Insurance Coverage
If you are choosing to perform insemination at a doctor’s office or clinic, the cost will depend on your insurance plan and whether you are covered for this type of procedure. Unless you have known fertility issues, you may have trouble getting covered by your insurance carrier. Even if you do have fertility issues, as a lesbian, it may be difficult to qualify since you have not technically tried for a year with a man to get pregnant, and the typical qualification for infertility is “the inability to get pregnant after a year of unprotected intercourse.” The best thing to do is check with your individual insurance carriers about their coverage and policies. The cost of clinical insemination will also vary if you decide to use fertility drugs, such as Clomid (relatively inexpensive) or injectibles (more expensive).
Note: State mandates for coverage of infertility vary widely, and that’s before you throw anything gay into the mix. Only 15 states currently require fertility insurance coverage, and of those, a handful stipulate that the woman covered be married, which is a whole other problem for lesbians trying to covered (and one of many proof points in the fight for gay marriage).
Fertility Clinic Costs
According to RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association, many fertility clinics clearly list their price list on their websites. They recommend that all fertility clinics do this, so it may be a red flag if you are considering a clinic that does not have this information posted or will not give you these rates over the phone.
Insemination at a clinic (w/no insurance coverage): Obviously, this will depend on the clinic and the region,but in general you can expect:
Initial consultation fee: Varies, but generally $100 – $500
IUI insemination: In general, anywhere from $200- $600 for each insemination (keep in mind that you may inseminate twice in one cycle, which would double the cost) This definitely varies by region/clinic. For example in Missouri you may be paying $250, while in NY you may be paying closer to $600 per IUI. According to RESOLVE, the average cost of an IUI cycle is $865; Median Cost: $350
Other clinical costs you may encounter (keep in mind your insurance may cover some or all of these costs even if they don’t cover the IUI insemination itself)
- Monitoring – Ultrasound: $150 – $300 (if not covered)
- Monitoring – Bloodwork: $100 – $300 (if not covered)
- Sperm (see cost of sperm from a sperm bank)
- Sperm delivery (see cost of sperm from a sperm bank)
- Sperm preparation/processing: $200 – $400
- Fertility drugs* (Provera, Clomid, Ovidrel trigger): around $100
- Injectibles* (typically used if fertility drugs aren’t successful): $300 – $600
*Please note that fertility drugs are typically not necessary for your first clinical IUI as long as you are in good health and have no known fertility problems, although your doctor may recommend them if you have tried several cycles with no luck.
Source:
http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=686&cat=7
