A single cycle of reciprocal IVF typically costs between $20,000 and $35,000 or more. That range covers the core medical procedures but doesn’t always include extras like donor sperm, genetic testing, or medications, which can add several thousand dollars to the total. The final number depends on your clinic, your location, and how many cycles you need.
What Reciprocal IVF Involves
Reciprocal IVF, sometimes called partner IVF or co-IVF, is a variation of standard IVF designed for couples where both partners have a uterus. One partner provides the eggs, and the other carries the pregnancy. This shared biological involvement is the main reason couples choose it over traditional IVF or intrauterine insemination, where only one partner has a physical role in conception.
The process involves all the same steps as conventional IVF: ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval from one partner, fertilization with donor sperm in a lab, embryo culture, and then embryo transfer into the other partner’s uterus. Because two people undergo medical procedures instead of one, the costs tend to run slightly higher than a standard IVF cycle where a single patient handles both roles.
Where the Money Goes
Most clinics quote a base price that bundles the major procedures together, but it helps to understand what you’re actually paying for. The largest chunk covers the egg retrieval itself, including anesthesia and ultrasound monitoring during the stimulation phase. Lab fees for fertilization, embryo culture, and embryo storage make up another significant portion. Then there’s the transfer procedure for the carrying partner, along with her hormonal preparation to ready the uterine lining.
On top of the clinical fees, you’ll face costs that are often billed separately:
- Fertility medications: The egg-providing partner needs injectable hormones to stimulate multiple eggs, and the carrying partner needs hormonal support to prepare for and sustain early pregnancy. Together, medications can run $3,000 to $7,000 per cycle depending on dosage and pharmacy.
- Donor sperm: A single vial from a licensed sperm bank starts around $599, with prices rising based on demand, donor profile type, and availability. Shipping adds $55 to $635 depending on method and location. Most clinics recommend purchasing at least two vials per cycle as a backup.
- Genetic testing: Preimplantation genetic testing for chromosomal abnormalities (often listed as PGT-A on your quote) screens embryos before transfer. This typically costs around $3,000 to $5,000 per cycle, sometimes more. It’s optional but increasingly common, especially when the egg provider is over 35.
- Embryo freezing and storage: If your cycle produces extra embryos, cryopreservation runs a few hundred dollars upfront with annual storage fees of $500 to $1,000 or more.
When you add everything up, a fully loaded first cycle with medications, donor sperm, and genetic testing can easily reach $30,000 to $40,000. Many clinics charge $25,000 to $35,000 or more per cycle before optional add-ons.
How Age Affects Cost and Value
The age of the partner providing the eggs is the single biggest factor in whether one cycle will be enough. According to data from the American Pregnancy Association, IVF success rates per transfer break down roughly like this:
- Under 35: 41 to 43 percent
- 35 to 37: 33 to 36 percent
- 38 to 40: 23 to 27 percent
- Over 40: 13 to 18 percent
These numbers mean that even in the best-case scenario, there’s roughly a 60 percent chance a single transfer won’t result in pregnancy. Many couples need two or three cycles, which doubles or triples the total investment. If the egg provider is younger, you’re more likely to get viable embryos on the first retrieval and may be able to freeze extras for future transfers, which cost far less than a full new cycle since the retrieval step is already done. A frozen embryo transfer typically runs $3,000 to $5,000 plus medications.
One advantage of reciprocal IVF is flexibility. If one partner is significantly younger, she can provide the eggs to maximize success rates while the other partner carries. This kind of strategic planning can reduce the total number of cycles needed and lower your overall spend.
Insurance Coverage
Insurance coverage for reciprocal IVF is inconsistent and often frustrating. Only six states plus Washington, D.C. currently require private insurers to cover fertility treatment with language that explicitly includes LGBTQ+ individuals. Three additional states have fertility mandates with definitions that may exclude same-sex couples, typically because they define infertility as the inability to conceive through heterosexual intercourse after 12 months of trying.
Even in states with inclusive mandates, coverage varies widely by employer and plan. Some plans cover monitoring and bloodwork but not the retrieval or transfer. Others cover the carrying partner’s care but not the egg provider’s, since she isn’t technically the “patient” seeking pregnancy. It’s worth calling your insurance company (both partners should check their plans separately) and asking specifically about IVF coverage, whether it applies regardless of the reason for treatment, and whether both partners’ procedures can be billed.
If your plan offers no fertility coverage, some clinics offer bundled “multi-cycle” packages at a discount, or refund programs where you pay a higher upfront fee but receive a partial refund if treatment doesn’t result in a live birth after a set number of cycles.
Grants and Financial Assistance
Several nonprofit organizations offer grants specifically open to LGBTQ+ couples and individuals pursuing fertility treatment. These won’t cover the full cost of a cycle, but grants of $2,000 to $10,000 can meaningfully offset expenses. A few worth looking into:
- Baby Quest Foundation awards grants to all applicants regardless of gender, relationship status, or sexual orientation.
- The Filotimo Foundation offers fertility grants and explicitly welcomes LGBTQ+ applicants and single individuals.
- Jewish Fertility Foundation provides grants to those with a medical infertility diagnosis or a need for fertility treatment to build a family, including LGBTQ+ couples and single parents by choice.
- ANEDEN Gives offers fertility grants open to everyone, including single people, married couples, and LGBT individuals.
- Chicago Coalition for Family Building waives the medical infertility requirement for applicants who are single or part of a same-sex couple.
RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association, maintains a regularly updated directory of these and other grant programs. Most have annual application deadlines and are competitive, so applying to multiple programs increases your chances.
Ways to Reduce the Total Cost
Geography matters. Clinics in major coastal cities tend to charge at the higher end of the range, while clinics in the Midwest or South may offer the same procedures for thousands less. Traveling for treatment isn’t practical for everyone, but if you’re flexible, it’s one of the simplest ways to save.
Medication costs are another area with real savings potential. Fertility drug discount programs, pharmacy comparison tools, and even purchasing medications from certified international pharmacies can cut your medication bill by 30 to 50 percent. Some clinics also have leftover medication donation programs where patients who finished treatment pass along unused, unexpired drugs.
If your first retrieval produces several high-quality embryos, you can freeze the extras and do subsequent frozen embryo transfers at a fraction of the cost of a full cycle. This is one reason genetic testing, despite its upfront price, can save money in the long run: transferring a chromosomally normal embryo reduces the chance of a failed transfer or miscarriage, meaning fewer total cycles.
Finally, some employers now include fertility benefits even when state law doesn’t require them. Companies in the tech, finance, and consulting sectors have been among the most likely to offer these benefits. If you’re job hunting or negotiating a benefits package, it’s worth asking specifically about fertility coverage and whether it applies to same-sex couples.