Archive · 8 Dec 2025
Experts Push for Affordable IVF
Doctors and experts are talking about how to make IVF, which is a way to help people have babies, more affordable.
Right now, IVF is very expensive.
One cycle can cost between ₹1.5 lakh and ₹4 lakh, and sometimes people need more than one cycle.
Experts say that the focus has been on making IVF more advanced, but this has made it more expensive.
They want to find ways to make it cheaper.
One expert, Willem Ombelet, has developed a new technology that uses simple tubes and a basic incubator, which costs much less than a usual IVF lab.
This could help many people who want to have babies but can't afford IVF.
In Calcutta, there is a hospital that offers free IVF cycles, and in 2024, they did 80 free cycles that led to 32 pregnancies.
But they could do more if the cost of setting up a lab goes down.
The high cost of IVF cycles is a major barrier for couples with fertility issues.
One IVF cycle costs about ₹1.5 lakh in Calcutta and ₹3-4 lakh in Mumbai.
Experts suggest focusing on reducing the cost of IVF cycles to make them more accessible.
A new technology developed by Willem Ombelet uses simple tubes and a basic incubator, costing one-tenth of a usual IVF lab.
SSKM Hospital in Calcutta offers free IVF cycles, with 80 cycles completed in 2024 leading to 32 pregnancies.
- Who
- Experts and doctors at an international conference on IVF
- What
- Discussion on reducing the cost of IVF cycles
- When
- On the sidelines of a conference held on Saturday and Sunday
- Where
- New Town, Calcutta
- Why
- To make IVF more accessible to couples with fertility issues
- Cost of IVF cycle
- ₹1.5 lakh in Calcutta, ₹3-4 lakh in Mumbai
- Cost to set up basic IVF lab
- ₹5 crore
- Cost to set up advanced IVF lab
- ₹10 crore
- Cost of new IVF technology
- One-tenth of usual IVF lab
- Free IVF cycles completed in 2024
- 80
- Pregnancies from free IVF cycles
- 32