Fertility treatments
You’re ready to start a family. But what if you don’t conceive immediately and are not pregnant after a year of trying? What treatments are available, and how much do they cost?
Did you know that it’s perfectly normal not to conceive straight away? On average it takes one year. Which is why fertility examinations are only performed on conventional couples after one year of trying.
This doesn’t apply to LGBT couples, those over 35 or singles.
What treatments are available?
Artificial insemination (IUI)
What?
The scientific name for artificial insemination is ‘intrauterine insemination’, which is often shortened to IUI. A doctor inserts semen into the woman's uterus using a small fine tube. The procedure is simple and painless.
How?
- Hormone treatment
Your doctor will first investigate the cause of your reduced fertility. If you are unable to ovulate naturally, then you will receive hormone treatment.
- Semen from your own partner (AI)
Sometimes the quality of the sperm cells is less than optimal, or the sperm contains an insufficient number of sperm cells. The doctor carefully selects the best sperm cells for insemination around the time of the woman’s ovulation.
- Donor semen
Single women and lesbian couples with a desire to have children, or heterosexual couples in which the man is infertile, can opt for artificial insemination using donor sperm. Donor insemination invariably involves the use of frozen sperm from the sperm bank.
How much does it cost?
Your health insurance fund will fully reimburse the majority of the treatment costs. You only pay the excess.
|
Artificial insemination |
Cost |
270.00 |
Reimbursement |
246.90 |
Excess |
23.10 |
Reimbursement for those on a lower income |
254.66 |
Excess for those on a lower income |
15.24 |
IVF
What?
IVF is short for ‘in vitro fertilisation’. ‘In vitro’ is the Latin for ‘in glass’. The fertilisation between the egg and sperm cell doesn’t take place in the woman's abdomen, but in a dish in the laboratory. The embryo forms in that same dish, and is subsequently implanted in the women’s uterus. Hence the name ‘test-tube baby’.
How?
The treatment is performed in 4 steps:
- Ovarian stimulation: a hormonal treatment stimulates the maturation of the eggs.
- Egg collection: after approximately ten days, the eggs have sufficiently matured and are collected. This takes approximately fifteen minutes and is performed under local anaesthetic.
- Fertilisation: fertilisation takes place on the same day as the collection. The most mobile sperm cells from the partner or donor’s sperm sample are placed in a dish around each egg.
- Embryo transfer: the embryo is implanted in the uterus.
ICSI
ICSI is short for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection. This is an IVF treatment in which a single sperm cell is inserted into an egg using a fine needle.
How much does it cost?
Your health insurance fund will fully reimburse the majority of the treatment costs. You only pay the excess.
|
IVF treatment |
Cost |
920.00 |
Reimbursement |
865.10 |
Excess |
54.90 |
Reimbursement for those on a lower income |
883.36 |
Excess for those on a lower income |
36.64 |
Egg donation
What?
You might have difficulty getting pregnant due to a problem with your eggs. For example, you produce little or no eggs, possibly due to illness or premature menopause. The solution is to use eggs from a donor.
How?
The donor eggs are ‘harvested’ from the donor and fertilised on the same day. This can be done using sperm from your partner or from a sperm donor. Fertilisation takes place in a laboratory. Of the resulting embryos, one is implanted in the uterus.
How much does it cost?
Your health insurance fund will fully reimburse the majority of the treatment costs. You only pay the excess.
|
Egg donation |
Cost |
99.00 |
Reimbursement |
88.40 |
Excess |
10.60 |
Reimbursement for those on a lower income |
91.90 |
Excess for those on a lower income |
7.10 |