Paying for it

How to pay for IVF

Knowing a cycle costs five figures does not pay for it. These are the four routes US families actually use when a plan does not cover treatment, in the order worth trying them, with each program's real published terms.

Updated monthly · checked 7 wk ago
6grants, terms verified
$20klargest published award
5lenders with published rates

A typical all-in cycle is about $25,000, and most families need 2.3 to 2.7 of them. Work the routes in order: apply for grants first (free money, but they pay on a calendar), move what you can into pre-tax HSA/FSA dollars (instant, no approval), consider a refund program if repeat cycles look likely, and treat a loan as the last step, not the first.

Sequence matters more than most people expect. Grant cycles pay out months after their deadline, so a loan signed in March can foreclose an award that would have landed in August. Before any of this, check whether your state or employer already covers part of the bill: it moves the number more than every program on this page combined.

Before you start

Check coverage before you fund anything

The cheapest dollar is the one someone else pays. Two checks take an afternoon and can remove most of the bill.

Your state

14 states plus DC require fully-insured plans to cover IVF, and where one applies per-cycle out-of-pocket can fall to $2,000–$7,000. Mandates reach fully-insured plans only, never the self-insured (ERISA) plans most large employers run, so ask HR which yours is. See whether insurance covers IVF for every mandate state and how to check your plan.

Your employer

50% of employers with 500+ workers now cover IVF, up from 27% in 2020. The median lifetime cap is about $20,000, roughly one all-in cycle, so a benefit usually reduces the bill rather than removing it. Ask for the fertility benefit in writing, including the cap and whether medications count against it. What large employers publish about IVF, and which cover part-time workers.

Grants

Money you never repay

National US programs any resident can apply to, with their own published terms. All are competitive and none should be counted on, but applying costs a fee of $100 or less, which is the best risk-to-reward on this page.

Step 1 of 4

Baby Quest Foundation

Award
Not published. The foundation states awards vary with need and available funds; it reports over $4M across 300+ grants to date.
Fee
$75 non-refundable
Cycles
Twice a year: a spring deadline in March (funds available May 1) and a fall deadline in September (funds available November 1). Next deadline: March 4, 2027 at 5pm ET, with applications opening January 2.
Who
US permanent residents, single or in a couple of any gender, who need medical help to conceive and are treated at an accredited US fertility facility. Recipients need basic health insurance with prenatal coverage, and first-time parents are strongly favored.
Covers
IVF (including with genetic testing), egg or sperm donation, egg freezing, embryo donation and gestational surrogacy; fertility medication only when insurance does not cover it. It does not fund IUI.
Catch
Awards vary with need and available funds rather than a fixed amount. Nothing already begun or scheduled is covered, not even IVF medications you have started, and recipients must begin treatment within three months.

Tinina Q. Cade Foundation Family Building Grant

Award
Up to $10,000 per funded family, as money paid to the clinic or agency or as donated fertility medication. Shady Grove Fertility patients are also considered for the Savannah Grant, up to $10,000.
Fee
$50 non-refundable (hardship waivers considered case by case)
Cycles
Twice a year. Spring applications close February 1 (decisions June 15, money August 1); fall applications close July 1 (decisions October 15, money the following January 1). The spring 2027 application is open until February 1, 2027.
Who
US citizens or legal permanent residents, single or in a couple, with a physician's diagnosis of infertility, considered regardless of race, religion, age, income or sexual orientation.
Covers
IUI, IVF, donor egg, gestational carrier and domestic adoption. A separate medication award gives specific fertility drugs.
Catch
The money is locked to the plan in your application, so it cannot move to another treatment, a multi-cycle bundle or a shared-risk program. It does not cover egg or embryo freezing, international adoption or costs already incurred, and it pays out months after the deadline.

Gift of Parenthood

Award
Typically $5,000 to $20,000 per award, with up to $20,000 awarded in total each quarterly cycle
Fee
$75 non-refundable per application; a prepaid four-cycle pass and fundraiser-based fee waivers are offered
Cycles
Four cycles a year, one per calendar quarter. The fourth-quarter 2026 cycle takes applications from September 30 to December 30, 2026, with results on January 14, 2027; the next runs December 31, 2026 to March 30, 2027. It has the shortest wait between applications of the national programs.
Who
Adults 18 or older who are legal residents of the US (or Canada, the UK or Australia), with a documented infertility journey and financial need, in good health, and with at least one partner employed. Couples of any gender and individuals may apply; health insurance is not required.
Covers
Testing, fertility medications, IUI, IVF, egg or sperm donation, embryo donation, egg freezing, gestational surrogacy and domestic or international adoption fees.
Catch
The quarterly pool of up to $20,000 is usually shared by one or two families chosen from hundreds of applicants, and treatment begun before the award is not covered.

