IVF Cost

I had a lovely contact from Tertia at Nurture who organise IVF treatment with donor eggs or surragacy in South Africa – a beautiful country! Below is a piece that she has written for you about the benefits of going to South Africa for treatment and the IVF costs and IVF success rates – you must check out their website, they’re a very vibrant team! I can’t resist but to put this idea on my shortlist especially since so many people seem to be telling me that at my age I should use donor eggs!

IVF Safaris

 You know how ‘they’ (the well-meaning masses) are always saying “oh, just go on holiday and then you will get pregnant”?  Makes you want to reach out and shake them.  But maybe there is a bit of method in their madness after all!  Come to South Africa on a fertility holiday, see a lion* and conceive your baby!

 Medical care in South Africa is on par with the best care in the world.  Our doctors and their support staff are of the highest quality and our success rates are proof.  Our clinics are getting over 65% success rates per attempt for their DE IVFs.  And that is not a doctored number, it’s the real deal.

 But here is the real winner – not only is the care excellent, but it is damn cheap too!  The cost of a DE IVF is a fraction of what you would pay for in America or Europe.  So, you could come on a two week IVF Safari to South Africa and the entire trip, including your flights, accommodation, lion spotting AND the IVF costs will still come to less that it would cost you do an IVF at home.  Amazing huh!

 South Africa is the most amazing country.  Not only do we have the best looking people here (myself included of course), but we have so much to do for the tourist.  Wine farms, game drives, the best beaches, amazing scenery.  And of course, it helps that you get about a billion South African Rands to one dollar.  Well, maybe not a billion, but it does make it very affordable for foreign tourists.

 So, come to South Africa for your IVF treatment.  Bring extra space in your case and room in your womb, hopefully both will be filled when you return home again!

 For more information about Egg Donation in South Africa, please visit www.nurture.co.za

 * Contrary to popular believe, we don’t have lions roaming freely on the streets of South Africa.  You might have to go on a bit of a safari to see a lion.  We do have some really nice wine though, and that is freely available just about anywhere you go. 

 Costs for DE IVF in Cape Town, South Africa

(Note – these are estimate costs, for a confirmed quote, please contact the Cape Fertility Clinic directly on karin@capefertility.co.za for treatment in Cape Town, or for treatment in Johannesburg, contact  Vitalab Fertility Clinic)

 DE IVF = $5000 – $6000

(including all appointments, meds etc for the recipient and the donor, retrieval, ICSI, transfer as well as the donor’s fee)

 Agency Fee = $2500

(Agency fee for the donor.  For more info, please visit www.nurture.co.za) 

I had an email from Roisin (thanks very much Roisin!) who has pointed me to an article that explains how the IVF success rate is calculated – a very complicated and confusing issue for those of us trying to select a clinic! I would like to share that article with you all, it can be found at:

http://www.givf.com/library/whatisyoursuccessrate1.cfm

I received the following question on my blog which I thought very interesting:

Hi,
I’ve read that if I get pregnant, I’ll use estrogen until the 11th week of pregnancy. But I know that estrogen is in the X category and most likely to cause fetal abnormality. So I’m quite confused now. I want to be pregnant but don’t want an abnormal baby…

I forwarded the question to MD Mr. Olegs Tucs at the Nairobi IVF Centre in Kenya (he is always VERY helpful in answering any questions) and this is the response that he gave:

During pregnancy estradiol and progesteron levels are naturally highly elevated if compared to non-pregnant conditions. In IVF or assisted reproduction in general extra estrogens are given only if there are indications of Your body not producing enough estradiol of its own. It is in case of menopause, ovarian failure and mostly in egg donation program. In those cases You will be given both progesteron and estrogen to mimic natural processes and in doses corresponding to normal body production of hormones during pregnancy. It is also necessary for Your doctor to monitor hormonal levels during treatment and adjust the dose accordingly.

Kind regards,
MD Mr. Olegs Tucs
The Nairobi IVF Center Ltd.
www.nairobiivf.com

I hope this reply will be helpful to others who have similar concerns.

The same day as I sent my letter requesting the IVF cost, IVF success and IVF procedure at INVICTA in Poland I received the reply below.

I have added the approximate US$ equivalents in red. The price seems good.

