The warehouse giant Costco announced on March 9 that it will give members discounted access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg freezing, and intrauterine insemination – along with up to 80% off fertility medications through its pharmacy.
The program consists of a new three-way partnership between Costco, the telehealth platform Sesame, and the fertility clinic network Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad (IVI) and Reproductive Medicine Associates (RMA) North America. The specially negotiated discounts will be exclusively available to Costco members, who pay a membership fee for access to the store and its offers.
For a discounted rate of $99 a month, members get access to fertility care coordination through Sesame: virtual consultations, diagnostic workups, and a referral pathway to IVI RMA's specialty clinics.
Common IVF drugs such as Follistim, which typically run around $2,000 per cartridge, are among the medications covered at member pricing. Medications are then filled through Costco's pharmacy.
"By combining transparent pricing with coordinated care, we're removing the barriers that have historically kept quality fertility treatment out of reach for too many families," said Richard Stephens, senior vice president of pharmacy at Costco.
IVI RMA North America runs 25 IVF laboratories and reports having delivered more than 220,000 babies.
CEO Lynn Mason said the program is about scale: "We are expanding access to quality fertility care and reducing barriers so more people across the country can build the families they desire."
The IVI RMA network also provides preimplantation genetic testing of embryos (PGT-A), single embryo transfers, fertility preservation, and specialized fertility care for patients who identify as LGBTQ.
Costco’s partnership is the latest example of IVF becoming increasingly embedded in the ordinary fabric of American life. The partnership's press release cites that 1 in 6 Americans are affected by infertility. Employer-sponsored IVF coverage has grown from 13% of U.S. organizations in 2016 to 32% in 2024, according to a Mercer survey. Twenty-two states have passed IVF insurance mandates.
IVF remains controversial, however, due to high embryo attrition rates. National data from the CDC and SART show that creating multiple embryos per cycle is standard practice in order to increase the chances of successful pregnancies. Pro-life and Catholic leaders oppose the practice, since data indicate several embryos lost or not progressing per successful birth, alongside hundreds of thousands to over a million frozen embryos in U.S. storage. Per Donum Vitae (a Vatican instruction on reproductive technologies) and the Catechism, the Church condemns IVF as morally unacceptable for separating procreation from the marital act and involving the creation, manipulation, and potential destruction or indefinite freezing of embryos.
The Trump administration, however, has promoted IVF, framing it as supportive of family formation amid declining U.S. fertility rates. The administration pushed through executive orders and initiatives supporting IVF in 2025, including drug price reductions via partnerships and guidance for employer fertility benefits.