The hidden cost of limited IVF clinic choice

For many IVF patients, the cost of treatment does not stop at the cycle price. When there is little local choice, travel and time off work add £1,002 to £1,455 per cycle. That is up to 250% more than under a telehealth-first model, where most visits happen close to home or online.

How we measured it

We checked 51 anonymised locations from our patient base against the HFEA clinic register. In 25 of them, patients did not have at least two full-cycle IVF clinics in their own town or city.

For those 25 locations, we compared travel costs and time off work across a typical cycle of 11 visits: one consultation, eight blood and scan monitoring visits, and two procedures (egg collection and embryo transfer).

• Traditional model: all 11 visits take place at the nearest full-cycle IVF clinic.

• Telehealth-first model: consultations happen online, monitoring takes place at a nearby partner clinic, and only the two procedures happen at an HFEA-licensed clinic in London.

Even a short journey adds up

Most affected locations are not remote. Their nearest full-cycle clinic is usually a regional hub 10 to 55 miles away, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff or Leeds. The distance is modest, but repeating it for every monitoring visit and procedure is not.

In Dudley, 10 miles from Birmingham, hidden costs reach £1,031 per cycle under traditional care, against £560 with a telehealth-first approach. Wakefield shows the smallest gap in our analysis: £1,008 against £687, still 47% more. In Swansea, 40 miles from Cardiff, costs are 123% higher.

Hidden costs per IVF cycle (travel and time off work) across 11 visits.
City Nearest full-service clinic Traditional care hidden costs Telehealth model costs Increase
WakefieldLeeds£1,008£68747%
DudleyBirmingham£1,031£56084%
SwanseaCardiff£1,106£495123%
IpswichCambridge£1,228£451172%
PeterboroughCambridge£1,184£417184%
Milton KeynesNorthampton£1,130£382196%
DartfordLondon£1,242£378229%
ChelmsfordLondon£1,301£387236%
BrightonLondon£1,391£405243%
ColchesterLondon£1,455£415250%

When the nearest clinic is in London

In 7 of the 25 locations, the nearest full-cycle clinic is in London. This is where the gap is largest.

Dartford is only around 17 miles from central London, yet its hidden costs more than triple once the journey is repeated across a full cycle.

What the numbers don't show

These figures assume every journey goes to plan.

In the first half of 2026, Britain's rail network had 23 days of severe disruption, when at least 5% of services were cancelled. Between April and June, almost one day in five was affected. When treatment depends on being at the clinic on a specific day, a cancellation means more time off work, a costly last-minute alternative and added stress.

Relying on a single regional clinic carries another risk. In August 2026, the Wales Fertility Institute in Neath paused new treatments because of staffing shortfalls. Services resumed gradually from 22 September, but for around four weeks, patients across Wales could not start planned treatment.

What this means for patients

Hidden costs under traditional care are up to 250% higher than under a telehealth-first model. In practice, a typical affected patient pays more than twice as much, before counting a partner's time off, meals on the road or childcare.

This is why Plan Your Baby works with a nationwide network of over 450 partner clinics. Routine monitoring stays close to home, consultations happen online, and patients travel only for the two procedures that need a licensed clinic.