What IVF costs,and how to pay for it.

Build a rough budget from published price lists, see what the NHS funds where you live, then look at how people pay for the rest.

Build your rough budgetCheck NHS eligibility
A woman sitting alone at a table, looking out of a large window

Your rough budget.

A clinic's headline price is £3,795 to £4,495 a cycle. Drugs, ICSI, freezing and donor sperm are extra, so a typical total is nearer £9,000 to £10,600.

01Who is this for?
02Treatment
03How many rounds?
Frozen transfers

Rough total

£5,050 to £10,400

IVF with my own eggs and sperm, one cycle. Added from published UK price lists. Not a quote.

Itemised breakdown of costs

Clinics bundle services differently, so ask each for an itemised written quote; you are entitled to one before you agree to treatment. Add-ons such as PGT-A are not included.

The full line-by-line cost breakdownBudget templateHow we check prices

Do these in order.

The sequence matters more than any single option.

  1. 01

    See what you can access on the NHS first

    Investigations are often free even where treatment is not, and their results change which private route makes sense. Start with your GP.

  2. 02

    Check whether someone else already pays

    Search your benefits portal for employer fertility schemes, then grants and hardship funds, before paying for anything.

  3. 03

    Reduce the price of the treatment itself

    Egg sharing, mild protocols, cheaper drugs and declining unproven add-ons all cut the bill before you have to fund it.

  4. 04

    Decide who carries the risk of failure

    Multi-cycle and refund packages cost more up front and pay off only if treatment fails or takes several rounds. Your clinic's estimate of your odds is the input.

  5. 05

    Only then borrow

    0% clinic plans, fertility loans and credit come after everything above.

What the NHS funds where you live.

NICE recommends three cycles. The body that holds the budget where you live decides what to fund.

England

Set locally by your Integrated Care Board, not nationally. Most English boards fund one cycle, some fund two, and very few fund the three NICE recommends (two of 42 in October 2025). Boards merged in April 2026, so policies may change.

Funded share, donor route and criteria

How much is actually NHS-funded

25% of IVF cycles in England were NHS-funded in 2024, down from 32% in 2019, and it ranged from 51% in the North East to 20% in the South West and East Midlands.

Who the donor route covers

Most ICBs ask for evidence of six or more cycles of donor insemination at a licensed clinic before IVF funding is considered, and most do not pay for those cycles or for the donor sperm. In 2022, 18% of single patients and 16% of female same-sex couples aged 18 to 39 had NHS funding for their first IVF cycle, against 52% of opposite-sex couples in the same age group (HFEA, Family Formations 2022).

Criteria to expect

  • Age at the point treatment starts, not at referral (commonly under 40, with a narrower band in some areas)

  • BMI within a stated range, usually 19–30

  • Both partners non-smoking, often for at least three months, with vaping treated the same way in some policies

  • No living children (in most policies this includes a partner's children and adopted children)

  • Neither partner sterilised, and no previous NHS-funded IVF

  • Resident in the ICB's area, sometimes with a minimum period of registration with a local GP

HFEA: fertility treatment 2024 trends and figuresHFEA: family formations in fertility treatment 2022BFS and Fertility Alliance: Ending IVF inequity (October 2025)PET: NHS fertility funding tracker

Scotland

Up to three full cycles for those who meet the criteria, under a single national access policy rather than local ones.

Funded share, donor route and criteria

How much is actually NHS-funded

54% of IVF cycles in Scotland were NHS-funded in 2024, the highest in the UK.

Who the donor route covers

NHS Scotland funds donor insemination and then IVF for female couples who have lived together for at least two years. The national criteria refer to six to eight insemination cycles; check the number with your health board. Single patients are not currently eligible for NHS-funded treatment in Scotland. A national review of the access criteria is due to report by early summer 2027.

