IVF Medication Cost: What Package Prices Abroad Leave Out

A 300 international unit (IU) pen of Gonal-f, a common stimulation drug for in vitro fertilisation (IVF), cost about €126 in Spain, £124 in the UK and $159 in the US. That comes from a 2022 price guide by Invitra, a Spanish fertility information site.¹ A cycle can use several pens plus other drugs, so the bill runs into the hundreds or thousands.

That bill is often missing from the price you compare. Every clinic package abroad that we read leaves the drugs out. The UK fertility regulator warns that some clinics quote "for the treatment only" and leave out the drugs, "which can be very expensive".²

What the package price includes

The table covers six clinics we checked, not a market survey. All five that say either way exclude the drugs.

Drug by drug: Spain, the UK and the US

Invitra's guide lists prices for the common IVF drugs in all three countries. The figures are its approximations from July 2022.¹

Gonal-f and Menopur stimulate the ovaries to grow several eggs. Cetrotide is one of the drugs used to suppress the body's own cycle. Ovitrelle is a single injection given about 36 hours before egg collection.¹

What the drugs add, by country

Invitra's 2022 guide puts the drugs for an IVF cycle at about €400 to €1,100 in Spain.¹ The Local, an English-language news site in Spain, says to budget about €1,000 extra for fertility drugs, "which is not covered by the clinics".⁸ The two Spanish estimates broadly agree.

Invitra gives two real cycles as examples. One patient spent about €539 on her drugs. Another, on two stimulation drugs at once, spent about €1,116.¹

For the UK, Invitra puts the drugs at about £400 to £1,200 a cycle.¹ We did not find a second source that totals a UK cycle's drugs.

The US estimates do not agree

Invitra's guide puts US IVF drugs at about $850 to $1,500 a cycle.¹ Every US source we read puts them higher:

• CareRoute, a US cost guide, says $3,000 to $7,000 a cycle in 2026.⁹
• Washington Fertility Center lists about $3,000 to $6,000, as reported by FinChannel.⁴
• Fertility Centers of New England said in 2011 that drugs range from $1,500 to over $5,000 a cycle.¹⁰
• AIVF's IVF cost guide says hormone and stimulation drugs "can cost up to $3,100".¹¹

We could not tell why Invitra's US figure is so much lower. Its US pen prices may reflect a different seller or year. We treat the US sources as the better guide for US patients.

Why the drug bill varies so much

The dose depends on the patient. Invitra notes that doses are adjusted to how the ovaries respond during treatment, so "it is quite common for the woman to need more medication than initially indicated".¹ It adds that some patients, especially those with a low egg reserve, are given two drugs at once.¹

A clinic cannot know your full drug bill until treatment starts. That is one reason packages leave the drugs out.

What the package price leaves out

• Prices are not regulated in the UK. The HFEA (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority) says private clinics set their own prices. The same treatment "could be two or even three times more expensive" at one clinic than another.²
• NHS patients still pay for prescriptions. People having NHS fertility treatment pay prescription charges for drugs unless exempt, according to the HFEA.²
• Tests and storage. Newlife's Greek package also excludes the mandatory tests before treatment and embryo freezing.³ Eugin's Spanish package excludes medical tests, blastocyst culture and embryo freezing.⁵
• More than one cycle. CareRoute notes that many patients need two or three cycles.⁹ Each cycle carries its own drug bill.
• The pen prices are old. Invitra's per-pen prices date from July 2022.¹ We found no newer list that compares the three countries.

How to use these numbers

Add the drugs to every package price before comparing clinics. For a Spanish or Greek own-egg cycle, the Spanish estimates above suggest about €400 to €1,100 on top. In the US, the four US sources put it at $1,500 to $7,000.

Ask each clinic for what the HFEA calls "a fully costed treatment plan", covering "everything from your tests to your drugs".² Ask where the drugs are bought. In Spain, The Local reports they come from local pharmacies on the clinic's prescription, and may need ordering a few days ahead.⁸

Footnotes

1. https://www.invitra.com/en/the-cost-of-hormonal-medication-in-assisted-reproduction-treatments/ — Invitra, "The cost of hormonal medication in assisted reproduction treatments" (last updated Jul 28, 2022). Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. https://www.hfea.gov.uk/treatments/explore-all-treatments/costs-and-funding/ — Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, "Costs and funding". Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. https://newlife-ivf.co.uk/ivf-costs — Newlife IVF (clinic, Greece), "IVF costs". Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. https://finchannel.com/why-more-americans-are-going-to-greece-and-spain-for-cheaper-fertility-treatment/133764/health-beauty/2026/08/ — FinChannel, "Why more Americans are going to Greece and Spain for cheaper fertility treatment" (published Aug 2026), citing clinic price lists. Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. https://www.eugin.co.uk/our-prices — Eugin (clinic group, Spain), "How much does IVF, DAI or Egg Donation cost?" (updated Sep 1, 2026). Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. https://www.ferticentro.pt/en/pricing — Ferticentro (clinic, Portugal), "Pricing". Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩²

7. https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/wards-departments/departments/fertility-centre/treatment-prices/ — Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, Salisbury Fertility Centre, "Treatment Prices" (prices correct as of Jan 2026). Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩²

8. https://www.thelocal.es/20251127/how-much-does-it-cost-to-do-ivf-in-spain — The Local Spain, "How much does it cost to do IVF in Spain?" (published Nov 27, 2025). Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩²

9. https://www.careroute.ai/blog/ivf-cost — CareRoute, "How Much Does IVF Cost in 2026? Base Cycle, Add-Ons, and All-In Prices". Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩ ↩²

10. https://www.fertilitycenter.com/fertility_cares_blog/making-infertility-treatment-more-affordable/ — Fertility Centers of New England, "Making infertility treatment more affordable" (published Oct 20, 2011). Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩

11. https://aivf.co/blog/ivf-cost-breakdown-the-essential-guide/ — AIVF, "IVF cost breakdown: the essential guide" (published Mar 11, 2025). Accessed Oct 29, 2026. ↩

Show all 11 sources