The INVICTA website can be found here – the only problem is that I could not get it to display in English even though there is a button for this it just brought up an error!

Thank you for your attention and interest in our fertility clinic. We do most  procedures of fertility treatment available in the world, accordingly to  scientifically based standards. The procedures and treatment of your specific fertility problem should be diagnosed and discussed during your visit  that should be planned on the 1-5 cycle day. Then, after your problem is precisely diagnosed according to your health state (I mean hormonal disturbances – package of 9 hormones), the treatment could be planned,  on this basis we can give you answers like method of treatment, stimulation and if donor egg – number of eggs, make some specification of the donor – we need information like – high, color of eyes, blob group etc .

The cost of typical IVF is about 5000PLN (approx. US$1630) plus cost of medicines about 1500-3000 PLN (approx. US$490 – 978). The patients need usually about 2 to 4 visit and it’s in about 4 to 6 weeks. Success rates is about 80%.

In IVF treatment we don’t have age limit.

We do ICSI procedures with donor eggs, but only donated from young (to 35 years old), healthy (genetically and checked with infectious diseases with no ontological history in family) women. They do it voluntarily and the donation is totally anonymous for both – the donor and the acceptor of eggs. That is the only legal way of doing such procedures in Poland. We do not do the procedure with donor chosen by the patients. Of course the treated woman gets the overall information about age, physical features etc. of the donor but it remains anonymous anyway.

Cost of IVF program with donor egg is 9000PLN (approx. US$2935). And waiting time is about 4-7 month, after qualification visit.

First you should have consultation visit when You decided with the doctor the best method of treatment

If you have your reports, you are kindly requested to bring them with you for initial planning visit. You are warmly welcome to visit the clinic on 1-5 cycle day.

Best regards

INVICTA

Gdansk, Warszawa

POLAND

In March 2011 I had an update from INVICTA, much of the information is the same, and as you can see the prices have not changed. Here is what I received:

Thank you for your attention and interest  our fertility clinic. We do most  procedures of fertility treatment available in the world, accordingly to  scientifically based standards. The procedures and treatment of your specific fertility problem should be diagnosed and discussed during your visit  that should be planned on the 1-3 cycle day. Then, after your problem is precisely diagnosed according to your health state (I mean hormonal disturbances – package of 10 hormones), the treatment could be planned. We also treat single woman.

We do ICSI procedures with donor eggs, but only donated from young (to 35 years old), healthy (genetically and checked with infectious diseases with no ontological history in family) women. They do it voluntarily and the donation is totally anonymous for both – the donor and the acceptor of eggs.

That is the only legal way of doing such procedures in Poland. We do not do the procedure with donor chosen by the patients. Of course the treated woman gets the overall information about age, physical features etc. of the donor but it remains anonymous anyway.

The cost of IVF with donor eggs is 9000 PLN.
There is a waiting list. Waiting time for donor eggs is about 7-12 month, after qualification visit.

We offers PGD in our clinic. We screen chromosomes 13,15, 16, 17, 8, 21, 22, X and Y.
Cost of PGD is from 4500 to 13000PLN.

The patients need usually about 2 to 4 visit. First you should have consultation visit when You decided with the doctor the best method of treatment,
make some specification of the donors – we need information like – high, color of eyes, blood group etc.

If you have your reports, you are kindly requested to bring them with you for initial planning visit.

Registration and information:
Warsaw: +4822 892-93-60
Gdansk: +4858 763-52-60

The same day as I sent my letter requesting information on the IVF cost, IVF success rate and IVF procedure to IREMA in Spain I received the reply below – I like being told my age is perfect!!!!

I have added the approximate US$ costs in red. The main costs were not on the reply but were in an attachment – these are shown after the reply – all of these are based on donors.

All the contact details for the clinic can be found at the bottom of the reply.

We enclose herewith our Egg donation Information and cost. Donor and recipient’s drug costs included. As well as a list of hotels near our clinic. They have a special price for our patients.
Actually, we dont have waiting list for egg donation and for the first appointment, the embryo transfer can be done between 45-60 days after the first appointment if all is ok. The pregnancy test rate is over 60%.

