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Sperm Cost

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Over the last decade, many successful women have decided not to wait for Mr. Right and, instead, began to create their own family on their own by using sperm banks. As common as this move is starting to seem, the process to obtain high-quality sperm is a journey in and of itself, not to mention, quite expensive.

Broadly reports the price of a single vial of sperm costs between $370-$890 but if you are interested in browsing, freezing, storing, reheating, inserting and inseminated said sperm you will have to pay additional money for each option. Although some of the aforementioned processes are covered by health insurance, Broadly states the actual cost of sperm is usually paid for out of pocket.

After accessing the sperm of their choice, women must also pay for whether or not they want raw or washed sperm inserted into their vaginas. Raw sperm is less expensive but, unfortunately, less effective. The term raw comes from the sperm being “unwashed” and it can be inserted at home by using a syringe or catheter. Some women opt for intrauterine sperm— a process where a medical professional inserts the catheter past the cervix so the sperm is directly placed into the uterus. A part of this process is “washing” the sperm—separating the good, bad and dead swimmers — to increase the chances of a woman to becomebecomming pregnant. The cost of this process starts at $375 per insemination attempt and if done on a weekend or holiday (while you’re ovulating) the price increases to $435. It should be noted the prices listed are the costs per session and many women don’t become pregnant the first time around.

Despite the huge need for fertility clinics and sperm donors, states are not willing to change their local laws to help women with the costs of conception. Dr. Michelle  Ottey, the Laboratory Director at Fairfax Cryobank, told Broadly, “When [Fairfax] Cryobank first started in the ’80s. ‘it was almost exclusively, if not exclusively, for heterosexual couples dealing with male infertility. At this point, we still obviously serve that population, but overall the majority of people that are using our donor sperm are either single women or lesbians who need the sperm to build their family.” To make matters increasingly worse, there are states that don’t even allow heterosexual couples who are not married to receive coverage for their fertility costs and only 15 out of 50 states are required to help cover the cost for those who are seeking non-traditional family planning.

Although these current prices seem daunting, Dr. Ottey said they will become worse as technology advances. Fertility clinics are already adding costs by creating extra test requirements and implementing new programs such as tracking your sperm donor and the other offspring that was born from the same sperm sample as your child. In other words, costs are rising rather than deflating as more and more women elect for this procedure.

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