Three Women on Undergoing Fertility Treatments Abroad

Fertility treatment is rising in the U.S.: 42 percent of adults have undergone it or know someone who has, according to a recent study from the Pew Research Center. With the average cost of an IVF cycle beginning at around $12,400 (rarely covered by insurance and not including the cost of medications), many are turning to clinics overseas to cut their costs. Fertility treatments abroad, which can cost as little as $3,000 to $6,000 per round, are up 20 percent over the past three years, according to the nonprofit Medical Tourism Association, with patients traveling to the Caribbean, Europe, and beyond in order to start their families. It’s an option that may appeal to even more Americans hoping to conceive in the wake of some states’ attempts to crack down on IVF. When the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos are children under state law, it temporarily shut down clinics and sent patients scrambling to move their embryos out of state, while a fetal-personhood bill in Iowa that was recently tabled would have effectively outlawed IVF if passed.

We talked to three women who traveled outside the U.S. to undergo IVF about what the process was like, what they spent, and how it went.

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