Journey to Parenthood grant

Award
Typically $2,000 to $10,000, with a goal of at least one $10,000 grant a year; usually 1 to 4 grants a year
Fee
$50 non-refundable
Cycles
Once a year. The 2026 round took applications postmarked August 1 to October 17, 2026 and is now closed; grants are usually awarded by late November, and 2027 dates are not posted yet.
Who
Individuals and couples where the applicant or partner is a US citizen living in the US, treated by a US reproductive endocrinologist, with significant financial need and a stable home for a child. No income limit is set.
Covers
Any expenses of IUI, IVF, egg donation, surrogacy or adoption, paid directly to the clinic, pharmacy or agency.
Catch
It funds only 1 to 4 families a year from about 75 to 100 applications, does not reimburse costs already incurred, and the award must be used within 12 months.

Footsteps for Fertility Foundation grants

Award
Typically $5,000 in money when funding allows (less if the treatment costs less), or a basic IVF cycle donated by a partner clinic
Fee
$30 per event application plus $35 event registration per person; $100 per couple for the national application
Cycles
Drawn at random right after each Footsteps walk event; a national application, also drawn at random, is offered from time to time.
Who
Anyone who meets SART's definition of infertility. For an event grant you must register for and attend the local event, and be present if you are drawn.
Covers
IVF, frozen embryo transfer and IUI. The donated grant covers the in-house clinic costs of a basic IVF cycle.
Catch
Winners are drawn at random, not chosen on need, and event grants require being at the event. The donated cycle excludes medications, blood work, anesthesia, donor sperm or eggs and adopted embryos.

Parental Hope Family Grant

Award
The full cost of one standard IVF cycle or one frozen embryo transfer at the Institute for Reproductive Health in Cincinnati; the embryo adoption grant pays up to $5,000
Fee
$50 non-refundable
Cycles
Twice a year, spring and fall. The fall 2026 round closed September 30, 2026 (recipients told by December 1, 2026); spring 2027 applications open in March 2027.
Who
US citizens or permanent residents with a reproductive endocrinologist's infertility diagnosis, no insurance that covers infertility treatment, a combined income of $60,000 to $200,000 and no biological child together. IVF applicants must be under 40, under 235 pounds and have an AMH of at least 0.7.
Covers
One IVF cycle (monitoring, retrieval, fertilization, ICSI if needed and one transfer, including an egg donor cycle) or one frozen embryo transfer; or up to $5,000 toward embryo adoption through the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville.
Catch
All treatment happens at one clinic in Cincinnati, Ohio, so travel and time off are yours, and medications, donor fees, embryo storage and genetic testing are not covered.

Two things decide whether a grant is usable: the payout date and the treatment location. Cade announces in June and disperses in August; Baby Quest disperses May 1 or November 1 and requires treatment to start within three months. Parental Hope pays for a whole cycle but only at its partner clinic in Ohio. Map those dates onto your own clinical timeline before you pay an application fee. We list only programs whose terms are published on their own site, so a program's absence here means we could not verify it at the source, not that it is not worth applying to.

All 23 grant programs, including state, clinic and community grants, in the IVF grant finder
Pre-tax dollars

Pay the same bill with untaxed money

The route people skip, because there is nothing to apply for. It does not reduce the price; it reduces what you earn to pay it.

Step 2 of 4

IRS Publication 502 treats in vitro fertilization, including egg and sperm storage, as a deductible fertility-enhancement expense. That single classification does two things. It makes IVF an eligible expense for an HSA or FSA, so a $25,000 cycle can be paid with pre-tax dollars, saving your marginal tax rate with no application and no approval. And it lets treatment count toward the itemized medical deduction, which applies to the portion of medical costs above 7.5% of adjusted gross income. A treatment year is one of the few years many households clear that threshold at all.

Two limits worth knowing before you plan around it. Surrogacy costs incurred for another person are not included under that provision (what surrogacy costs, and the grants that do cover it, are on our surrogacy cost page). And an FSA is use-it-or-lose-it within the plan year, so timing an election against a cycle that may slip is its own risk. This is general information, not tax advice: confirm your own position with a tax professional.

Refund programs

Buy a ceiling instead of a cycle

Pay one flat fee covering several cycles, with some or all of it returned if there is no live birth. It costs more than a single cycle: what you are buying is a known worst case.

Step 3 of 4

In our October 2026 check of all 452 US clinic locations, 127 offered a program that returns money if treatment fails, and only 20 posted the price of their IVF program: $16,000 to $39,900 where it covers more than one cycle, before medications. See every clinic's refund program, by state. Programs that several clinics offer:

A typical program charges $20,000–$30,000 for up to 6 cycles. The economics are the reverse of intuition: these are worth most to people whose odds make repeat cycles likely, and worst to those most likely to succeed first time, who effectively pay a premium for a refund they will never claim. Two questions decide it. What are your odds at your age, and does the refund still apply after the medical exclusions in the contract? Check the first against real success rates by age before signing, and read the exclusion list for the second: eligibility screens are how these programs stay solvent.

