Referral - first appointment - handy hints?

[PatientGriselda]

My GP has finally shrugged and passed me on to the hospital for what will hopefully be a blissful experience of dildocams and BFPs.

What should I expect to happen at the first appointment itself and as a result of it?

And does my partner need to be there (he would like to be, of course, but unless he's physically required for cup spoffing or similar, it would probably be a better idea for us to save up his dwindling holiday for when he is actually needed).

I would ask in your local area - maybe on mumsnet local or any friend who have been down this route - because I suspect it differs from area to area - but in my area -the first appointment was with a nurse -in lovely specialist rooms - NHS! - it was mostly me - a scan, weight measurement, other stuff but some things for my partner -had to arrange when to provide the sample etc - and as we had a dicussion about the likely opitions and how best to achieve conception - I would recomond he does come for this one
I only had the one apointment as we convieved naturally the next month! - the next one would have been with the consultant

This is going back a couple of years, but when I was in your situation the first hospital appointment with a consultant was a bit of a let down.

The consultant took a full history again, discussed what blood and sperm tests we'd already had and booked us in for a couple more tests. My cycle has always been regular and there was no issue with PCOS etc, so the next test was a Hycosy to check my tubes. Then another long wait to see the consultant again to discuss these results and the way forward.

I suspect that if there is a question mark about regular ovulation then the next step might have been different - Clomid or something.

To be completely honest, if I could go back in time I'd skip the NHS altogether and self refer privately to a fertility clinic where they will run a complete battery of tests all at once and then discuss them with you quickly, rather than making you wait months for each appointment. Obviously this costs money but for me I'd rather have spent the cash than wasted the time (but I was mid thirties). Is this an option for you at all?

Potentially, onlyaphase. How much did it cost, if you don't mind the question? And how did it work? Could you have gone back to NHS later, or were you then tied into being private for the duration of the investigations/treatment? Could you chop and change? Or would that have caused horrendous confusion?!

Oh, I see, you mean you would have done, rather than you did. Hmm. Maybe I will investigate that a bit further then.

If your husband only has a limited amount of time off then you could call them and ask if he should be there. Generally I think they prefer to speak to both of you though.

For my first appointment we mostly talked (they want your complete history again, and will be looking at the results you've already had from initial tests), but I did get my first dildocam experience too which I was a bit surprised at. They want to look for obvious problems with your bits before doing anything further I think. Depending on what sort of problems you have, they may put you on Clomid, but if you're fine for ovulating the next step will be to be referred for an HSG. It took me about two months from the first appointment to get the HSG.

Like Onlyaphase we did all the testing up until being referred for IVF on the NHS -the whole process from first consultation to IVF referral took about 10 months. We're now with a private clinic for the actual treatment (due to start in May). You can go back to the NHS once you've gone private. Hopefully you won't be needing to go that far down the fertility clinic route though! :) Good luck to you!

As to using both NHS and private systems concurrently, I've done this twice. Most of the time the private consultants are also full time NHS consultants, so twice I've been seen as a private IVF patient in need of an operation, and the operation has been done on the NHS. In my experience consultants are aware of costs and will do their utmost to keep costs down for you.

As to costs, most clinics will have a list of potential costs on their website - initial consultation, health screening checks, ultrasounds etc. And the co-ordinator will be v helpful regarding potential costs too

Best of luck - I have found private clinics speedier and efficient overall. And money can be replaced but if time is ticking for you then you can't get that back.

Hello
I must say I've just had a really good NHS experience (I'm based in London and was referred by my GP to the Assisted Conception Unit at King's). Time from GP referral to getting a 'welcome pack' (!) and patient questionnaire to complete was 2 wks. I sent my form back on a Monday and had a letter on the Friday to ask me to make an appt for day 1-5 of my period for the dildocam. Called on Friday (as AF arrived that day) and got an appt on the Monday. Saw a doctor who performed the dildocam and had a chat to me about my PCOS (had been diagnosed with that years ago but at the time it wasn't about TTC for me). Then was sent next door for a blood test with a senior nurse. Then was sent back to reception where an appt was made for me and OH to see a consultant 2 weeks later (and she apologised profusely for the fact we'd have to wait that long).
That appt is a week on Tuesday. I will report back about that experience - I'm hoping the upshot will be Clomid but who knows. I'll be telling the Consultant that I'm pretty set on Clomid so if she/he's not happy to prescribe then I'll go private.
Hope that helps to reassure you that in some cases the NHS seems to be completely on the button!