IVF overseas: why European clinics lead the way

IVF treatment overseas continues to make sense for UK fertility patients. This blog has criticised the provision of IVF in the UK before. Now we’re doing it again. We’re deeply concerned to see the cost of IVF continuing to rise in the UK, year on year. IVF prices are, in part, fuelled by the inconsistent eligibility criteria for NHS fertility treatment. Even if you’re lucky enough to get one cycle on the NHS, it almost certainly won’t pay for a second.

It’s a mathematical certainty that multiple IVF attempts increase the likelihood of success. That’s particularly relevant for the over-40s, where six out of seven IVF cycles using patients’ eggs fail. When you’re 43, it jumps to an alarming 19 out of 20. It’s a double-edged sword. More and more infertile couples, deprived, possibly illegally, of coherent state funding for their IVF treatment, go private. Market forces kick in. Private IVF costs rocket.

The rip-off costs of IVF in the UK is one of many reasons to consider IVF overseas – by which we mean mainland European clinics with a more liberal and, frankly, less greedy approach to fertility services. IVF clinics in the EU also offer strict legal protection over the quality of service you receive. Ethical standards are also closely monitored. The idea that British infertility treatment is best is a fallacy. At least 32 other European countries provide it, many exceeding UK standards. There are major players, like Spain and the Czech Republic, and smaller ones that nobody knows much about.

Compared to the rest of the world, Europe leads the way in assisted reproduction services. Figures from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology show how flourishing European IVF is. Not including Asia, 71 per cent of worldwide fertility cycles were carried out in Europe in 2009 – the last time the research was done. That’s 537,237 cycles a year, a figure that’s bound to be higher today. It was about three times higher, even then, than the US. To date, well over five million IVF babies have been created since the technique’s debut in 1978.

Certain IVF figures from overseas clinics stand out. The average pregnancy rate in 2009, following treatment at European clinics, was around 32 per cent, per embryo transferred, following IVF or ICSI. It evened out at 42 per cent for donor-egg IVF. Frozen transfers (FETs) success rates are also on the rise as vitrification processes improve. Of course, results vary from country to country and clinic to clinic. Encouraging as these figures are, live births following European IVF treatment are almost certainly even higher today.

Rising living costs in the UK are squeezing household budgets. The latest Government figures suggest the average person has to spend £678 more in 2013 to maintain the same standard of living as in 2012. Small wonder people are looking at ways to save money on their medical bills alongside everything else. That also goes for IVF spending. In light of this, it’s surprising that the private fertility industry seems to be raising, not lowering, its prices.

Forget the HFEA, which seems generally disinterested in rising IVF costs in the UK. Compare clinic prices yourself. Here’s the current cost of IVF, using your own eggs, at a fertility clinic in Kent. It offers a ‘reasonable’ and ‘no-stress pricing policy’. We got anxious just looking at the ‘extras’ (some optional, some not) that bumped up the price. Many UK clinics charge more, so consider this one of the least worst offenders:

IVF single cycle with ICSI: £3,880

HFEA fee: £75

Initial consultation: £170

Follow-up consultation: £100

Investigations package: £325

Semen analysis: £95

Blastocyst culture: £400

Embryo freezing for one year: £575

Blood tests: from £40 each (e.g. a FSH and an LH test will cost you £80)

We make that almost £6,000 for a cycle that includes blastocyst culture and leftover embryos for freezing. Add in drugs and you’re over £7,000 before you know it. In our opinion, that’s outrageous. You can get the same IVF treatment overseas for 70 per cent less. Success rates are likely to be the same or better.

If you’d like to know more about our own successful fertility treatment in the Czech Republic, please contact us.