1. What is the current success rate for your clinic? (preferably by age as I know that the success rate will be much lower for somebody of my age) The pregnancy test rate is over 60%.Your age is perfect.
2. How many cycles do you perform per year at the clinic? More than 100
3. What is the maximum age that you treat?  51 years old, according to the health of the patient
4. Are there any fertility conditions that you will not treat?  Yes, we have limits
5. What is your embryo transfer policy? How many embryos will you replace at one time?  Our policy is from 2 to 3 days according to the quality and the quantity of embryos. The transfer is 2 embryos but the patient speaks before with the doctor and the biologist, The transfer can be 1,2 or 3 embryos
6. What is the basic cost of the IVF treatment? included
7. What additional costs would / could be incurred? included
8. What happens to the costs if the cycle has to be abandoned? If we cancel because the donor do not answer at the stimulation, no cost for the patient. If the patient cancels, it is necessary to pay the costs that we had with the donor.
9. How long would I need to be in Spain for? 1 day for the first visit and 2 days minimum for the transfer of embryos
10. Who deals with the logistics of flights and accommodation? Proposition of hotel included, we do not make the flights.  For the first appointment and the transfert of embryos we can send you a taxi to pick you up in the Alicante or Valencia Airport. Cost for the clinic.
11. How is the pre-treatment carried out? Before the treatment you begin with a anti-baby pill to synchronize your menstruation with that of the donor
12. How do I get medication? We give you medicines and explications during the first visit
13. How will I be monitored? You will have to make an ultrasound scan and one test of blood (Estradiol) at your gynecologist of your country during the treatment.
14. How will I know that I am not being under / over stimulated? By the control of estradiol
15. If I have a problem whilst in the UK who would I go to? at your gynecologist of your country. We had have never problem with the patients because the hyperstimulation is more risked at the donor’s
16. Is the clinic registered with any regulatory body? Included the certificate of Inscription

IN VITRO FERTILISATION WITH DONOR OOCYTES 2008

The treatment consists of the following phases:
STIMULATION
Includes: Medical control and medication for both, recipient and donor. Donor
screening and fee.
                                                               4300 € (approx. US$5418)

DONOR EGG COLLECTION
Includes: Collection of the oocytes (anaesthesia and theatre fees), ICSI (Sperm
microinjection). Embryo culture.
                                                               2100 € (approx. US$2646)

EMBRYO TRANSFER
Includes: Embryo transfer. One appointment for pregnancy test.

                                                                 550 € (approx. US$ 693)

TOTAL TREATMENT………………………………………………………………………………….. 6950€ (approx. US$ 8757)

Complementary techniques:
Sequential embryo culture 310 € (approx. US$391)
Assisted Hatching 310 € (approx. US$391)
Embryo Freezing 500 € (approx. US$630)
Sperm Bank 310 € (approx. US$391)

Guide for the oocytes reception

When by diverse reasons a woman cannot produce oocytes, or these are of insufficient
quality to obtain embryos, the possibility of the anonymous donation of oocytes exists.
This process consists of the fertilization of the donor oocytes with semen of your
husband (or coming from semen bank, if it were necessary) so that the embryos that are
obtained will be transferred into the uterus. So, we will prescribe a medical treatment,
that will allow the development of endometrium (place in which is going to implant the
embryo) so that it will be available to receive the embryos later and can support the
pregnancy.

How we do an In Vitro Fertilization with donor eggs:

– From IREMA we will indicate you with what menstruation you must to begin
the treatment.

– Hormonal treatment will be started around first day of the cycle, once we have
done an hormonal analysis and an ultrasound scan. . Hormonal treatment takes
about 7-12 days, depending on donor’s response, because we have to sincronice
both cycles.

– Frequent controls (Ultrasound and hormone) will be done.

– On donor egg extraction day, the man has to bring us a semen sample. It will be
delivered in the laboratory. We recommend an abstinence sexual period of three
days.

– Two or three days after egg extraction, the embryo transfer will be done. We
will inform previously the couple about number and quality embryos that we
have obtained, and all together will decide the embryo number to transfer and to
cryopreserve.

– We introduce a small catheter through the vagina to perform the embryo
transfer. The embryos will be placed in the uterus. No sedation needed nor
admittance of the patient. About one hour later, the patient can leave the
hospital.

