A single IVF cycle in the United States costs $12,000 to $18,000, and medications add another $3,000 to $5,000 on top of that. Most people use a combination of strategies to cover the bill: insurance when available, tax-advantaged savings accounts, financing plans, grants, and sometimes employer benefits they didn’t know they had. Here’s how each option works and what to realistically expect from it.
Check Your Insurance First
Fifteen states currently mandate that insurance plans cover IVF, and 25 states have some form of infertility law on the books. If you live in one of those states and have an employer-sponsored plan, your insurer may be required to pay for part or all of your treatment. The catch: self-funded employer plans (common at large companies that essentially act as their own insurer) are exempt from state mandates. So even if your state requires coverage, your specific plan might not have to comply.
To find out where you stand, call the number on your insurance card and ask three specific questions: Does my plan cover IVF? Is the plan fully insured or self-funded? What is the lifetime maximum for fertility treatment? Some plans cover diagnostics and medication but exclude the procedure itself. Others cap coverage at one or two cycles. Getting these details in writing before you start treatment prevents surprises.
Employer Fertility Benefits
A growing number of companies offer fertility benefits separate from what state law requires. Large employers like Amazon, Apple, Google, Bank of America, Comcast, Starbucks, and Meta all provide some level of IVF coverage, and the list extends well beyond tech and finance. Retailers like Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and BJ’s Wholesale Club also appear on fertility benefit lists, as do healthcare systems and even some school districts.
These benefits vary enormously. Some companies offer a lifetime fertility maximum of $25,000 or more, while others cover a set number of cycles. If you’re job hunting and know IVF is in your future, it’s worth researching prospective employers’ benefits packages. If you’re already employed, ask your HR department directly. Many people don’t realize their company offers fertility coverage because it’s buried in the fine print of their benefits summary.
Use Your HSA or FSA
Health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts can both be used for IVF. Fertility treatment for you, your spouse, or a dependent is an eligible expense under federal guidelines. That includes the procedure itself, medications, monitoring appointments, and temporary egg or sperm storage. Fertility treatment for a non-dependent surrogate, however, is not eligible.
The advantage here is tax savings. Money in an HSA or FSA is contributed pre-tax, so every dollar you spend on IVF through these accounts effectively costs you less. If you know treatment is coming, you can max out your FSA contribution during open enrollment. HSAs have higher contribution limits and roll over year to year, making them useful for longer treatment timelines. For 2025, the HSA contribution limit is $4,300 for individual coverage and $8,550 for family coverage.
Deduct IVF on Your Taxes
The IRS explicitly lists in vitro fertilization as a deductible medical expense. You can deduct IVF costs for yourself, your spouse, or a dependent on Schedule A of your tax return. The limitation: you can only deduct the portion of your total medical expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. If your household earns $100,000 and your total medical costs for the year are $20,000, you’d be able to deduct $12,500 (the amount above the $7,500 threshold).
This deduction only helps if you itemize rather than taking the standard deduction, which means it’s most useful when your IVF costs plus other deductible expenses exceed the standard deduction amount. Keep every receipt, every explanation of benefits statement, and every pharmacy printout. Medication costs, lab fees, and travel expenses to and from your clinic all count.
Fertility Financing and Loans
Several companies specialize in lending specifically for fertility treatment, and their terms are more flexible than a typical personal loan.
- Future Family offers plans starting at $300 per month with interest rates as low as 0%.
- EggFund provides loans up to $250,000 with fixed rates starting at 6.99%, terms from 24 months to 20 years, and a minimum credit score of 600.
- Prosper Healthcare Lending finances up to $100,000 with repayment terms extending to 84 months.
- CNY Fertility offers in-house payment plans with no interest and no credit score requirement, though you’ll need 25% down and must pay the balance within two years.
- JFLA/Feit4Kidz provides interest-free loans up to $15,000, repaid over three to five years with no credit check on the applicant (though two guarantors with credit scores of 680 or higher are required).
Compare these carefully. A 0% interest plan that you can comfortably afford monthly is very different from a 20-year loan at 7% interest, which could cost you tens of thousands in interest alone. Run the numbers on total repayment, not just the monthly payment.
Apply for Grants
Multiple nonprofits award grants specifically for fertility treatment, and while the application process is competitive, the money doesn’t have to be repaid.
- Baby Quest Foundation awards $2,000 to $16,000 in a combination of cash and medications. Open to all genders, relationship statuses, and family structures. There’s a $50 application fee.
- Cade Foundation offers up to $10,000 per family. Applicants need a documented infertility diagnosis and must be permanent U.S. residents. Also charges a $50 application fee.
- Chicago Coalition for Family Building provides grants up to $10,000 for residents of Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin.
- The Hope for Fertility Foundation awards up to $5,000. Applicants must be married, U.S. residents, and have a formal infertility diagnosis.
- ANEDEN Gives provides at least $5,000 per family but currently only accepts patients at specific partner clinics in Houston and Seattle.
Most grants have application windows, so check deadlines early. Some open once a year, others accept rolling applications. You can apply to multiple organizations simultaneously.
Shared Risk and Refund Programs
Many fertility clinics offer what’s called a shared risk or refund program. You pay a higher upfront fee that covers multiple IVF cycles (typically three to six). If treatment results in a pregnancy or live birth, the clinic keeps the full amount. If all cycles fail, you receive a partial or complete refund.
These programs function like insurance you buy directly from the clinic. The tradeoff is straightforward: if you succeed on your first cycle, you’ve overpaid compared to buying cycles individually. If you need several cycles, the program protects you financially. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine notes that good-prognosis patients who conceive quickly often end up paying more through these programs than they would have otherwise.
Before enrolling, ask exactly how “success” is defined. Some programs consider a positive pregnancy test a success, while others use a live birth as the threshold. Also ask what percentage of the fee is refundable if treatment fails, because “partial refund” can mean very different things depending on the clinic.
Low-Cost Clinic Options
Not all IVF clinics charge the same rates. CNY Fertility, with locations in New York, Florida, and Colorado, offers IVF cycles for $4,500 to $5,000, well below the national average. They keep costs down through high patient volume and remote monitoring, which means fewer in-person visits. The tradeoff is less personalized attention and potentially longer wait times.
Some clinics also offer mini-IVF or natural cycle IVF, which use fewer medications and lower the drug costs significantly. These approaches aren’t appropriate for everyone, but they can cut total costs by 30% to 50% for the right candidates. Ask your reproductive endocrinologist whether a modified protocol could work for your situation.
Combining Multiple Strategies
Most people paying for IVF don’t rely on a single funding source. A realistic plan might look like this: use insurance to cover diagnostic workups and monitoring, pay for the procedure with a combination of HSA savings and a low-interest fertility loan, apply for two or three grants, and deduct whatever remains on your taxes. If your employer offers a fertility benefit with a lifetime cap, that cap resets the amount you need to finance through other channels.
Timing matters too. If you have a choice about when to start treatment, beginning early in the calendar year gives you the full year to accumulate FSA-eligible expenses and maximizes your medical deduction. Contributing to your HSA for six to twelve months before starting can build a meaningful balance. And if you’re considering a job change, landing at a company with fertility benefits before beginning treatment can save tens of thousands of dollars.