IVF costs: what you are actually paying for

Why we do not publish average prices here

Every site that quotes a single average is guessing, and the guess is usually out of date. Prices move, packages differ, and two clinics can use the same words for very different things. So this page teaches you to read a quote instead. Where a figure is genuinely published by a regulator, we say who published it and when.

The line items behind a cycle

• The cycle fee, which is the headline number clinics advertise
• Medication, often bought separately from a pharmacy and the biggest variable
• ICSI, if sperm is injected into the egg rather than mixed with it
• Genetic testing of embryos, priced per cycle and sometimes per embryo
• Freezing embryos, then annual storage after the first period ends
• Each frozen embryo transfer after the first, which is a separate treatment
• Blood tests, scans and consultations that sit outside the package
• Add-ons offered at the consultation, many with limited evidence
• Travel, parking, time off work and childcare, which nobody quotes you

How to get a quote you can trust

1. Ask for the price of one full cycle, itemised, in writing, including VAT.
2. Ask what happens to the money if the cycle is cancelled before retrieval.
3. Ask what medication typically costs at their recommended pharmacy, as a range.
4. Ask which of the extras on the list are optional and what the evidence is.
5. Ask the cost of storage per year, and when the first free period ends.
6. Ask the cost of a frozen transfer, because that is the second bill people forget.

Then put those numbers into the IVF cost calculator. It does not invent prices. It totals yours.