IVF Cost Statistics (2026)

One cycle of in vitro fertilization costs $12,000 to $25,000 in the US, according to the federal government. That range appears in Executive Order 14216, signed February 18, 2025, and again in the White House's October 2025 IVF fact sheet, which adds that multiple cycles may be needed to get pregnant. KFF, a health policy research group, puts the average at $15,000 to $20,000 per cycle (KFF), and its October 2026 report on women's fertility care cites costs of upwards of $25,000 for one cycle (KFF).

None of these is a measured national average. No US agency collects IVF prices, and clinics set their own. The figures above are estimates drawn from industry data, and the table below shows how they compare, including the two peer-reviewed studies that measured what patients actually spent.

FertilityIQ, a company that reviews fertility clinics and surveys their patients, reports that each IVF cycle cost $22,000 in the US as of 2019, and that IVF costs well over $20,000 on average once medication is included (FertilityIQ). From its data on more than 23,000 patients, it says cumulative costs for most patients reach $40,000 to $60,000.

Mercer, a benefits consulting firm, gives a range of $12,000 to $25,000 for a single cycle (Mercer) and $25,000 to $35,000 for a cycle that includes medication, egg retrieval, fertilization, freezing, testing and embryo transfer (Mercer). Both are industry sources, and their figures depend on what a "cycle" is taken to include.

A cycle has several parts that are often priced separately: monitoring and the egg retrieval procedure, fertility drugs, lab work to fertilize eggs and grow embryos, the embryo transfer, and freezing and storing any extra embryos. Add-ons raise the bill. FertilityIQ reports that ICSI, where a single sperm is injected into each egg, adds about $3,000 and is used in 70% of cases, and that PGT-A genetic testing of embryos often costs $5,000 (see the table below).

An extra frozen embryo transfer costs about $3,000, and storing frozen embryos about $2,000 for five years, according to FertilityIQ figures. Half of US clinics sell cycles in packages or with a refund feature, known as shared risk, and FertilityIQ reports that most patients spend 25% to 50% beyond the quoted price. A 2024 study cited by federal regulators put preliminary diagnostic fertility testing at about $1,600 (Federal Register).

Fertility medications often cost more than $5,000 per cycle and represent almost 20% of the total cost of a treatment cycle, according to the White House. Mercer says specialty pharmacy costs can sometimes reach 40% of a cycle.

In October 2025 the administration announced a pricing agreement with EMD Serono, a large maker of fertility drugs, and CMS estimated that patients could save up to $2,200 per cycle. When TrumpRx.gov launched on February 5, 2026, the White House said Cetrotide would drop from $316 to $22.50, Ovidrel from $251 to $84, and Gonal-F to as low as $168 per pen (White House). In October 2026 it said patients can now save more than $2,000 per cycle on fertility drugs, on average.

The number of cycles needed is what turns a per-cycle price into a total. FertilityIQ reports that the average patient needs 2.3 cycles to deliver a baby, and the proposed federal fertility benefits rule uses an average of 2.5 cycles, putting the total cost above $40,000 or even $60,000 depending on the source (91 FR 27140).

Age is the largest factor. In CDC's 2022 national data, women under 35 using their own eggs needed an average of 2.0 egg retrievals per live birth, women 35 to 37 needed 2.8, women 38 to 40 needed 4.3 and women over 40 needed 12.9 (CDC). At the same price per cycle, that means a woman over 40 would pay for about six times as many retrievals per baby as a woman under 35, by our arithmetic (see the chart below).

Two peer-reviewed studies measured real spending, though both use older data. An 18-month study of 398 women at eight clinics found median per-person costs of $24,373 for IVF and $38,015 for IVF with donor eggs, and $61,377 per successful outcome with IVF (Katz et al., Fertility and Sterility, 2011). It also cited an estimate that patients pay 85% of IVF costs out of pocket.

A study of 332 couples found that those using IVF had median out-of-pocket costs of $19,234, the highest of any treatment group, and spent about $6,955 for each additional IVF cycle (Wu et al., Journal of Urology, 2014). Couples using medication only had median out-of-pocket costs of $912.

More recent federal survey data shows how often insurance pays nothing. In the 2022-2023 National Survey of Family Growth, 40% of women who used IVF said none of the cost was covered by insurance, as reported in the proposed federal rule (Federal Register). FertilityIQ reports that only 20% of US patients have IVF coverage.

The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, which collects data from member clinics, reports that in 2023 a single egg retrieval led to a live birth 53.2% of the time for women under 35, 39.9% at 35 to 37, 26.2% at 38 to 40, 13.2% at 41 to 42 and 4.1% over 42, counting every embryo transfer from that retrieval (SART 2023 final report). Measured per new patient across all her retrievals, the rates were 68.2% under 35 and 7.5% over 42.

CDC's 2022 national figures, which use slightly different age groups, show 49.7% of intended retrievals ending in a live birth for women under 35 and 7.7% for women over 40 (CDC). For women using donor eggs, the live birth rate per transfer was 52.0% with fresh embryos from fresh donor eggs. SART's preliminary 2024 figures are lower because later transfers have not yet been counted (see the tables below).

Among firms with 200 or more workers that offer health benefits, 27% covered IVF in 2026, the same share as in 2024 (KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey). Coverage rises with size: 24% of firms with 200 to 999 workers, 38% with 1,000 to 4,999 and 47% with 5,000 or more. Firms with 200 to 999 workers were more likely to say they did not know whether their plan covered IVF (27% against 9%).

In 2024, KFF found that 37% of large firms covered fertility medications, 26% intrauterine insemination and 12% egg or sperm freezing, with many employers unsure of their own coverage (KFF 2024). Mercer's survey, which counts employers with 500 or more workers, found 47% covering IVF in 2024, up from 22% in 2019, and 70% of employers with 20,000 or more workers (Mercer, industry survey).

