Fertility Planning Is Financial Planning: Making Informed Choices in an Expensive World

Trying to grow your family can come with a lot of questions: Can we afford this? What should we prioritize? What can we do now? Those questions are especially real when fertility care costs are competing with groceries, housing, insurance, and everything else life requires. Fertility planning is also financial planning, whether that means considering IVF, egg freezing, testing, supplements, or other ways to support reproductive health. It can be hard to know where to spend your time, energy, and money. At Million Marker, we believe better information can help you make more intentional choices about your health, your environment, your fertility goals, and your budget.

How Much Do Fertility Treatments Cost?

Fertility care can be expensive. Really expensive.

Recently, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought some of that reality into public view by sharing parts of her egg-freezing journey on social media, including the financial planning involved in pursuing fertility preservation [1].

But you don't have to be freezing your eggs or undergoing IVF to experience financial struggles from fertility. Fertility costs can include appointments, fertility testing, medications, supplements, procedures, egg or embryo storage, transportation, and even lost income from taking time away from work.

For people considering fertility treatment, it helps to first understand the options, along with the costs that can come with them. Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is when sperm is placed directly into the uterus around the time of ovulation. At the same time, in vitro fertilization (IVF) involves fertilizing eggs outside the body and transferring an embryo to the uterus [2].

A single IVF cycle can cost about $15,000–$25,000, while a medicated IUI cycle may range from roughly $500–$4,000 [3]. Some people need more than one round, so it can be helpful to look at the full picture early. Include medications, testing, travel, and time away from work when planning what feels realistic for your budget.

Insurance coverage can significantly affect the cost of fertility treatment, but access remains inconsistent. In 2024, 47% of U.S. employers with 500 or more workers offered IVF coverage. That's more than double the 22% that did so in 2019 [4]!

Even when a plan includes IVF benefits, it may set lifetime dollar limits, restrict the number of covered treatment cycles, or impose other eligibility requirements. Reviewing the details early can clarify what your plan covers, what you may need to cover yourself, and how to budget for the expenses that matter most.

So, yes! Fertility planning can become financial planning. And we think it's important to say that out loud.

How to Prioritize Fertility Costs When You Can't Do Everything

There is no single "right" fertility budget. Every treatment option is as unique as the family who might consider it.

For one person, the cost of IVF may put treatment out of reach right now.

Someone else may be saving for the cost of egg freezing.

Another person may have fertility benefits through work but still face thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.

And someone else may not be pursuing fertility treatment at all and would prefer to find things they can do at home to support their reproductive health better.

When money is limited (and for most of us, it is!), the goal shouldn't be to buy every supplement, test, product, or service that promises to "optimize" fertility. It's about knowing what matters most for your fertility journey, what you can realistically do, and where your time and money can have the most value.

There is one part of the fertility conversation that may be less familiar to most people. Your environmental exposures may influence your health and fertility outcomes.

Environmental Toxics and Fertility: What Does the Science Say?

Fertility is complex. Age, genetics, underlying health conditions, sperm and egg health, reproductive anatomy, lifestyle, and many other factors can play a role.

Your environment is another piece of that picture.

Every day, we're exposed to chemicals through the things we eat, breathe, touch, and use.

Some are known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) because they can interfere with the body's hormone systems [5].

Scientists have studied EDCs and fertility for years. Research has found associations between certain EDC exposures (including phthalates, bisphenols, and PFAS) and reproductive health. These include changes in hormone levels, semen quality, ovarian reserve, and fertility outcomes. Some of these chemicals have been associated with poorer IVF outcomes [6].

What Is Environmental Exposure Testing?

Many parts of fertility care focus on what's happening inside your body. But they may not account for the everyday products you use, routines you follow, and spaces you spend time in. All of these factors can contribute to your exposome, the entirety of your environmental chemical exposures.

That's where environmental exposure testing offers a different perspective.

The Million Marker Fertility Kit tests for certain environmental chemicals, including hormone-disrupting chemicals. Your results can help you better understand your exposures and investigate the products, routines, and habits that may be contributing to them.

Think personal care products. Food and food packaging. Household products. All the things you interact with as part of your everyday routine!

Million Marker isn't a fertility diagnostic test. It can't tell you whether you'll become pregnant, and we can't promise that reducing an exposure will change the outcome of IVF or another fertility treatment.

What it can do is help you add visibility to a part of your health picture that often goes unnoticed. We can help you minimize everyday chemical exposures that could influence health and fertility.

How Million Marker Helps You Identify Everyday Chemical Exposures

The Million Marker Fertility Kit is designed to help you understand your exposures and what you can do about them, step by step.

You start with an initial at-home Exposure Test that measures 13 EDCs associated with infertility in your body. Then, we help you look at the bigger picture through an Exposure Snapshot, which examines the products and routines that may be contributing to those exposures.

