private fertility clinics in edinburgh

[yetmoresex]

Can anyone recommend any? We are over 35, trying for over a year, and have been advised on the nhs we would have to wait another year before joining a year long waiting list for nhs treatment. I have no desire to jump into IVF but it seems silly to wait 2 years at this age. Any advice greatly appreciated

[Cheesypop]

Hi I'm currently being treated on the NHS in Edinburgh and yes, it's slow. We tried for 2.5 years then joined the waiting list and it is exactly one year. It is around a 3 month wait for each Frozen Embryo Transfer. They have been great though - although extremely busy, the staff are lovely and work so hard but it is very much a 'one size fits all' approach, so fairly standard tests, particular days they start treatment on, certain days they can do transfers etc. Luckily for us it has all been going reasonably smoothly. You can pay privately for treatment at the ERI but it's not quite the same as a private clinic, there is still a waiting list but not as long. I think it's maybe more for people who don't meet nhs criteria?

Unfortunately the Spire stopped providing private treatment at the Shawfair at the start of this year, which is a real shame. My understanding is that it's now the GCRM in Glasgow providing actual treatment with the support of a clinic in Edinburgh providing consultations etc.

Due to this, DH and I have decided that if our NHS round doesn't work we will probably go abroad for our next round. We would be entitled to another NHS round (you get two rounds which includes fresh and any frozen transfers) but I simply cannot wait on a waiting list again. It is agony.

For completeness, the other centres in Scotland are Ninewells and Aberdeen.

Good luck to you whatever you do. IVF is a scary prospect but if I can manage it, others can!

[yetmoresex]

thanks so much for the reply cheesypop, would you loose your place on the waiting list for NHS treatment at the ERI if you went abroad? Hopefully you wont need to and will be successful this time.
It is a scary prospect so good to hear from someone who is doing it!

[Cheesypop]

Hi

Yes, you are ineligible for NHS funding to go on the waiting list in Lothian if you have had private treatment, if either of you have children, if you're over 40 (I think), if either of you smoke and if you've been trying less than 2 years with unexplained infertility. We held out for the first round of NHS treatment and now it's here, we're glad we did, but I'm never waiting that long again! I wish you every success.

[ToesAndFingersCrossed]

cheesypop, that is incorrect. We just had an unsuccessful self funded round at ERI in January and I start my FET next week on the NHS next week. In Edinburgh at least you don't lose your NHS rounds if you go private while you wait. There was a 1 month wait for us when we were self funding, or exactly a year for the NHS round. We are using our frostie from the private round in our NHS round first, then doing a fresh cycle if that isn't successful. The staff all seemed to say it was pretty normal for people to self fund a round while they were on the NHS waiting list.

[MuddyWellyNelly]

I did 3 rounds at GCRM and didn't rate them. They refused to change their protocol for me despite me wanting to try different things. I wasn't an easy case but I wish I didn't stick it out with them. The nurses I saw who came across to Edinburgh were all very brisk and never remembered me or read my notes. At my very first scan not much was happening and the nurse thought that was a good time to ask me if I knew my AMH :(. Eventually we did donor egg treatment abroad for half of what GCRM wanted. If I had my time again I'd use ERI privately as they seem to be very successful. Also, I was told very clearly at Eri that I could have 2 rounds but if I paid privately in the meantime (at any UK clinic) it would take away one of my funded rounds each time. That was 3 years ago now though so maybe it's changed.

[MuddyWellyNelly]

To add to yetmore's question, it's the HFEA that record your treatment in the UK, which is how the NHS find out. The consultant we spoke to joked that going abroad would be ok as they wouldn't know.

[ToesAndFingersCrossed]

Nelly - It's definately changed as I am right now waiting for my period to start so I can start my 2 NHS cycles (this IVF lark drives you nuts, you spend years praying you won't get your period, and then all of a sudden you're counting down the seconds!). We self funded the last one, and I had the conversation about what was going to be funded with Dr Tay less than 3 weeks ago. They do tend to bend the rules for your specific case at ERI a little as well - the guidelines apparently say that if you have any frozen embryos you must use them up before starting an NHS cycle, but ERI just do your frozen one first if you have frosties and then a fresh, so i'll have frozen -> fresh -> frozen -> fresh instead of the other way round, and then if it's still not sucessful, we can self fund any FET at the end.

Also - Nelly how are you doing? I have been wondering about you recently, hope all is well xx

[MuddyWellyNelly]

Ah thanks Toes, we must have been involved at the wrong time for everything. At that point, it was a 2-3 year wait list, I was told time was an issue for me, so crack on privately if you can, but you'd also lose your entitlement if you did. Brilliant NHS, thanks for that complete non-choice . Obviously by the time it had changed, I'd got too old for the cut-off anyway. Sigh.

At the time I was furious about the loss of funded rounds, but someone told me that it was because if you'd already had 2-3 unsuccessful rounds it was far less likely to work, and hence it wasn't the best use of resource. It was pretty harsh, yet I guess with a finite budget there's some logic to it.

Anyway, thanks to our overseas donor it's irrelevant for me now! Thanks for asking, I am now 33 weeks and so far things look ok. Still terrified and in full denial mind you!

Best of luck for your next round, I scan the 10+ thread once in a while. Hope the frostie is your lucky one.