What is reciprocal IVF?
In reciprocal IVF, one of you provides the eggs and the other carries the pregnancy. Your clinic retrieves the eggs, fertilizes them with sperm from a known or anonymous donor, and transfers an embryo to the partner who will carry.
You may also hear it called co-IVF, partner IVF, or shared motherhood, depending on the clinic.
The difference from IUI, or from IVF with one partner alone, is that both of you take a physical part in the same pregnancy.
Why Sunfish?
Lower medication costs
Sunfish members receive discounted fertility medications through the Sunfish partner pharmacy with a guaranteed lowest-price match, plus additional savings during your cycle and on long-term egg or embryo storage, saving patients up to $9,000 per cycle.
All embryo transfers included
Yes, you read that right. All single embryo transfers are included at no additional cost for one year at one fixed price, removing the financial pressure of paying for each attempt and giving you the freedom to keep trying.
All-inclusive pricing
Our IVF Success Program packages your treatment into one personalized flat fee, including options for donor egg and sperm, reciprocal IVF, and more. You know the cost upfront with no surprises.
Partial refunds
If a live birth is not achieved within the cost that Sunfish's software predicted for your plan, eligible patients may receive a partial refund of up to $15,000 or a discount to continue treatment, helping reduce the financial risk while you pursue your path to parenthood.
How reciprocal IVF works, step by step
Both of you will be patients, which is the main logistical difference from ordinary IVF.
- A consultation with a reproductive endocrinologist, at a fertility clinic rather than your OB/GYN
- Bloodwork and a follicle count for whoever provides the eggs, a uterine evaluation for whoever carries
- A sperm donor, known or anonymous, with the cost folded into your plan
- Retrieval from one of you, fertilization, then transfer of an embryo to the other
- All single embryo transfers to the partner carrying included at no extra cost, for one year
Your IVF journey
starts here
IVF is hard enough. The Sunfish IVF Success Program is tailored to your treatment plan and built to help you become pregnant, with less confusion, more support, and lower costs. We partner with leading fertility clinics nationwide to offer our All-Inclusive IVF Package:
Personalized Approach
Customized for you, based on your treatment plan.
No Limits
All Embryo Transfers Included.
Ongoing Support
Expert guidance and support for up to one year.
Savings
Discounts and savings up to $9,000 per cycle.
What a reciprocal IVF package covers
Sunfish quotes one flat fee for the treatment plan you and your clinic agree on.
Inside your flat fee
- Reciprocal IVF, donor sperm, donor eggs, and additional retrievals, priced in from the start
- All single embryo transfers included for one year to the partner carrying
- A guaranteed lowest-price match on medications and injections from Sunfish partner pharmacy
- A personal Planning Partner, with evidence-based guides and regular check-ins
- No hidden costs, with Sunfish handling your clinic invoices
- Up to $9,000 in savings and discounts, plus 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.
- A partial refund of up to $15,000 under the Gold tier if you are not successful.¹ Terms apply
Keep in mind
- Sunfish collaborates with a member's fertility clinic to support their care rather than replace it, and the member and their doctor make every medical decision.
- The IVF Success Program does not currently cover surrogacy
- Parentage paperwork varies by state. Ask your clinic for a referral
- Sunfish builds your cost forecast once your clinic evaluation is complete. You see it after that appointment
¹ 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.
Sunfish's IVF Success Program is a great option for anyone who is looking for peace of mind as they pursue IVF. This program can help them reduce their financial stress during their fertility journey.
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FAQs
Find answers to all your assisted fertility related questions here.
That range covers everything from IUI through IVF with a donor. Reciprocal IVF sits toward the higher end of it. For a full breakdown, see how much reciprocal IVF costs at each step.
The cycle includes a retrieval for one of you, a transfer for the other, donor sperm, and two sets of testing.
Sunfish forecasts a patient's cost of reaching a live birth through IVF with a predictive model that reads age, AMH, BMI, and prior cycle history from a partner clinic evaluation, at a company-reported 97% accuracy. You see your package price before you commit to anything.
In standard IVF, one person provides the eggs and carries the pregnancy.
In reciprocal IVF those roles split between the two of you. One provides the eggs, the other carries.
The medical steps are the same either way. What changes is that both of you become patients, which means two sets of testing and a plan that coordinates around both timelines.
Sunfish's own guidance is to check your health insurance first. 47% of large US employers now cover IVF, per Mercer's 2024 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, and some states mandate it.
Coverage rarely stretches to everything, and donor sperm is a common exclusion. Read the explanation of benefits closely.
Sunfish prices your package whether or not you have coverage.
Cost is the main one. Two patients means two sets of testing, and donor sperm sits on top of a standard IVF cycle.
Coordination takes longer, because the partner providing eggs and the partner carrying each follow their own timeline.
Parentage paperwork varies by state and sits outside the clinic. Ask your clinic who they refer couples to.
The clinical trade-offs are a conversation for your physician. Sunfish is not a medical provider.
Financially, 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. Full eligibility terms are in the Sunfish IVF Success Program Agreement.
Sunfish supports any individual, couple, or intended co-parents, regardless of who they love.
You still complete a physical evaluation at an eligible IVF clinic, which shapes your plan and your cost forecast.
A known donor is one option, and plenty of couples take it.
Your clinic sets the screening requirements and handles the testing. Known donors usually take longer to clear than an anonymous donor from a bank, and the legal steps differ.
Ask your clinic who they refer couples to for the paperwork.
Sunfish folds the donor cost into your plan either way.
Packages have room for extras. Additional retrievals, egg or sperm donors, ICSI where your doctor prescribes it, and natural cycles can all sit inside the plan.
Each of those choices moves the treatment plan, and the price with it.
Sunfish settles them with you during intake instead of pricing them as add-ons after you enroll.
Ovarian reserve and follicle count point toward the partner providing eggs, and the uterine evaluation toward the partner carrying. Age often factors in for both.
Some couples plan to swap roles for a second child. Say so at intake, because it changes what you freeze and how long you store it, and long-term storage discounts are part of the Sunfish package.
Ready to get started?
Complete our short intake form and someone from our team will reach out.
