New Seattle IVF program cuts expense of women conceiving child with donated egg

A new, first-of-its-kind Seattle in vitro fertilization program can save women 30 percent on the expense of conceiving a child with a donated egg. The cost-savings comes through Seattle Reproductive Medicine's new shared-donor program that lets two women use eggs provided by a single donor.

The program cuts costs by thousands of dollars. At Seattle Reproductive Medicine, the total expense for a cycle of in vitro fertilization (IVF) with a donated egg is nearly $25,000 — a charge typically not covered by health insurers. In the past, donors would supply eggs to only one woman, and often many embryos were never used. But by sharing donated eggs, the price drops to $17,625 per cycle.

The savings is particularly important in the current stagnant economy because many women are delaying fertility treatment, doctors say. And the older a patient gets, the more difficulty she is likely to encounter in conceiving.

"We recognize the expense for IVF can be intimidating in this economy," said Amy Criniti, M.D., a specialist in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, who heads the egg donation program for Seattle Reproductive Medicine. "This program is aimed at helping women and couples stymied by financial concerns."

By sharing the cost of acquiring donor eggs, recipients can save on expenses for intensive screening to identify appropriate donors and compensation for a donor's time, which runs several thousand dollars. In addition, a donor receives fertility medicine in order to produce multiple eggs, which are then extracted through outpatient surgery. Under the shared program, each recipient generally receives five eggs per cycle.