Comparison of IVF Cost Across The World

IVF is also called as the in-vitro fertilization. It is one of the most common and effective type of assisted reproductive technology. This helps a woman to become pregnant and the whole procedure is assisted by the experts. The technique involves fertilization of an egg outside the body and starts the pregnancy by implanting the egg in the uterus. The first ever test tube baby through IVF was “Louise Brown”.

The IVF procedure usually involves the following steps across the world.

1 – Natural menstrual cycle suppressed.

2 – Faster ovulation.

3 – The eggs will be retrieved.

4 – Inseminating and fertilizing the egg.

5 – Embryo transfer.

Generally, the IVF cost differs across the globe:

The primary thing to understand is how the total expenditure of an IVF cycle is calculated:

1 – Doctors consultation (6% – 10% of the basic IVF Treatment cost).

2 – Basic IVF treatment includes egg collection, embryo transfer, embryologists fees for intro fertilization, anesthetics, ultrasound scans and theater Charges (varies by countRyan).

3 – Intracytoplasmic sperm injection costing around (28% – 40% of the basic IVF treatment).

4 – Hormonal drugs charges

5 – Embryo freezing 20% of the basic IVF treatment and additional 10% of the basic cost per year for storage, later transfer also includes between 20% and 100% of the basic IVF treatment.

6 – Immunological therapy cost 50% of the basic IVF treatment.

7 – Pre-implantation genetic screening to pick up the best embryos (55% to 120% of the basic treatment cost.

8   4% to 5% incorporates the regular visit charges.

9 – The major cost on top of the basic IVF treatment is hormonal drugs.

To provide a detailed comparison of IVF across the globe is very difficult but from a few sources available from John A Collins article I. human reproductive update volume 8 No 3 2002, an international survey of the health economics of IVF and ICSI, the article had determined IVF costs for 26 countries for 2002 and a detailed study over the available sources from the internet in 2008, showed some countries providing IVF treatment and their charges but the cost was converted to US$.

After a lot of research and enough costing, here is the list of few countries that conduct IVF treatment at a low cost:

1 – India

2 – Korea

3 – Hungary

4 – China

5 – Czech – Republic

6 – Latvia

7 – Qatar

8 – South – Africa

9 – Thailand

10 – Turkey

The most expensive five appear are:

1 – USA

2- Hong – Kong

3 – Dominican Republic

4 – Sweden

5 – UK

India clearly stands as the cheapest country on IVF cost, with a vast amount of experience and ranks second in the world to have a successful pregnancy with IVF after the UK in 1978. India has many trained doctors and has practiced in the west with good communication skills. However, it is important to note that IVF should be done not by focusing on the cost but on the name and reputation of the clinic, across the globe.