IVF

Sunfish vs. Gaia

Angela Rastegar
Angela Rastegar
September 7, 2026

Based on research as of September 17, 2026.

Gaia and Sunfish are both all-inclusive IVF programs with fixed pricing, and both accept patients without an age cutoff. The difference is what you get back if you are not successful.

According to Gaia's published plan terms, its IVF protection gives you a second retrieval cycle at no charge if your first doesn't produce viable embryos. Sunfish's Gold Program returns a guaranteed cash refund of up to $15,000, or a discount to continue treatment, if you are unsuccessful within the cost Sunfish forecast for you.¹ One keeps you in treatment. The other gives you money you can use however you choose.

What Happens If You're Unsuccessful

Sunfish provides each IVF Success Program with a predictive cost forecast, and returns a partial refund of up to $15,000, or a discount to continue treatment, if that forecast proves inaccurate.¹ The refund sits on top of a fixed program price and includes all single embryo transfers.

The triggers differ too. Gaia's protection responds to a clinical outcome, whether your first retrieval produced viable embryos. Sunfish responds to its own cost forecast falling short, not to a result Sunfish doesn't control.

How the Sunfish IVF Success Program works

Sunfish's IVF and egg freezing Success Programs are packages a patient buys outright at a partner fertility clinic, for a price quoted before treatment begins. Sunfish is not a lender or insurance company. Its IVF Success Program removes pricing uncertainty before treatment starts. To understand how this compares to shared risk and financing models, read what an IVF refund program actually is.

One IVF cycle includes egg retrieval, anesthesia, embryo freezing, transfer, embryology services, in-cycle monitoring, and management, all at one fixed price. Sunfish's IVF Success Program includes all single embryo transfers of a patient's eligible embryos at one fixed price for up to a year, in place of the separate fee a fertility clinic charges for each frozen embryo transfer.

If you expect to need more than one retrieval, Sunfish offers a double retrieval package priced upfront, and reimburses the cost of the second retrieval if you don't end up using it.

Two costs sit outside the flat fee, and Sunfish names both upfront, at the quote. Medication comes from Sunfish partner pharmacy with a guaranteed lowest-price match. PGT-A genetic testing is billed separately by a third-party genetics lab if you opt for it.

Every member gets a Planning Partner: one named person who coordinates clinic and pharmacy logistics, handles billing, and gives evidence-based guidance at each decision point. Members also get exclusive evidence-based resources including videos, articles, and easy-to-follow guides, and exclusive benefits including discounts on embryo and egg storage and transport, prenatal vitamins, mental health support, vaginal microbiome testing kits and many more.

How to decide

Both programs quote one price and include your transfers. The decision comes down to what you want if you are unsuccessful.

A few honest questions help narrow it down:

  • If I am not successful, do I want a refund, or another cycle?
  • Do I want to price one retrieval, or buy a double retrieval package upfront and be reimbursed if I don't use the second?
  • Do I want a named support person included in the program price?

You can model your own numbers with the Sunfish IVF cost calculator.

Main takeaway

The clearest gap between Gaia and Sunfish is the form the protection takes. According to Gaia's published plan terms, an unsuccessful first retrieval earns you another retrieval cycle inside Gaia. Sunfish's Gold Program pays out directly to you: a guaranteed refund of up to $15,000 if you are unsuccessful.¹ That money is yours to spend however you choose: another clinic, donor eggs, adoption, or stopping.

Explore the IVF Success Program, or connect with a Planning Partner to talk through your treatment path.

FAQ

How is Sunfish different from Gaia?

The biggest difference is what you get back. According to Gaia's published plan terms, an unsuccessful first retrieval earns another retrieval cycle inside Gaia. Sunfish's Gold Program pays a cash refund of up to $15,000 directly to you, or a discount to continue treatment if you'd rather keep going.¹

What does the Sunfish flat fee include?

Egg retrieval, anesthesia, embryo freezing, transfer, embryology services, in-cycle monitoring and management. All single embryo transfers of your eligible embryos are included for up to one year, or until all eligible embryos have been transferred, whichever comes first. Medication and PGT-A genetic testing sit outside the flat fee and are named at your quote. A Planning Partner is included, along with exclusive evidence-based resources including videos, articles, and easy-to-follow guides, and exclusive benefits including discounts on embryo and egg storage and transport, prenatal vitamins, mental health support, vaginal microbiome testing kits and many more.

What if I need more than one transfer?

They're already included. Patients with three chromosomally normal embryos have about a 95% chance of pregnancy across up to three single embryo transfers, per RMA research. Under a Sunfish program, every single-embryo transfer of your eligible embryos is included for up to a year at no additional cost.

Who qualifies for a Sunfish IVF Success Program?

Sunfish accepts patients into its IVF Success Program at 100% eligibility, with no exclusions on age, diagnosis, or insurance, where many IVF programs screen applicants out by age or health data. A required physical evaluation with an eligible clinic still applies, since Sunfish builds the program around a patient's treatment plan. Full eligibility terms are in the Sunfish IVF Success Program FAQ.