Employer coverage usually has a cap. Among large employers covering IVF, Mercer reports that 54% use a lifetime dollar limit and 23% limit the number of cycles (Mercer). The median lifetime maximum was $25,000 and the median cycle limit three cycles, according to Mercer's October 2025 analysis; its earlier post put the median dollar limit at $20,000.

Set against the per-cycle estimates on this page, a $25,000 lifetime maximum covers roughly one to two cycles. The proposed federal rule would let employers offer fertility benefits as a separate benefit with a lifetime cap of $120,000 per participant, for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2027. It was proposed on May 13, 2026, and a final rule had not been published as of this writing.

15 states have laws requiring insurance to cover IVF, 22 require coverage of fertility preservation, and 25 have some infertility coverage law, according to RESOLVE, a patient advocacy group whose counts federal regulators cite. KFF's tracker lists 23 states and DC as requiring some fertility-related coverage in private insurance as of November 2025, and 15 states and DC requiring some level of IVF coverage (KFF).

The laws vary widely. California's SB 729 requires large group plans, those covering 100 or more employees, to cover fertility care including IVF from January 1, 2026, after a delay from July 2025 (California Senate). Colorado has required large group plans to cover up to three egg retrievals with unlimited embryo transfers since 2023. Arkansas caps lifetime coverage at $15,000.

State mandates do not apply to self-funded employer plans, which cover about 67% of workers with employer insurance (KFF). A 2022 study using CDC data found IVF use was 132% higher in states with comprehensive mandates, with higher live birth rates per cycle (35.4% against 33.4%) and fewer multiple births (Peipert et al., American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology).

Mostly not. KFF's tracker shows 17 states and DC with some fertility coverage in Medicaid as of November 2025 (KFF), and a 2020 review cited by KFF found no state Medicaid program provided comprehensive IVF. Utah's Medicaid covers testing and IVF only for people with certain genetic conditions.

Federal law exempts state Medicaid programs from having to cover fertility medications, unlike most other outpatient drugs (KFF). KFF notes that nearly 16 million women of reproductive age are enrolled in Medicaid. In its 2026 survey, 17% of higher-income women who needed fertility help obtained IVF, against 3% of low-income women.

SART member clinics reported 449,772 IVF treatment cycles in 2024, 97,549 cycles with a live birth and 100,158 babies, the first year IVF births in the US passed 100,000 (ASRM). More than 97% were single births, twins were about 2.6% and triplets 0.04%, and about 79% of transfers used a single embryo. SART's own national summary lists 431,746 total cycles for 2024, a different count from the press release.

CDC's most recent figures, for 2022, count 435,426 cycles performed on 251,542 patients at 457 clinics, resulting in 98,289 babies, about 2.6% of all US infants (CDC). Of those cycles, 184,423 were banking cycles in which every egg or embryo was frozen for later use. In 2021 the share of infants conceived with assisted reproduction ranged from 0.4% in Puerto Rico to 5.8% in Washington, DC (CDC).

About 1 in 5 (19%) married women aged 15 to 49 with no prior births are unable to get pregnant, according to the CDC. In KFF's 2026 Women's Health Survey, 15% of women aged 18 to 49 said they or their partner had ever needed fertility services, 11% had received fertility assistance and 3% could not get the care they needed (KFF).

Cost is the most common barrier. A quarter of women who needed fertility services did not receive them and named cost as the main reason. 42% of US adults say they have used fertility treatment or know someone who has, up from 33% five years earlier, and 61% say health insurance should cover it (Pew Research Center, 2023).

An egg freezing cycle, covering hormone stimulation, egg retrieval and lab processing, costs around $16,000, according to FertilityIQ: about $11,000 charged by the clinic and around $5,000 for medication (FertilityIQ, industry data). The average patient does a second cycle and more than 20% do a third.

Only 10% to 20% of patients come back to use their frozen eggs, FertilityIQ reports. Mercer found that 21% of large employers covered elective egg freezing in 2024, while KFF found 12% of firms with 200 or more workers covered cryopreservation.

The UK regulator, the HFEA, reports that about 53,000 patients had IVF in the UK in 2024 and around 21,400 babies were born, 3.2% of all UK births, or about 1 in 31 (HFEA). The share of UK IVF cycles funded by the National Health Service fell from 35% in 2019 to 28% in 2024, and to 25% in England.

The HFEA does not collect clinic prices and notes that the same treatment can cost two or three times more depending on the clinic. No primary source publishes a like-for-like comparison of IVF prices across countries, so this page does not rank US costs against other countries.

Executive Order 14216 directed the White House Domestic Policy Council to recommend ways to cut out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF within 90 days. In October 2025 the administration announced the EMD Serono drug pricing deal, guidance that employers can offer standalone fertility benefits, and an FDA priority review voucher for a lower-cost fertility drug (White House).

The proposed "Excepted Fertility Benefits" rule, published May 13, 2026, estimates that about 54.4 million people would be offered such benefits and about 743,361 would enroll each year (Federal Register). For federal employees, every FEHB carrier was required to cover three cycles of IVF-related drugs for plan year 2025.

For most patients the cost of IVF is set by three things: the price per cycle at their clinic, the number of cycles their age makes likely, and whether their plan covers any of it. With an estimated 27% of large employers covering IVF and caps that often cover one or two cycles, many families pay most of the cost themselves. The cost of the birth that follows is on the childbirth cost statistics page.

Families who keep savings for treatment in a brokerage account can use Walnut, an AI investing app, to see how a connected account is doing. The figures on this page describe what IVF costs; they are not medical, insurance or financial advice.