From there, you move through a self-paced, interactive learning program called CleanPath. CleanPath helps you understand your results and make practical changes without feeling like you need to overhaul your entire life at once.

After you have had time to make changes, you take a second Exposure Test. This helps you track how your exposure levels have changed over time, see what may be working, and receive even more tailored recommendations based on your updated results.

The goal is to give you a clearer path forward:

What showed up in my results?
Where might those exposures be coming from?
What changes feel realistic for me?
How are my levels changing over time?

Instead of leaving you with a list of chemicals to worry about, Million Marker helps you turn your results into practical next steps you can understand, try, and track.

How to Reduce Chemical Exposure Without Replacing Everything You Own

Replace your cookware. Buy new beauty products. Change your furniture. Eat differently. Install a water filter. Buy organic everything.

Environmental health advice can sometimes sound expensive. For most households, that's not realistic. You don't need to replace your entire life overnight.

Instead, your own data can help you prioritize. If you're already going to replace a personal care product, you can consider a different option next time. If a routine may be contributing to an exposure, there may be a change you can make without buying anything at all. And if something isn't a priority based on your results, circumstances, or budget, you don't have to tackle it today!

That's part of making environmental health actionable and attainable. This step-by-step approach can also help you spend more intentionally.

By pinpointing potential sources of hormone-disrupting exposures first, you can focus your time and budget on the products and habits most relevant to you, rather than tossing everything out at once!

Is the Million Marker Fertility Kit Worth the Cost?

Let’s talk about the cost directly. The Million Marker Fertility Kit is $999, and we know that is a meaningful investment.

If you’re already investing thousands in fertility care, Million Marker can help you identify and reduce certain EDC exposures that may interfere with hormone function. Lowering those exposures may support a healthier hormonal environment for reproductive health, helping you make the most of the fertility care you’re already investing in.

Million Marker helps you understand which environmental chemicals are showing up in your body, where they may be coming from, and what you can do to reduce them. That gives you a more focused way to support your health and fertility without spending money on changes that may not be relevant to you.

If you’re looking for support but aren’t sure whether the full Fertility Kit is right for you yet, you can also start with the individual pieces. The Exposure Test is available on its own for $399, and CleanPath education is available for $499.

The Fertility Kit brings both together, includes additional testing, and offers built-in savings for those who want a more complete way to understand their exposures, make targeted changes, and monitor progress over time.

Building a Fertility Budget That Works for Your Life

Fertility care is only one part of your budget. Rent or a mortgage, groceries, student loans, health insurance, childcare, and everyday expenses are all competing for the same dollars.

At the same time, you may be weighing fertility testing, supplements, medications, IVF, egg freezing, or other forms of support. That can make every decision feel bigger.

You’re building a life while you’re trying to build a family. We understand that.

You may be preparing for IVF, saving for egg freezing, trying to conceive without treatment, or still figuring out what comes next. Wherever you are, having clearer information can help you decide what deserves your attention, what fits your budget, and what makes sense for your fertility journey.

Fertility Benefits and IVF Insurance Coverage Are Part of the Affordability Problem

Individuals shouldn't have to solve fertility affordability alone. Employers have an important role to play.

Fertility benefits and IVF insurance coverage have expanded substantially over the past several years, but access remains uneven. In 2024, 47% of large employers covered IVF, compared with only 23% of employers with 50–499 employees [7].

That leaves an opportunity to think more broadly about what fertility and reproductive health benefits can include. Looking at fertility holistically should go beyond clinical treatments alone.

Environmental health testing and education can complement an individual's fertility journey to support healthy outcomes.

HSA/FSA Coverage for Fertility Kit by Million Marker

You may also be able to use HSA or FSA funds toward your Million Marker Fertility Kit or other eligible Million Marker services. After your purchase, you can submit your receipt and any required documentation directly to your HSA or FSA provider for reimbursement.

Coverage can vary by plan, so we recommend checking with your provider to confirm eligibility and any documentation requirements. This can be another way to make investing in your health and fertility more manageable.

Your Fertility Journey, Your Budget, Your Choices

There is no perfect fertility journey. And there is no universal fertility budget.

You may be balancing the cost of fertility care against a mortgage payment. Saving for IVF while paying off student loans. Figuring out what fertility insurance will cover. Deciding which supplements are worth buying. Or simply trying to make healthier choices without turning wellness into another major monthly expense.

Things add up. We get it.

By testing for specific environmental chemicals, helping you investigate potential sources of exposure, and providing practical information you can use in everyday life, Million Marker can help you make more informed decisions about the changes that make sense for your health, fertility journey, and budget.

You don't have to do everything. Start with what you can learn. Decide what matters to you.

Then take the next step that makes sense for your life.