Here’s An Inside Look At The Expensive IVF Journey

That's a hefty bill...

Fox 4 News reports that in vitro fertilization, known as IVF, can be an expensive journey depending on where a person lives.

The process allows a human egg to be fertilized outside a person’s body until it develops into an embryo. Once that happens, the embryo can be transferred into the uterus. The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 1 in 5, or 19% of married women between the ages of 15 and 49, who have never been pregnant, are unable to conceive after one year of trying. The number of attempts can get expensive.

In the U.S., the average cost of IVF can range close to $20,000 or more, regardless of whether the process is successful or not. Since IVF has become a political hot topic following the controversial ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court, which decided frozen embryos are legally considered children in the state, people undergoing treatment are sharing the financial frustrations behind it. Since health insurance companies are not required to cover IVF treatments in the state of Georgia, Jinsol Madak Hwang said she ended up paying $40,000 for a treatment package.

Her package included just about everything except medications. It also excluded other genetic testing that some parents opt for to determine if the child is at risk for certain diseases or hereditary genetic mutations.

Michigan resident Hana Schoenherr found a less expensive option offered by a clinic in New York for a little under $14,000 after shopping around; however, she said. ”Because I reside in Michigan, this was not an option for me.” Overall, Schoenherr paid $42,000 out of pocket for her treatment, which included medications, egg retrieval, and embryo transfers.

There is one important element of IVF treatment that isn’t included in any package: the cost to keep additional embryos frozen for future pregnancies. The addition costs Hwang nearly $800 a year, while Schoenherr pays $500 annually.

During the 2024 Democratic National Convention, IVF has been at the forefront of announced policies surrounding reproductive health rights. According to The Hill, the DNC released plans that would change the U.S. healthcare system, and it hopes it will entice voters to put Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz in the White House. Democratic lawmakers claim they want to protect access to IVF, strengthen access to contraception, and repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans abortions from being federally funded.

The process can be a little more complex than meets the eye. Walz, who has made his family’s fertility struggle a core part of his campaign’s narrative, issued a statement with his wife, Gwen, detailing their experience with intrauterine insemination, or IUI. The Walz family disclosed the process as being a little different than those of other people. Under certain circumstances, IUI is often attempted before IVF but isn’t under the same level of political scrutiny since there are limited risks of destroying unused embryos that anti-abortion advocates equate to unborn children. “Like so many who have experienced these challenges, we kept it largely to ourselves at the time – not even sharing the details with our wonderful and close family,” Gwen Walz said in the statement.

“She was a nurse and helped me with the shots I needed as part of the IUI process.”