Infertility

Infertility is the inability to naturally conceive a child or the inability to carry a pregnancy to term. There are many reasons why a couple may not be able to conceive, or may not be able to conceive without medical assistance.

Costs

Not everyone has insurance cover for fertility investigations and treatments, especially when a couple already has children.

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2005 approximate costs in US$:

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• Initial workup: hysteroscopy, hysterosalpingogram, blood tests ~$2,000
• Artificial insemination ~ $500- 900 per. trial
• Sonohysterogram (SHG) ~ $600 - 1,000
• Clomiphene citrate cycle ~ $ 200 - 500
• IVF cycle ~ $10,000 -14,000
• Use of a surrogate mother to carry the child - dependant on arrangements

Another way to look at costs is to determine the cost of establishing a pregnancy. Thus if a clomiphene treatment has a chance to establish a pregnancy in 8% of cycles and costs $500, it will cost ~ $6,000 to establish a pregnancy, compared to an IVF cycle (cycle fecundity 40%) with a corresponding cost of ($12,000/40%) $30,000.

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Most insurances do not cover the cost of infertility treatment. Many states are starting to mandate coverage.

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