The economic consequences of multiple gestation pregnancy in assisted conception cycles

This study estimates the projected costs of multiple births resulting from assisted conception cycles (in vitro fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection and ovarian stimulation with gonadotrophin). The estimates are modelled from the volume of services, treatment success and multiple gestation rates in recent registry data. The coverage is restricted to hospital costs associated with delivery and the trends are projected to 2000 in the United States. Sensitivity analyses tested different assumptions about per annum trends in effectiveness, multiple pregnancy rates and health costs. The national cost of in vitro fertilization cycles is US$470.2 million (£313.5 million) and the cost of the multiple pregnancies from in vitro fertilization is US$639.9 million (£426.7 million). The national cost of ovarian stimulation cycles is US$166.6 million (£111.1 million) and the cost of the multiple pregnancies from ovarian stimulation is US$257.3 million (£171.6 million). Although costs are a limited indicator of the burden of illness, the projected national cost of multiple pregnancy associated with assisted conception in 2000 is greater than the base cost of the treatment. Prevention of multiple pregnancy in assisted conception cycles should be a priority.