Lending

Borrowing, last and on purpose

Fertility lenders are fast and specialized, which is exactly why they are easy to reach for too early. Every rate below is the lender's published range, never the teaser rate on its own.

Step 4 of 4
LenderUp toRateTermWorth knowing
Future FamilyUp to $50,000APR 9.74% to 23.74%Terms up to 60 monthsFertility-only lender; no down payment and no prepayment penalty, but membership and concierge fees are separate from the loan.
Prosper Healthcare LendingUp to $100,000Rate set by credit profileTerms up to 84 monthsImmediate decisions on loans under $35,000.
EggFundUp to $250,000Rates from 6.99%Terms of 24 to 240 monthsLargest published ceiling on this list; minimum credit score 600.
PatientFiUp to $60,000Zero-interest promotional offers availableTerms up to 84 monthsA promotional 0% period reverts to a standard rate; confirm what happens at the end of it.
CNY Fertility payment planClinic-financed, tied to the treatment priceNo interest; roughly $40/month account fee25% down, 2-year repaymentOffered by the lowest-priced clinic in our directory, so it stacks with an already-low base price.

Borrow against the realistic total, not one cycle. Because most families need 2.3 to 2.7 cycles, a loan sized to a single cycle is the common trap: it runs out mid-treatment, when refinancing is hardest. Compare any fertility-specific offer against an ordinary personal loan or a 0% credit card you can clear, because a specialist lender is not automatically the cheapest, and check whether membership or concierge fees sit outside the quoted APR.

Questions

Common questions about paying for IVF

How do people afford IVF without insurance?

Four routes, and they work best in this order. First, national fertility grants: 6 major US programs publish their terms, with awards up to $20,000, and applying costs at most a $30 to $100 fee. Second, HSA and FSA dollars, because IVF is a qualified medical expense under IRS Publication 502, so you pay with pre-tax money and may deduct costs above 7.5% of adjusted gross income. Third, a multi-cycle refund program, which converts an open-ended series of cycles into one flat fee with a partial or full refund if there is no live birth. Fourth, a fertility loan: 5 lenders publish terms, with rates from about 6.99% and ceilings up to $250,000. Take the loan last, because a loan closed in spring can disqualify you from a grant that pays out in August. Before borrowing, some people narrow the gap with flexible remote income, and the earnings calculator on AITraining.jobs, a companion project of ours, estimates what a few hours a week of AI training work would bring in.

Are IVF grants real, and how much do they pay?

Yes. Gift of Parenthood awards up to $20,000 across four cycles a year. The Tinina Q. Cade Foundation awards up to $10,000 twice a year. Parental Hope covers the full cost of one IVF cycle, but only at its partner clinic in Cincinnati, Ohio. Baby Quest funds a range of treatments and has awarded over $4 million across 300+ grants, though it does not publish a fixed award amount: it says awards vary with need and available funds. All of them are competitive, and none should be treated as expected income.

Can I use my HSA or FSA for IVF?

Yes. IRS Publication 502 treats in vitro fertilization, including egg and sperm storage, as a deductible fertility-enhancement expense, which is the same definition that makes it eligible for HSA and FSA spending. Paying a $25,000 cycle with pre-tax dollars is an immediate saving equal to your marginal tax rate, with no application and no approval. Surrogacy costs for another person are not included under that provision.

Is IVF tax deductible?

IVF counts toward itemized medical expenses, which are deductible only for the portion above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Because a single all-in cycle typically runs about $25,000, a treatment year is one of the few years many households clear that threshold. This is general information, not tax advice.

What is an IVF shared-risk or refund program?

You pay one flat fee covering several cycles, and if there is no live birth you get some or all of it back. Shady Grove Fertility refunds 100% across up to 6 cycles; The Assure IVF Refund Program refunds 80% to 100% across 3 retrievals. It is insurance against needing repeat cycles, not a discount: you pay more than one cycle costs, in exchange for a known ceiling. It is worth most to people whose odds make multiple cycles likely, and least to those most likely to succeed on the first.

Next

Work out your own number first

IVF cost calculator

Toggle the pieces of your own plan and subtract your benefit to get the gap you actually need to fund.

What IVF costs

The itemized all-in cycle, real medication prices, and the base fees clinics publish.

The full cost guide

The long version: the state and employer lottery, the self-insured trap, and how to sequence financing.

Informational only, not financial, tax, or medical advice. Every program above is listed because it publishes its own terms, and each links to the page those terms came from; none is a paid placement and we receive nothing if you apply. Grant deadlines, loan rates, and refund terms change: confirm the current terms with the program before you commit money. Last checked 2026-09-05.