IVF Abroad Packages: What's Included, What's Not, and How to Compare
Last updated: February 2026
“All-inclusive” is the most abused phrase in fertility marketing. One clinic’s EUR 4,500 all-inclusive package includes consultation, monitoring, egg retrieval, ICSI, embryo culture, and transfer. Another clinic’s EUR 4,500 package includes the same list but excludes medication (EUR 800-2,000 extra), anaesthesia (EUR 300-500), and embryo freezing (EUR 500-1,000). Same headline number, EUR 1,600-3,500 difference in what you actually pay.
What a Standard IVF Cycle Involves
Before you compare packages, know the components:
| Component | What it is | Typically costs |
|---|---|---|
| Initial consultation | Doctor reviews your history, orders tests | EUR 100-250 |
| Blood tests + scans | Hormone levels, ultrasound, semen analysis | EUR 200-500 |
| Ovarian stimulation monitoring | 3-6 ultrasound appointments over 10-14 days | EUR 300-800 |
| Medication (stimulation drugs) | Daily hormone injections for 10-14 days | EUR 800-2,000 |
| Egg retrieval | Surgical procedure under sedation | EUR 1,000-2,000 |
| Anaesthesia | For egg retrieval | EUR 200-500 |
| ICSI | Sperm injection into each egg | EUR 800-1,500 |
| Embryo culture | Lab growing embryos 3-6 days | Included in most packages |
| Embryo transfer | Placing embryo in uterus | EUR 300-800 |
| Embryo freezing + 1 year storage | Vitrifying surplus embryos | EUR 500-1,000 |
| Pregnancy test (beta-hCG) | Blood test 10-14 days after transfer | EUR 50-100 |
Total if you bought everything separately: EUR 4,000-9,000. The “package” bundles most of these at a discount. The question is which ones.
Reading the Fine Print
Always Included (in any legitimate package)
Consultation, monitoring scans, egg retrieval, embryo culture, and transfer. If a package doesn’t include these, it’s not a package. it’s a deposit.
Sometimes Included, Sometimes Not
| Item | Included in ~% of packages | If excluded, add |
|---|---|---|
| ICSI | ~70% | EUR 800-1,500 |
| Medication | ~30% | EUR 800-2,000 |
| Anaesthesia | ~60% | EUR 200-500 |
| Embryo freezing | ~50% | EUR 500-1,000 |
| Blastocyst culture (Day 5) | ~80% | EUR 300-500 |
| First year embryo storage | ~40% | EUR 200-400 |
Medication is the biggest variable. Clinics in Turkey and Czech Republic almost never include it. Clinics in Spain sometimes do. Bahceci in Istanbul charges $4,800 for the cycle and quotes medication at EUR 1,700-2,700 on top (Bahceci, 2025). That’s a 35-56% surcharge above the headline price.
Never Included
Travel, accommodation, travel insurance, local GP scans in your home country, and lost wages. Budget these separately.
Package Tiers
Most international fertility clinics offer 2-3 tiers:
Basic / Standard: The cycle itself. Consultation through transfer. No medication, sometimes no ICSI. Cheapest headline price.
Full / Complete: Adds ICSI, medication, freezing, and sometimes pre-treatment tests. The realistic price for most patients.
VIP / Premium: Adds airport transfers, hotel accommodation, dedicated coordinator, sometimes a second cycle guarantee. Bahceci’s VIP package ($7,400) includes 15 nights hotel with breakfast (Bahceci, 2025). EuroCARE IVF in Cyprus offers 5-star hotel and transfers in their premium tier (EuroCARE, 2025).
The VIP tier is worth considering if you’re traveling alone and want logistics handled. The cost premium (EUR 1,500-3,000 over the full package) is often less than booking hotel and transfers separately, especially in Istanbul or Nicosia where you don’t know the city.
Guarantee and Refund Programmes
Some clinics offer multi-cycle packages with partial refund terms if treatment doesn’t succeed. These go by different names: “guarantee programme,” “refund plan,” “shared risk.”
How they work: You pay upfront for 2-3 cycles (typically 1.5-2x the single-cycle price). If you don’t achieve a live birth after all included cycles, you get a partial refund (usually 50-70% of the package price). If you succeed on the first cycle, you’ve overpaid.
The maths: A single own-egg IVF cycle has a 30-35% live birth rate per transfer for women under 38 (HFEA, 2024). After 3 cycles, cumulative success is approximately 60-70%. So most patients in a 3-cycle guarantee programme will succeed and not need the refund. The clinic prices the guarantee knowing this.
Worth it if: You’re under 38 with good ovarian reserve and want budget certainty. The guarantee caps your downside.
Not worth it if: You’re over 40 with diminished reserve. Some guarantee programmes exclude higher-risk patients or charge them significantly more.
Genesis Clinic in Cyprus offers a “100% pregnancy money-back guarantee” for all IVF treatment modalities (Genesis, 2025). Access Fertility in the UK offers multi-cycle refund plans across partner clinics. Always read the specific terms: what counts as “success,” what triggers the refund, and whether the refund covers only the clinic fee or also medication.
The Comparison Checklist
Before committing to any package, get written answers to these questions:
- Is medication included? If not, what’s the estimated cost for your protocol?
- Is ICSI included? Most cycles use ICSI. If it’s an add-on, how much?
- Is anaesthesia included? Some clinics charge separately for sedation during egg retrieval.
- What happens to surplus embryos? Is freezing included? First-year storage? What’s the annual renewal fee?
- What if I need a frozen embryo transfer later? How much is a FET cycle?
- What if the cycle is cancelled? If you don’t respond to stimulation or produce no viable embryos, what do you pay? What’s refunded?
- Are pre-treatment tests included? Blood tests, scans, semen analysis. some packages include them, some don’t.
- What’s NOT in the package? Ask for a list of exclusions in writing.
The clinic that gives you clear, itemised answers to all eight is the one that deserves your business.
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Sources
- Bahceci IVF pricing and packages (2025): https://bahceci.com/international/en/price/
- EuroCARE IVF packages: https://www.eurocareivf.com/fertility-blog/cost-and-benefits-of-ivf-in-cyprus/
- Genesis Clinic Cyprus guarantee programme: https://genesis-cy.com/
- HFEA. IVF success rates by age (2024): https://www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us/publications/
- Access Fertility refund plans: https://www.accessfertility.com/