The Economics Of The IVF Programme: A Critical Review

This paper reviews recent literature from an economic viewpoint concerning the costs and benefits of the IVF programme (in-vitro fertilization) in assisting reproduction. The problems with previous studies are highlighted, and suggestions made as to how these problems can be surmounted in future economic evaluation of the programme. The first section of the paper addresses the problem of infertility and the causes of infertility for which IVF has been offered as a treatment. The second section concerns issues of efficacy. Sections three and four detail the costs and benefits of the IVF programme, as they ideally should be presented and as they have been presented in the literature. In the final section of the paper, a suggested framework for economic evaluation is presented