Anyone else trying to get pregnant 2

Oh Bayleaf .... I'm so sorry things haven't gone according to plan today . Keeping my fingers crossed for you tomorrow .....

Oh Bayleaf, what a disappointment
Do hope you can go ahead tomorrow and that you soon feel better.

Really hope your news continues to be so positive. Will be so pleased if you start posting on the new baby threads in 9 months time!!!!

Brilliant news Bayleaf .... will be thinking about you today. Make sure you take care of yourself and rest as much as possible (not easy I know) over the next few days. All the nasty 'physical' stuff is out of the way now and I know all too well how awful this next couple of weeks is between transplant and first pregnancy test .... all I can say is stay positive and there are plenty of us out here in the ether who are rooting for you!
Best wishes ... CM

thinking of you Bayleaf - good luck!!

very very good luck, bayleaf.

Great news Bayleaf.Hope that everything goes really well for you today and in the weeks and months to come.

All sounds promising, and the very best of luck for tomorrow Bayleaf.

Bayleaf, that's excellent news. fingers crossed that all goes well tomorrow, and at least you have all the most unpleasant bits out of the way.

Pleased to hear this bayleaf, fingers crossed for you.

dot1, at my clinic the cost of donor insemination is £400 per go and of IUI is £500, plus the cost of drugs (clomid is very cheap). I don't know how much better that will make you feel!!
But you would need to get local info and also find out what exactly you would need.
I don't know how 'necessary' scans are with clomid - I think if you're doing insemination then they would help you time it optimally. But you'd need to talk that through with a specialist obviously. An initial private consultation will probably be in the region of £100-£200.

Personally I would always go to a clinic that does NHS as well as private treatment as I think they are less interested in making money out of you.

Fingers crossed that you don't need this information...

thanks everyone - I'm partly over the shock now of veering into the world of private treatment! Starting on the Metformin today, and will therefore start TTC again next month - you never know, I might be worrying about nothing and get pregnant in the next few months?!

Thanks for all your support and advice though - lovely to know you're all out there!

Dot, I really don't like giving advice because I don't want to pretend I'm an expert and end up telling you the wrong thing. But in my experience, clomid itself is really cheap - we were charged £2.50 for 10 tablets (2 a day for 5 days). Scans cost us £30 each but you may have to have several. I believe there's nothing to stop you referring yourself to a fertility clinic - but the costs can mount up. We were quoted £100 for an initial consultation - which was true, but we were also expected to have an HIV test for £70 each + a sperm test (can't remember the cost) - all on the first visit. We are currently having IUI treatment privately, which is £400 a go - so not quite as bad as IVF. I suppose it all depends on what treatment you end up needing and once you start on the private route, costs could get out of hand. And of course there's no guarentee of a successfull result. Maybe it is worth you ringing up your local clinic and getting some info?

Some clinics will discount if you are prepared to donate eggs to another couple when you are having your treatment e.g. the NURTURE clinic at Nottingham does this. Probably best for you to read their blurb than have me summarise it but basically you would pay under £1000 on my first glance.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...I suppose I am used to the costs as I have known for a while that's what we'll need to do if we are to have another baby, so to me the 'lower' costs of DI seem quite reasonable!! We certainly won't be able to afford more than 2 or perhaps 3 IVF attempts.
£1000 was just a very rough guess - erring on the high side as I didn't want to give you an unrealistic expectation - it might actually be a lot less than this. If you look at the hfea website you might find some clinic details/costs.

Yes, its all a bit of a tiresome and expensive treadmill....but perhaps the metformin will do its stuff for you.

do you mean £1,000 per cycle? (gulp) This feels v. expensive - dp and I both work, but live in London renting a house and we're not on the poverty line or anything, but we just get by each month with not much over... £1,000 per month would be out of the question.

I'm still flabbergasted at how little you are entitled to on the NHS - I must be very naive - I just haven't thought (or had to think) about it until now.

I suppose there is hope the Metformin will work, and I know I'm lucky not to have anything more seriously wrong.

Ho hum..!

Well, I suppose it depends on what you'd call 'outrageously expensive'!! My full IVF treatment costs a little over £3000 per cycle. I would imagin that clomid treatment with scans wouldn't be more than £1000, but it would depend for example on whether that included insemination. I've got a price list for my clinic and will see if I can find something relevant to give you an idea. OK, that's not cheap, but it is comparable to what one might spend on a major purchase like a car or holiday abroad, or a new kitchen for example. And I'd willingly go without any of those for another child!! That's how I look at it anyway!

thanks Elliot - that's really useful info and I'll see if I can get the guidelines from the PCT.

Also doesn't seem fair if it applies to a woman whose husband's children live with them....

Ho hum. I need to find out about costs aswell - I'd just assumed it would be outrageously expensive, and we haven't got a lot of money, but if it's not too much that would be an option.

Thanks again - good to get some advice as I only saw the GP this morning so am still a bit rattled!

oh, just to clarify - it is the primary care trust who would be responsible for funding any treatment, and making the decision - not the GP - so that's who you need to take it up with. But if you can get your GP 'on side' that would help.
Best of luck.

Hi dot1. I'm really sorry you've had a disappointment about the clomid funding, and I can understand that it seems unfair. Presumably you can still have the treatment if you go private? Clomid treatment is not that expensive (the scans are the main cost).

Some information: the eligibility for NHS funded fertility treatment is determined locally by the Primary Care Trust (formerly the local Health Authority - these were replaced by primary care trusts in April). The precise rules vary greatly from place to place. In many places there is virtually no NHS provision at all, in other places it is relatively generous.

However,I don't think any area provides NHS funded fertility treatment for people who already have a previous child. Now of course in your situation it is the definition of 'previous child' which is the key. It may (or may not) make you feel better to know that in my area, I'm pretty sure that the definition includes any child to either partner who is living with them. So for example if DH had a child who was living with us, I would not have been eligible for any NHS treatment, even though I had not actually had a child of my own.

I suggest that you contact your local Primary Care Trust and ask for a copy of their eligibility criteria for NHS fertility treatment. Then you can see whether it looks like you have grounds to request NHS funding - it may well be that they haven't had to consider people in your situation before, and that may give you the opportunity to put your case forward to be considered as any other childless woman, rather than as the partner to someone who already has a child (IYSWIM). Its a grey area and therefore worth arguing the case - but you need to know the details of the 'rules' in your area.
I'd also discuss this with your GP (who you've said is sympathetic) and tell her that you'd like to read the eligibility criteria and possibly challenge the decision that you are not eligible. She is probably just trying to implement the criteria as she understands them.

There are many many ways in which access to fertility treatments is unfair, and you've fallen foul of one of them. Hope this gives you some information to try and do something about it!