IVF clinics will have to give their patients full details of all likely treatment costs before they start to provide it, under regulations announced yesterday by the Government’s fertility watchdog.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will insist that clinics provide costed plans after every early consultation, as a condition of licensing them. The measures are designed to protect the 70 per cent of IVF patients who pay an average of about £3,500 for private therapy, after complaints that they incur unexpected fees after treatment begins.

Charges for drugs and diagnostic tests, for some of which there is little evidence showing them to be effective, can increase the total cost of a cycle of IVF to more than £8,000. Many patients, however, are told only about the basic costs of therapy when they agree to start, and later feel obliged to pay the extra fees as they have already spent thousands of pounds.

The HFEA decision to make costed treatment plans mandatory follows a survey of Fertility Views, the regulator’s advisory panel, which is made up of 1,000 current and former IVF patients. It found that 85 per cent had paid for their own treatment, yet only 20 per cent of these were given a costed plan at the outset. Others were shown a general price list, or were told verbally about likely costs.

More than a quarter had had to pay additional fees that they had not expected, and 88 per cent said they would have liked a full costed schedule of likely drugs, tests and procedures before deciding to go ahead with IVF. The HFEA said it accepted that the costs of drugs could be difficult to assess before IVF treatment begins, as this depends on factors such as dose, length of prescription and changes to medication.

It will, however, ask clinics to give patients a guide price, to warn them about maximum likely costs, and inform them promptly about changes and additional costs. The HFEA cannot legally cap or regulate private IVF clinics’ fees, but it can insist that particular information is given to patients.

Alan Doran, the HFEA’s interim chief executive, said: “Going through treatment for infertility is very stressful and we know that one of the key concerns for patients is how much it will cost. Fee structures and the way prices are explained can vary greatly from clinic to clinic, so we will be seeking out best practice and using it to help us develop guidance.”

The move follows increasing controversy over the NHS’s poor provision of IVF, and alleged conflicts of interest in the private sector. Though the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends that three cycles of treatment should be free for women under 40, no NHS trusts have met this target and many fail to offer a single free cycle.

This drives many patients to seek treatment at private clinics, which now form an industry with an annual turnover estimated at £500 million. In 2005, 41,932 cycles of treatment were given to 32,626 women, and 70 per cent of these are thought to have been performed privately.

Patient and professional groups welcomed the initiative. Susan Seenan, of the charity Infertility Network UK, said: “The whole process is extremely stressful and we welcome any measures which can help alleviate some of this stress.”

Allan Pacey, the secretary of the British Fertility Society, said: “It is important that patients who are having to pay for their own treatment know what the likely cost will be. It should be as transparent as possible.” An infertile woman has been taken off an NHS waiting list for IVF because she refused treatment for obesity. Joanne Hilton, 28, who had been waiting for IVF for 18 months, said Walsall Manor Hospital had told her it was no longer considering her for treatment because of her weight. Ms Hilton, from Walsall, weighs almost 18 stone (114kg), and has a body mass index (BMI) of more than 35 – the threshold for treatment at most clinics. Obesity is known to reduce both the effectiveness of fertility treatment and the safety of pregnancy. Ms Hilton had refused a gastric bypass operation that was offered to her.

The price of a baby, maybe

Figures are indicative and vary from clinic to clinic

— Initial consultation £150-£250

— Basic IVF treatment £2,500-£3,500 Usually includes doctor’s fees for egg collection and embryo transfer, embryologist’s fees for invitro fertilisation, anaesthetics, ultrasound scans, theatre charges

— Intracytoplasmic sperm injection £1,000 on top of usual IVF fees. Creation of embryos by direct injection of sperm into egg, procedure used for male infertility but increasingly common in standard IVF

— Hormonal drugs Not included in standard IVF fees. Costs can be very variable, from £500 to £2,000. Precise cost will depend on which drugs are prescribed for stimulating the ovaries. A Times Body&Soul survey also found high variation in prices charged by pharmacists

— Embryo freezing Sometimes included in basic IVF costs. Other clinics charge about £500, plus £250 a year for storage and between £800 and £2,500 for later thawing and transfer

— Other investigations Immunological therapies: up to £1,250 Preimplantation genetic screening, to pick the best embryos: £2,000-£3,000 Both procedures are offered by a few clinics, though there is little published evidence that they are effective

HFEA regulatory fee £104.50 Charged separately by some clinics, and rolled into the general cost by others

Source: published price lists of UK IVF clinics

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