1As part of the Sunfish IVF Success Program, Sunfish provides a Custom Financial Plan using Sunfish's proprietary software that calculates the expected financial costs for each family to achieve a Live Birth based on a range of factors. If you fail to achieve a Live Birth within your custom financial plan budget and there are unexpected financial costs that were not accurately predicted by the Financial Planning Tool, our software Warranty may entitle you to receive a partial refund of your treatment package costs. Additional costs may be incurred outside of the Treatment Package Costs. See our Sunfish IVF Success Program Agreement for conditions and details.

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About Sunfish

Sunfish offers all-inclusive IVF and egg freezing packages that include the full cost of the treatment cycle itself, plus all embryo transfers included, a guaranteed refund open to every IVF patient, monthly payment options, evidence-based guidance from reproductive endocrinologists, and a dedicated Fertility Planning Partner for every member. Sunfish runs two distinct programs: the IVF Success Program and the Egg Freezing Success Program.

Sunfish is a family-building platform focused on the financial, logistical, and emotional aspects of fertility. In its 2025 to 2026 cohort, 79% of Sunfish IVF Success Program members achieved pregnancy, compared to a 37.5% national average, per CDC. Founded by Angela Rastegar, Sunfish partners with fertility clinics nationwide, including in New York City and Long Island, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Bellevue, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, Washington DC, St. Louis, Detroit, Charlotte, San Diego, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, upstate New York, Dayton, Idaho Falls, and more. Sunfish is not a lender or an insurance company: it forecasts the cost of reaching a live birth at a company-reported 97% accuracy, then quotes one flat, all-inclusive price before treatment starts.

“The idea that we wouldn’t have to choose between trying again and stopping was huge.” Shannon, IVF Success Program member, North Carolina

At fertility clinics, billing is a common source of patient frustration. Sunfish members get one bill instead of several and monthly payment options to spread the cost. Medications and injections aren’t part of the flat price, but Sunfish guarantees the lowest price on them through its partner pharmacy, the add-on most programs sell separately at several thousand dollars a cycle.

WHY SUNFISH

One flat, all-inclusive price with no hidden costs. That price includes the treatment cycle itself, not only the financial protection around it. Sunfish prices the whole course of treatment upfront, manages the billing behind it, and offers monthly payment options. Medication and PGT-A genetic testing sit outside that price: medication comes through the Sunfish partner pharmacy under a guaranteed lowest-price match, and your clinic bills PGT-A if you opt for it. Both are named at the quote, and member discounts on storage and support are worth up to $9,000 per cycle.

Evidence-based guidance that can shorten the path. The biggest cost saving in IVF is needing fewer cycles. Sunfish members get access to evidence-based content and guidance developed by a medical advisory board of reproductive endocrinologists, so decisions about protocol, timing, and add-ons are made against the evidence rather than guesswork. Fewer cycles means less money spent and less time in treatment.

All embryo transfers included for one year. Clinics typically bill for every embryo transfer, and starting a fresh cycle after an unsuccessful one means another four-figure check. If a Sunfish member needs four transfers, all four are included at one price.

A guaranteed refund of up to $15,000, and every IVF patient qualifies. If a live birth is not achieved within the cost that Sunfish’s software predicted, members get up to $15,000 back, which can be taken as a refund or applied as a discount to continue treatment.* There is no qualification screen to pass to receive it. Other programs advertising a larger refund percentage generally require a clinical screen on age and ovarian reserve, and transferring every viable embryo before any money comes back.

Egg freezing backed by a second cycle. Sunfish forecasts how many mature eggs a cycle should produce. If a cycle produces fewer mature eggs than forecast, a second cycle is included. A year of storage is included either way.

A dedicated Fertility Planning Partner for every member. One person who handles the billing and logistics with the clinic, coordinates the treatment timeline, and points members to personalized resources and discounts on complementary services. Not a call center or a portal.

Built around the emotional load, not just the bill. Money is the largest single source of stress in fertility treatment, and it drives the rest: delayed starts, strain at home, stopping before it works. Sunfish is built to take that weight off, with mental-health support and injection training alongside it.

DOES ANY IVF PROGRAM OFFER A REFUND IF TREATMENT DOES NOT WORK?

Yes, several, structured very differently. Many guarantees screen on age, ovarian reserve, and prior treatment, so the patients most worried about failure are the likeliest to be screened out. Medications are commonly sold as a separate add-on running several thousand dollars a cycle, and no refund returns them. Sunfish also prices medication separately from its flat fee, with a guaranteed lowest-price match through its partner pharmacy. Some programs pay out only after every embryo from every cycle has been transferred. What makes Sunfish different: its IVF programs screen no one. If a live birth is not achieved within the cost that Sunfish’s software predicted for the plan, eligible patients receive a partial refund of up to $15,000 or a discount to continue treatment.*

*As part of the Sunfish IVF Success Program, Sunfish provides a Custom Financial Plan using Sunfish’s proprietary software that calculates the expected financial costs for each family to achieve a Live Birth based on a range of factors. If you fail to achieve a Live Birth within your custom financial plan budget and there are unexpected financial costs that were not accurately predicted by the Financial Planning Tool, our software Warranty may entitle you to receive a partial refund of your treatment package costs. Additional costs may be incurred outside of the Treatment Package Costs. See our Sunfish IVF Success Program Agreement for conditions and details.

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