Australian IVF prices compared: Cheapest and most expensive clinics revealed

Some Aussies are paying way more than others for IVF. But just because it’s expensive, doesn’t mean you get a better result. See what clinics are charging and how prices compare.

Paying top dollar is no guarantee of success in IVF with News Corp analysis revealing some of Australia’s highest-charging clinics have lower success rates than cheaper competitors.

A News Corp investigation that cross checked the success rates of clinics against the fees they charged has found recent price rises have pushed the total cost of IVF including initial specialist appointments, day surgery fees and tests and medicines past $15,000 per cycle.

Some providers such as Queensland Fertility Group and City Fertility appear to be lower priced because they do not include specialist procedural fees for egg collection and embryo transfer in the costs quoted on their websites that can amount to between $1,000 and $2,000 extra.

To help couples desperate for a baby we ranked clinics by price and then cross-checked this against their performance on the government’s Your IVF Success website using the births per completed egg retrieval cycle as the metric.

This tracks the number of live births that resulted from the eggs (fresh or frozen) collected from women in 2018 that were fertilised and implanted as embryos in 2018 and 2019.

The website will be updated early next year with the latest success statistics.

The cheapest IVF clinics, quoting out of pocket costs of $0 for an IVF cycle, were the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne and Connect IVF in Sydney and The Fertility Centre and Life Fertility in Brisbane.

Budget provider Adora which charges $450-$825 depending on which state you live in was the third cheapest.

Fertility First in Hurstville Sydney (charging $3,883 per IVF cycle), Fertility Specialists of Western Australia Applecross (charging $3,380 per IVF cycle) and Pivet in WA (charging $3,678 per IVF cycle) emerged as the nation’s best value providers.

Fertility First ranked sixth most successful in giving older women a child and 14th most successful among women aged under 35 and was one of the most affordable providers in the country.

In NSW Westmead Fertility Clinic which charges just $1,000 for an IVF cycle was the fourteenth most successful at getting older women a baby.

Our investigation found Monash IVF was the most expensive provider charging up to $5,688 per IVF cycle and some of its clinics, but not all, were very successful.

Among women aged 35-42 Monash IVF’s Rockhampton clinic was the most successful in the country at delivering a baby, and its Townsville clinic was the 13th most successful but the Rockhampton success rate was based on treating only 63 women.

However Monash’s Auchenflower and Southport clinics charged the same amount but did not perform as well and the Southport clinic ranked below the national range among women aged under 35.

Monash IVF’s chief operating officer Dr Hamish Hamilton said in the last three years the company’s success rates have increased 4.4 per cent.

“To deliver on those sorts of pregnancy rates, you need the best scientists and doctors, fantastic equipment, you need the world’s best time lapse incubators, such as embryo scope that enable us to coach grow embryos with minimal intervention in a low touch way and the world’s greatest technology for genetics and sperm selection,” Dr Hamilton said

City Fertility was the second most expensive provider charging around $5,645 per cycle on average but only two of its seven clinics – Bundora in Melbourne (ranked 15th) and Brisbane (ranked 22nd)- had notable success rates among older women.

Its Gold Coast clinic fell below the national range for younger women.

Genea was the third most expensive provider with charges of $5,590 per IVF cycle and four of its clinics ranked in the top ten for delivering babies to older women.

“The important thing to consider regarding pricing is Genea’s investment in research and development, which has resulted in the exclusive use of superior technology and success rates above the national average,” Genea’s operations manager Kathleen Waite said.

IVF Australia had the fourth highest fees at $5,483 but the facilities in the Sydney’s North Shore and Western Suburbs and Parramatta performed below the national range in delivering babies to women aged under 35. The North Shore clinic also fell below the national range for treating women aged 35-42.

“The success rates cited date back to 2018 and do not reflect current success rates. For more up-to-date IVF pregnancy success rates, Virtus results are available on our websites,” a Virtus Health spokesperson said.

