Costco Wholesale is partnering with telehealth provider Sesame and fertility clinic network IVI RMA North America to offer members discounted access to fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization, egg freezing and intrauterine insemination, along with savings of up to 80% on certain medications.
The membership-only retailer announced the program through a partnership that fulfills fertility prescriptions at its pharmacies with exclusive member pricing.
The announcement comes at a time pro-life groups are highlighting the ethical problems associated with IVF, such as how the process destroys unique human beings.
Medications such as Follistim, used to stimulate egg production, can cost thousands of dollars out of pocket. According to the announcement, Costco will fulfill fertility medications “with exclusive Member pricing that includes savings of up to 80% on medications like Follistim through pharmacy programs.”
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The initiative provides telehealth consultations starting at $99 per month through Sesame, along with diagnostics and care coordination. Patients needing advanced treatment such as IVF or egg freezing are referred to IVI RMA clinics.
Costco has about 145 million members globally.
The move comes as IVF remains controversial among pro-life advocates, who argue the process creates and often destroys human embryos at the earliest stages of life.
According to data cited by pro-life organizations, approximately 4.1 million embryos are created via IVF each year in the United States, while only about 97,000 babies are born as a result. Estimates of embryos currently in frozen storage nationwide range between 1 million and 10 million. Only 2.3% of IVF embryos result in a live birth, according to available figures.
“Life begins at the moment of fertilization, and each embryo — whether formed in a womb or created in a lab — is priceless, unique, and deserves to be valued,” pro-life perspectives emphasize. “Every life created through IVF is precious and deserves to be protected. Right now, we don’t even know what happens to the vast majority of those lives. That’s unacceptable.”
Critics highlight risks including storage tank failures, laboratory mix-ups, the discarding of embryos through preimplantation genetic testing, and practices such as sex selection that can lead to embryos being abandoned or destroyed.
They argue the IVF industry lacks sufficient transparency and accountability regarding the human lives it creates and call for better reporting on the outcomes of individual embryos, not just IVF cycles overall.
Costco’s program does not address these ethical questions and focuses instead on affordability and access for members seeking fertility care. The retailer provided no additional comments on the moral implications in its announcement.
The program is part of Costco’s broader expansion into health services. No specific timeline for full nationwide rollout beyond the initial announcement was detailed in reports. Eligibility is tied to Costco membership.
