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The price of fertility treatment: 4 couples share how much they spent on fertility treatment with donor sperm

Families using a sperm donor need to spend money on fertility treatment. But how expensive is it? Get the answer from people who have been through the fertility journey in this blog post.

October 29, 2024
4 min. read
Anne Petersen

If you want to start a family with the help of a sperm donor, you'll need to undergo some form of fertility treatment. Whether it is IUI or IVF treatment, there are costs involved that it is good to know about. But what does it actually cost to have fertility treatment with donor sperm? We will give you the answer from people who have been through it and know first-hand what the price tag is.

The couples in this blog post received treatment in different countries and the price can vary depending on the treatment country.

Katja and Hayley

When German-English couple Katja and Hayley first decided to grow their family, they didn’t know how much they would spend on fertility treatment. They were driven by their desire to have children - and the cost of fertility treatment was not going to be an obstacle to their dream. They knew they had to make it happen even though fertility treatment comes with a cost. The couple, who lives in Hamburg, travelled to Denmark to get IUI treatment. They had six rounds of IUI - three for each of their two children.

Expense Description Amount (€)
Sperm straws €10,862.10
Shipping of straws €1,102
Straw storage €759
Medication €534
IUI cycles €2,238
Supplements & Vitamins €230
Ovulation tests €250
Pregnancy tests €230
Psychological evaluation €270
Tube check (HSG) €380
Pre-Blood tests €150
Ultrasounds €120
Travel to Denmark €160
Total amount spent €17,285.10

Today, the same-sex couple has two children with the help of a sperm donor: “The total amount that we have spent undergoing our fertility treatments in no way reflects the amount of love that we have for our children,” says Katja.

Jo and Viv

Same-sex couple Jo and Viv needed a sperm donor to help get pregnant. They knew that there would be a lot of baby stuff to buy once the baby was being born and that it is expensive to have children. But in their situation, they also needed to spend money on fertility treatment before they even got pregnant.

Jo and Viv live in Poland, and they decided to get treatment in Denmark where they had one round of IUI treatment.

Expense Description Amount (€)
Initial virtual consultation at the clinic €135
Blood tests in Poland, required by the clinic €100
1 sperm straw €648
Pregnancy slot €350
Shipping and handling €120
Tax €279.5
1 round of IUI treatment €520
Clinic storage and handling fee €210
Plane tickets + petrol €100
Transport in Denmark, food, daily expenses (ex. accommodation as the couple stayed with friends) €400
Total amount spent €2865

During their fertility journey the couple have had several considerations related to the cost of the treatment. For example, how many sperm straws they needed to purchase for more treatments and future siblings. These considerations are important for everyone creating a family with donor sperm.

Holly and Rumer

UK-couple Holly and Rumer’s initial plans included that Rumer would carry the first pregnancy with one of Holly’s fertilised eggs – then reverse it for their second child. But the results of a fertility check showed that Rumer’s fertility was in poorer state than expected.  They chose to use one of Rumer’s eggs instead and due to the declining fertility, they skipped IUI treatment and went straight ahead with IVF.

Expense Description Amount (€)
2 x consultations €276
2 x AMH blood tests €300
2 x initial ultrasounds €479.50
4 x MOT 10 sperm straws €4416
1 x Pregnancy Slot €679
Shipping €339.50
Import Fee €420
Medication €2147
Infection Blood Tests €337
Extended Culture / Blastocyst €487.50
Use of Donor Sperm (a fee the clinic charges) €1379
Care Maps (Time lapse embryo imaging) €1079.50
Embryo Freeze 1 year storage at the clinic €779.50
Elective all freeze cycle at the clinic €3658
ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) €1559
IVF/ICSI Round 2 €10490.50
Frozen embryo transfer €3112.50
Progesterone pessaries €270
Oestradiol medication €98.50
Pharmacy dispensing fee €51.50
Annual Embryo storage charge from IVF Round 1 €438
Total amount spent €32,797.50

Holly and Rumer’s fertility journey involves costs for IVF treatment. This kind of treatment is more expensive than IUI which also shows in how much they have spent so far. Every fertility journey is different – it all depends on your fertility status and what kind of treatment you need.

Jake and Karin

Same-sex couple Jake and Karin live in the Netherlands where they also had fertility treatment. Many of their treatment costs were covered by the government. They could get up to 12 IUI treatments without paying and if they didn’t get pregnant, they would be categorised as having a medical reason to have another kind of treatment such as IVF.

Expense Description Amount (€)
Personal contribution for treatment €192.50
All medical exams (ultrasounds, fallopian tubes etc.) paid by health insurance
IUI treatment (not including sperm straws) paid by health insurance
3 x sperm straws €3611.85
Storage (for 6 months) €100
Pregnancy slot €665.50
Shipping €97.35
Registration of the straws €130
Storage (for 1 year) €78.22
Therapy paid by health insurance
Yearly fee for all medical costs €385
Total amount spent €2,852

Jake and Karin got pregnant on their first try with IUI treatment. They bought three straws of sperm to make sure they had enough for a few tries – or for a sibling in the future.

Costs vary depending on your situation

As these examples show, the cost of fertility treatment varies widely when it comes to starting a family with the help of a donor. The type of treatment and the country where the treatment takes place will have a big impact on what you end up spending. For this reason, it is not possible to give a formula for the cost of fertility treatment using donor sperm. However, you can research what it costs having treatment at different clinics to get an estimate of what it will cost you. You can also see our prices on donor sperm and services.