IVF, fertility help costs are rising. For many that means ‘reconsidering’

Fertility treatment costs are rising as Canadians are having the fewest babies ever. A Global News analysis found one fertility treatment costs $3,000 more than four years ago.

Cayley Benjamin and her husband sought fertility treatment after many months of trying to have another child — one of the many Canadians who turn to medical help, but increasingly struggle with the costs.

“We were able to conceive and I had a miscarriage just over two years ago,” she said, speaking to Global News from Vancouver.

“After that, I found myself unable to get pregnant.”

Benjamin said she and her husband needed to budget for the treatment – and that rising costs forced them to question their plans.

“Over and over, we consciously asked ourselves, like, ‘Are we sure we want a second child?’” she said.

Benjamin tried months of fertility drugs and then months of intrauterine insemination (IUI) (placing sperm directly into the uterus). When those failed, she turned to in vitro fertilization, which involved her taking medication to boost the number of eggs, specialists retrieving the eggs, fertilizing them in a laboratory and storing them for several days before placing the embryo back in her uterus.

The total cost, she says, was roughly $30,000.

Benjamin said the process is draining, and even though she won’t receive any of the funding, Benjamin said she cried when she heard that B.C.’s government will start covering IVF, a decision announced in the provincial budget last month.