At 36, Beena thought she was making an informed choice. 

After months of trying, and failing, to conceive naturally, she turned to IVF—encouraged by glossy brochures, reassuring doctors, and a steady stream of success stories. Beena visited three different clinics in Bengaluru in five months. All of them told her the same thing: she could be the exception to the rule. That even with just one viable egg, pregnancy was possible. 

It wasn’t. 

After spending Rs 3.5 lakh on her first—and last—IVF cycle, Beena learnt what her test results had predicted all along: her chances of conceiving were slim. To be precise, around 30%, compared to nearly 50% for a woman in her 20s. Ultimately, IVF is a numbers game, she realised.

It’s all about math. One in every 12 retrieved eggs may result in an implantation-ready embryoReproductive Medicine AssociatesAre 9 eggs good for IVF? How many eggs are enough for In Vitro Fertilization?. Even then, things like age, sperm quality, and uterine health throw errant factors into the mix. 

But IVF chains in India aren’t deterred by paltry things like probabilities. They’ve made IVF the new C-sectionPIB ChennaiIIT Madras Study finds an increase in number of C-section deliveries across India between 2016 and 2021—essentially, a revenue-generating procedure pushed before natural alternatives are even considered. All at 4X the cost of a C-section, or around Rs 2 lakh for a single cycle.

The result is a $1.4 billion Customer Market InsightsIndia IVF Services Market 2025–2034IVF market in India—10 times the market for cataract surgery, the most common procedure worldwide. And with 250,000 IVF cycles each year, it’s growing at an annual compound rate 16%.

Unsurprisingly, venture-capital and private-equity firms have swooped in for the kill. In early July, Peak XV’s Surge fund led a $4 million funding round for Luma fertility, a Mumbai-based fertility startup. The month before, KKR-backed IVI RMA, a global leader in fertility,  ART Fertility Clinics in India for $450 million—something insiders are calling a “game changer” for the Indian IVF industry.