Criteria to expect

  • National criteria applied by every health board, so the postcode lottery within Scotland is far smaller

  • Age, BMI and non-smoking requirements still apply, and the age band is assessed at treatment

  • At least one partner has no living biological child

  • Couples must have lived together for at least two years

  • One cycle at 40–42 if you have never had IVF and there is no evidence of poor ovarian reserve

  • Waiting times vary by board even though the criteria do not

Scottish Government: NHS IVF access criteria reviewNHS Scotland: access criteria for NHS IVF treatment (PDF)

Wales

Two full cycles for those who meet the criteria, under national access criteria.

Funded share, donor route and criteria

How much is actually NHS-funded

35% of IVF cycles in Wales were NHS-funded in 2024.

Who the donor route covers

Wales funds treatment for single women as well as couples. Single women and female same-sex couples are expected to complete six non-stimulated donor insemination cycles first, which can be through a private arrangement or NHS-provided IUI with donor sperm.

Criteria to expect

  • No living children together, or one partner with no living children (biological or adopted)

  • BMI 19–30 and non-smoking

  • One cycle at 40–42 if you have never had IVF and there is no evidence of low ovarian reserve

  • National criteria, so eligibility does not change between health boards

Senedd Research: access to IVF treatment in Wales

Northern Ireland

One full cycle.

Funded share, donor route and criteria

How much is actually NHS-funded

50% of IVF cycles in Northern Ireland were NHS-funded in 2024.

Who the donor route covers

Single women and female same-sex couples are generally expected to have completed donor insemination cycles first, and donor gametes are not usually funded.

Criteria to expect

  • Under 40, or 40–42 if you have never had IVF and there is no evidence of low ovarian reserve

  • BMI of 19–30 for the woman having treatment

  • Neither partner sterilised, and neither has had three or more IVF cycles, NHS or private

  • The published criteria do not include a rule on existing children; check your local criteria

Belfast Trust: eligibility for publicly funded treatment
How to qualify, and what catches people outWhat NICE says, how to get to a decision, and the clauses that do the work.

What NICE says

  • The guideline was rewritten in 2026

    NG257 replaced the 2013 guideline (CG156) on 31 March 2026 and moves the NHS towards diagnosis-led pathways, including a new endometriosis pathway. The HFEA welcomed the update but urged NHS commissioners to review rules that leave single people and same-sex couples far less likely to get funding. LGBTQ+ campaigners and researchers said the guideline did too little for them. NICE has no power to make anyone fund anything: in England, commissioning sits with the 36 Integrated Care Boards.

  • Three cycles, and what a cycle means

    For people under 40, NICE recommends three full cycles of IVF, and that clinicians consider up to three more if those have not worked and the person is still under 40. At 40 or 41 with no previous IVF, one full cycle. It is not recommended from 42 on cost-effectiveness grounds. A full cycle is one round of ovarian stimulation and the transfer of every resulting fresh and frozen embryo, so a local policy that funds one stimulation and a single fresh transfer is funding less than NICE means by the word.

  • Donor insemination before IVF, and what it does not settle

    For people using donor sperm, NG257 recommends six cycles of unstimulated insemination at a licensed clinic before IVF is considered. It does not say who pays for those cycles or for the sperm, and in most of England the patient does.

How to get to a decision

  1. 01

    Find the exact policy that governs you

    In England, search for your Integrated Care Board by postcode and then for its assisted conception or fertility policy (the published PDF, not a summary). In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there are national criteria. Read the version in force, note its review date, and keep a copy.

  2. 02

    See your GP and be specific

    Ask for fertility investigations and a referral to an NHS fertility service. Say plainly which criteria you meet. GPs are not expected to know their ICB's fertility policy in detail, so bring the relevant page of it.

  3. 03

    Get the investigations done

    Blood tests, an AMH level, scans, an assessment of the fallopian tubes, and semen analysis where relevant. These are usually NHS-funded even in areas that fund no treatment, and the diagnosis determines whether IUI, IVF or something else is the route.

  4. 04

    Document every self-funded cycle

    If your area requires donor insemination cycles first, keep the clinic's written record of each one. Most English policies only count cycles at a licensed clinic. Wales can accept private arrangements. Separately, insemination outside a licensed clinic can affect who is the child's legal parent, so get advice first.