– From one to three embryos can be transferred. It depends on the desire of the
future parents, on the age of the patient, on the number of realized treatments,
and on the embryo quality.

– After embryo transfer, the patient has to place a medication in the vagina bottom
every night before going to sleep, and to continue with the medication until
doctor indicates. (al least 15 days)

– You will follow light duties during the following days.

– You should not have sexual relations until pregnancy test day.

– After 15 days of embryo transfer, you will have an appointment to do the
pregnancy test. This appointment will be fixed on transference day.

– If the pregnancy is not achieved, after a resting period of one month, a new
treatment can be started. We can start, also, a cryopreserved embryos cycle if
there were cryopreserved embryos.

– Sometimes, light bleeding can take place before doing the pregnancy test, but
you must not stop the medication. If you are in this situation contact with
IREMA.

– If you are pregnant, we will have a new appointment after two weeks, for doing
an ultrasound scan and to see the embryo development in the firsts weeks.

Two days after sending out my letter requesting the IVF cost, IVF success rate and IVF procedure to the New IVF Team in Abu Dubai, United Arab Emirates, I received the reply below.

The website for the New IVF Team can be found here.

I had a comment saying that this clinic may have moved, the response from the New IVF Team was “Our IVF team is now in Abu Dhabi-British clinic -Electra St.Mazda agency building”

 
I am Dr.Hassen Salem—Gyn.& IVF doctor
– Our center has about 360 cycle /year
– Age is not the important factor if FSH is less than 12.5 miu
– we do not treat cases of ovarian and testicular failure.
– Our policy is to transfere 3 embryos.
– Costs about 5000$
– add 1000$ for medicine.
– If cycle was cancelled , we refund half of costs.
– You need to stay here in Abu Dhabi for 3 weeks if you came on second day of your menstrual cycle.
– We Have no relation with patient’s logistics or accomodation.
– No need for pretreatment
– Monitorng is done by Vaginal Ultrasound and serum estrdiol.
– I problems occured to you in UK(ovarian hyperstimulation-ectopic pregnancy-abortion-multiple pregnancy) you can go to any gyn.deparment in any hospital.
Tank you for contacting us .
best regards.

The same day that I sent my letter requesting information on the IVF cost, IVF success rate and IVF procedure to the Jinemad Hospital in Turkey I received the reply below.

Prices have been given in GBP and I have added the approximate US$ equivalents in red. Their website can be found here.

Although all of my questions have been answered directly I was not keen on the replies in the last two, perhaps it’s just me being sensitive!

The same day as I sent my letter requesting the IVF cost, IVF success rate and IVF procedure to the Dravlje Medical Centre in Slovenia I received the reply below.

The prices appear very good and they have answered all of my questions directly so I felt that it was worth adding to my IVF shortlist.

The contact details for the clinic are:

http://www.neplodnost.com

info@neplodnost.com

I have added the approximate US$ eqivalents in red, and the website can be found here.

The same day as I sent my letter requesting information on the IVF cost, IVF success rate and IVF process to the Instituto Marques in Barcelona, Spain, I received the following reply.

No prices were given and there are no prices on the website – it states that you can get the prices by mail or fax but even thought I directly asked the question in my mail it was not answered. The contact details for the clinic are at the end of the reply.

Thank you for contacting us. My name is Massimiliano Pani and I am one of the twelve Patient Assistants in the Institut Marquès’ International Team. From now on, I will be your contact person providing you with all the information that you need and if you decide to come to our centre I will be there to help you. If for some reason I’m not here, my colleague Carmen Calò will attend you, he/she will always be aware of your case and needs.

Find below some information that will help you get to know us better:

Institut Marquès is a European fertility centre par excellence that has achieved positive results for 95 % of the patients who choose our centre, including couples who have undergone previous unsuccessful treatments. We are currently treating a great number of patients from Europe, America and Australia.

How do we achieve these excellent results?

–          No waiting list: You decide when you would like to start.

–          Careful selection and matching of egg and semen donors (if needed) to recipients – thanks to the high number of donors that we have (the majority are young university students).

