There has been a lot in the media over the past week about fertility clinics profiting from donated eggs, selling treatment cycles at high prices to women who are relying on donor eggs to have a baby.
But what’s the truth? Is treatment with donor eggs really just a profit-driven process?
It’s actually a complex and specialised treatment for both egg donors and recipients, that involves you, your egg donor, and all the tailored care and counselling to look after you both.
Here’s an overview of where the cost of a typical treatment cycle with donor eggs actually goes:
Your own treatment costs: And your egg donor’s
When you pay for treatment with donor eggs, you’ll be covering your own treatment costs and the costs of your egg donor, involving her consultation, screening, stimulation, retrieval and specialised care.
This includes her fertility medications, laboratory testing, theatre use, ultrasound-guided egg retrieval, nursing care and follow-up. These costs can be considerable, and it’s why treatment with donor eggs is more expensive than a conventional IVF cycle using your own eggs.
Specialised technology
Advanced technology and a skilled team are vital in ensuring a clinic has donor eggs to offer. Extensive investment is needed to recruit egg donors, to furnish a laboratory with the right equipment and in techniques to make treatment with donor eggs successful.
It’s why many fertility clinics don’t have egg donor programmes of their own, instead importing donor eggs from abroad with the recipient patient paying the associated costs.
Manchester Fertility is one of the only UK clinics to have its own donor egg programme, Manchester Donors, with no waiting list for frozen or fresh donor eggs from health-screened, identifiable UK egg donors.
Help to fund treatment with donor eggs
Our treatment fees are always transparently priced and thoroughly explained at the outset, so you know exactly what each cycle includes and what you’re paying for with no hidden costs.
If you’re worried about the financial risk of treatment, we offer Access Fertility’s IVF Refund Programme for Donor Eggs Recipients, a pre-paid plan that gives you the reassurance of a refund and multiple cycles to increase your chances of success.
Under the plan you receive up to three cycles of IVF, with a guaranteed six eggs per cycle. If you don’t have a live birth after all included cycles and embryo transfers are completed, you receive a refund of 70% of your plan fees back. Access Fertility’s IVF Refund Programme for Donor Eggs Recipients is available to women aged up to 48.
Treatment with donor eggs in the North West
We’re a trusted and specialist clinic for treatment with donor eggs in Cheshire, Manchester and the North West. We also treat patients from further afield such as Yorkshire, Staffordshire and Lancashire. Come and find out more about how we can help you have a baby. Meet one of our Donation Team for a private, free one-to-one, just call 0161 300 2737 to book your no-obligation appointment.
Last updated: 20th January 2020