The mid-range priced Queensland Fertility Group charges around $4,149 per IVF cycle (these fees do not include egg collection and transfer fees which can add $1,500- $2,000 to costs) and its Townsville clinic was ranked the tenth most successful at delivering a baby to older women.

However, its Gold Coast and Brisbane clinics ranked below the national range at producing babies for younger mums.

IVF is a journey. Picture: Supplied/Marnie Pollock

Adora which was the first to offer bulk billed IVF raised its fees in September and now charges out of pocket expenses ranging between $450 and $825 for an IVF cycle depending on which state you live in.

Among older women aged 35-42 Adora clinics in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney (Perth has no published success rates yet) performed within range among younger women but it its Sydney and Brisbane clinics did not do as well for women aged 35-42.

Adora’s National Medical Director Dr Paul Atkinson said cost is one of the most significant barriers to couples accessing IVF and by bulk-billing the majority of Medicare-eligible expenses, Adora Fertility is able to keep down the out-of-pocket costs of an IVF cycle.

“Adora Fertility does not currently have access to donor sperm, it is not covered under Medicare. Donor sperm cycles are included in the (performance) measures and given that the majority of cycles involving donor sperm are in women that do not have an underlying fertility issue that is due to a medical reason (ie single women and same sex couples) it is misleading to include this data in the success rates measures,” he said.

We discovered new bulk billing provider -Connect IVF- is charging less than the public hospital system in NSW but there are no published success rates for this clinic yet.

Connect IVF CEO Dr Brendan Ayres said IVF had become more standardised over recent years so it was possible to offer a budget model.

“We still have IVF specialists and we guarantee that our patients will see an IVF specialist. We do a lot of the work up using GPS who are sub specialised in doing that work up for IVF patients,” he explained.

‘GUT WRENCHING’: AUSSIE FAMILIES REVEAL IVF BATTLES

Amy McPherson with her partner Dean Martinov and their children Havana, 3, and Rome, 19 months. Picture: Ian Currie

At age 27 Amy McPherson was told she had only a 30 per cent chance of getting pregnant after an ovarian cyst exploded.

Her first IVF cycle failed.

“That was a little bit gut wrenching. I can still feel the emotion,” accounting firm employee said.

“I just wanted to give up then. I just didn’t want any more disappointment. As a woman you feel like you’re made to do this and when you can’t, it’s really, really, really hard”.

Amy McPherson and Dean Martinov found IVF emotional.

Her second IVF cycle was successful and she gave birth to a daughter Havana now aged three and shortly after conceived her son Rome using IVF.

After checking out several providers she opted to use Monash IVF because the clinic was close to her work.

However, she had to delay her wedding and use her superannuation savings to cover the cost

“It’s all I’ve ever dreamed of. I’m the eldest of seven and I’ve just I’ve always just been so good with children and just loved love and the idea of having children,” the Melbourne local said.

Marnie Pollock and her partner Leigh with children Alyrah, 9, Aria, 5, Navy, 12 weeks. Picture: Supplied

Marnie Pollock had two children naturally but desperately wanted a third and couldn’t understand why she wasn’t conceiving.

“I felt my family wasn’t complete. I still wanted one more but then when I started trying I actually couldn’t fall pregnant,” the 29-year-old said.

After spending $4,000 on low intervention treatment she couldn’t afford the $8,000 cost of a “lite” IVF cycle so decided to shop around.

“I spoke to someone who went with the Adora, which is another bulk Bill clinic but they were around $2000 double the price of Connect,” the childcare worker from the NSW Central Coast said.

It took two cycles before she had a baby but the total cost was only around $2,400.

“I did the research on the individual fertility specialists to find out what success they’ve had via mum groups on Facebook, and a few people had used my fertility specialist and they were like I was trying to find her again. Dr. Susan George, she lived in Queensland and she’s in Sydney at the clinic now,” Ms Pollock said.

Originally published as Australian IVF prices compared: Cheapest and most expensive clinics revealed