  5. 05

    If you are refused, ask for it in writing

    Ask which specific criterion you failed and request the decision in writing. Where there is a genuinely unusual clinical reason, there is an Individual Funding Request route: a high bar, but a real one. Policies are also reviewed periodically, so a refusal is not always permanent.

What catches people out

  • A partner's child counts

    In most English policies a partner's child counts, including adopted children. Scotland only requires one partner to have no living biological child; Wales, that you have no children together or one of you has none.

  • Donor sperm is usually not funded

    Even where IVF itself is funded, many policies exclude the cost of donor gametes and their storage, which for solo parents and two-mum families can be several thousand pounds of the bill left uncovered.

  • Previous private cycles can count against you

    Some policies reduce or withdraw funding if you have already self-funded IVF. Check before paying for a private cycle, because the order in which you do things can be worth a funded cycle.

  • Age, BMI and smoking are checked at treatment

    Most policies apply the age limit when treatment starts, not when you are referred. Waiting lists and any insemination requirement use up the years in between, so work backwards from the age limit. BMI and smoking are reassessed before treatment starts too; some policies set a minimum smoke-free period and treat vaping the same way.

  • Storage and add-ons sit outside the funding

    Embryo storage beyond a set period, and any treatment add-ons, are almost always charged to you even within a funded cycle.

Would the usual criteria let you through?

A few questions against the criteria most NHS fertility policies share, and which clause to look for first.

01Where do you live?

This is the single biggest factor. England has no national policy: 36 local boards (down from 42 after the April 2026 mergers) each set their own.

02Who is the treatment for?

Answer every question to see what the criteria most policies share would say about your situation.

How people pay for the rest.

Each route says what it costs and who is out of pocket if treatment does not work.

A woman sitting by a window on a ferry, holding her phone

Before you sign anything.

Ask these by email, so the answers are in writing.

  1. 01

    What exactly is included in this fee, and is the drug bill, ICSI, donor sperm, freezing, storage and each frozen transfer inside it or outside it?

  2. 02

    What event ends the agreement in your favour: a positive test, a clinical pregnancy, or a live birth?

  3. 03

    What happens if a cycle is cancelled before egg collection, or if I am withdrawn on medical grounds?

  4. 04

    What happens if I decide to stop, or to change clinic, part-way through?

  5. 05

    If there is a refund, is it of the programme fee or of everything I have paid, and how long after the final cycle is it paid?

  6. 06

    Is the credit or insurance provider authorised by the FCA, and under whose registration number?

  7. 07

    What is the total amount payable in the outcome where treatment works, and in the outcome where it does not?

  8. 08

    Can I have the full terms and an itemised quote in writing, to read away from the clinic?

Walk away from these

  • Any offer of funded treatment that asks you for a fee to apply.

  • A refund or multi-cycle programme that will not give you the full written terms to take home.

  • Medication offered by anyone other than a registered pharmacy, including other patients online.

  • A credit or insurance product from a firm you cannot find on the FCA register.

  • A clinic that will not say how its success rate was calculated.

  • Pressure to decide on a package during the consultation. Nothing on this page needs to be signed the same day.

What you are entitled toThis is a regulated market. These are the protections in it.

  • Clinics must publish clear prices

    Under consumer law, the headline price a clinic advertises should include every compulsory charge it knows about in advance, and you should be given a costed treatment plan before you commit. If you have only a headline figure, ask for an itemised written quote.

    CMA: guidance for fertility clinics on consumer law

  • Credit and insurance are FCA-regulated

    Anything lending you money or insuring your treatment must be authorised. Check the firm on the FCA register before you sign, and keep the paperwork.

    FCA register

  • Counselling must be offered

    Licensed clinics must offer you counselling. Many require it before egg sharing or donation. Ask whether it is included in the price.

    HFEA: egg sharing

Last reviewed 13 September 2026. Every figure is a starting point, not a quote. Nothing here is financial or medical advice, and we take no payment from anyone named on this page. Money worries and counselling.