by Claudia Boyd-Barrett posted in Pregnancy

Couples are paying tens of thousands of dollars to fertility clinics that promise to give them their money back if they don?t conceive a child after multiple treatments, according to the New York Times.
These package deals cost significantly more than buying an individual round of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. That?s great if you end up requiring multiple treatment rounds to get pregnant. But a majority of couples that purchase these deals conceive after the first cycle, the paper found.
The result: the clinics make more money than if the couples had purchased fertility treatment a-la-carte.

Could it be the clinics are stacking the odds in their own favor" The article suggests so. Clinics appear to be offering these deals to couples they believe have a higher chance of success. Women with less chance of conceiving ? such as older women and those with medical problems or obesity ? are more likely to be excluded from these types of package deals, the paper found. Another concern is that the clinics offering these deals may be tempted to implant multiple embryos during each IVF round, increasing the chances of conception but also the risk of twins and triplets. Also, the deals may omit additional costs, such as prescription drugs and certain tests.
The paper interviewed couples that purchased these types of packages, and found they didn?t regret their decision even when they lost money. But if you?re considering an o...