–          We guarantee a minimum of 6 mature oocytes from each donor. If it is not possible to fulfil this condition, we would carry on the treatment with a backup donor within the same cycle at no extra cost.

–          We trust our work & results. Therefore we offer you the Refunding contract, according to which we will refund you 70 % of the total price of the treatment if the patient does not achieve a viable pregnancy after three treatments of oocyte donation

–          Personalized assistance – a patient assistant will be assigned to you.

–          Assistance provided in the following languages: English, Italian, German, French, Russian, Swedish, Polish and Portuguese.

–          Emergency number 24 hours, seven days a week

–          Our centre remains open every month of the year.

–          Emotional Support: We offer you  free assistance from our psychologists to help you deal with the stress & anxiety that an assisted reproduction treatment can cause. http://www.institutomarques.com/en_tensteps.html

–          Free use of the exclusive O2 Wellness Centre: available if you cannot stay in Barcelona overnight and intend to fly back the same evening. It allows you to rest in this distinguished health & spa centre. This resting area also offers  free nursery for childcare.  

–          Detailed estimate that includes:

–          Cost of the medication for the patient

–          In the case of egg donation, cost of the donor’s selection, treatment and compensation for the donor

–          In the case of egg donation, medication for the donor

–          ICSI

More information is available at www.institutomarques.com. Here you will find a video available in your own language which describes the different stages of the treatment. This way you will have a very clear idea of how the treatment works and on the first visit we will supply much more information that allows you to understand the process.

In order to initially assess your case prior to the first visit and allow us  to schedule  any special tests if required, we would be grateful if you could send us the following information:

·        Have either of you any children within this relationship or with a different partner?

·        Have you had a previous miscarriage?

·        How long have you been trying to  become pregnant?

.        Your age and that of your partner

.        Is there any history of genetic disease in your family ?

·       Details of your medical history, in particular any information that you might have about previous fertility treatments (Date, number of eggs collected, number of eggs successfully fertilised, number of embryos transferred, number of embryos frozen).

.  In case you have previously undergone an Assisted Reproduction treatment cycle. Please supply us with the centre(s) and doctor(s)’ name.

We would like to thank your for your interest and look forward to your answers.

Kind regards,

Massimiliano Pani

• If you would like us to contact you, please give your mobile phone number.

• Due to our interest in protecting your private life and data privacy, we wish to inform you that from now on you will be assigned a unique identifying code _______ that you will have to use every time you contact us. We recommend you to mention this code in the SUBJECT field of your future e-mails

The same day as I sent my letter requesting the IVF cost, IVF success rate and IVF procedure to Medicare Thailand I received an intermediate reply as shown below. The direct answers to my questions came eleven days later.

The website for Medicare Thailand is here. It is nice to know that you would have a native English person to help you through the process whilst in Thailand and to help with the arrangements. It also sounds as though the doctors are keen to collabourate well with your own local GP and specialists.

I actually work on behalf of one of asia’s leading assisted reproducion clinics. They currently are the number one for PGD screening and are showing amazing success rates.

Now I advise on hotels and assist with the bookings if needed. The flights are left to the patient, as they are so easy to purchase now via the net.

We act as agents for the clinic, I look after all international patients, the cost is identical if you go directly throught the clinic or through us. But with us we are a native English point of call in Thailand. We check you into your hotel and take the patient to the clinic for the first meeting. We also supply a mobile phone free of charge with all needed contact numbers prestored. So the patient can relax knowing there is someone very close by, who they can call on for anything.

I personally go with the patients on the first day, I live on the same street as the clinic.

I am having a doctor send me their current rates and 2008 figures, ie, success and procedures. I will send you everything you need to know and have asked for over the next 2 days.

I also do the same thing for stemcell therapy, maybe you might like to have a read through my other site- www.stemcells21.com

Kind Regards

Paul Collier

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

How are you?

I have got the answers to all your questions-
The questions I have regarding treatment at your clinic are:

I hope this gives you all the answers needed.

Let me know how you want to move ahead. I have just learned that the UK is going to be only allowing 1 embryo transfer for IVF treatments. This is not good, its is already more expensive for ART treatments in the UK and now they have restricted it to this.

I currently have a couple from Wales over in Bangkok for IVF and PGD screening.

Regards

Paul