of infertility click here.

The average cost of one IVF cycle is approximately $10,000 and that is without the cost of the medication that can add an extra $3,000 to $5,000.

The IVF cost escalates because of the number of cycles that are needed before becoming pregnant. An average for those women lucky enough to succeed is approximately $35,000 if they are under 40 years old. For woman over 40 the average IVF cost can easily raise to $132,000 because of the number of cycles required, however, even this amount of money does not guarantee success.

Hence, if we can increase the chances of becoming pregnant at any particular cycle then this will bring the total IVF cost down significantly.

A study of 578 patients in the USA has shown that there is a significant increase in the chances of becoming pregnant in any one IVF cycle if we combine Eastern and Western medicine treatments, that is undergo acupuncture during the IVF cycle. The reasons given for the increased success rate are that acupuncture increases uterine blood flow and reduces stress.

In the study combining these treatments increased the pregnancy rate by 26% and the ongoing research show that there is an astonishing 15% increase in pregnancies with a 23% increase in actual births.

This is something that can significantly reduce your overall IVF cost – check out the full article at here.

Since the IVF cost is dependant on your particular circumstances and the doctor that you choose, if you are serious about taking the IVF route then Conception & Misconception is a must have book for explaining what makes up the IVF cost and how to avoid the pitfalls that will make the cost higher than is required and shatter your dreams.