New joiner - NHS vs private in Central London

[LensPens]

Advice welcomed!

TTC#1 for a year. I'm 33 and getting increasingly down about it....

GP is referring us to a NHS consultant at UCH. Had to have the Day 21 blood test and semen test to get the referral - both fine.

GP originally encouraged us to go down the NHS route as she said that 'things often happen naturally while you're waiting anyway..". Having had to wait 6 weeks for the tests and who knows how long for the consultant appointment (it could be up to 15 weeks or longer as the hospital is currently denying that they have received the referral letter from the GP...), I'm not convinced anymore about the NHS route.

Can anyone give me any advice about what to expect on the NHS going forward, the pros and cons (cost!!) about going private at this stage and possible private doctor/clinic recommendations?

thanks

Hi Lenspens

Sorry to hear it's taking a while to get pregnant. Your GP is probably right that it may happen naturally if you're ovulating and your partner's sperm sample is fine, but being told that can be quite infuriating!

We decided to go down the private route (we chose the Lister - highly recommend them) and I'm currently pregnant with our first after one round of IVF. I'm a massive fan of the NHS, but for me it was a timing issue - we were willing to pay for private treatment in order to get pregnant faster. I was "only" 31 when I got pregnant (am now 32) but we'd like more than one child, and due to my DH's low sperm count IVF is pretty much our only chance to get pregnant. So I didn't want to waste any more time waiting for NHS referrals to come through (as even now I'll be at least 33-34 when we go through our next round of IVF iyswim).

If both of us were fine then I'd have felt less pressure to go private I think. And may have been willing to try IUI (which has much lower success rates than IVF but is a lot less invasive). Also I've heard v v good things about UCH's private clinic, so would assume that the NHS side is also good (although obviously don't quote me on that! Check out the HFEA website instead).

Good luck with whatever you decide - and especially hoping you don't need any assistance in getting pregnant!

Hi Lenspens,

We went down the private route and never looked back. The speed at which tests were done and the level of attention and care we received was second to none. I don't think my husband and I waited longer than a week to obtain test results (usually we had them within 24hrs and were on the phone with our consultant right away).

We saw Mr. Michael Dooley who also practices at the Lister. I can not recommend him highly enough -- he is incredibly warm and understanding. His approach with us was very thorough and proactive but he never once sent us for unnecessary tests. He also never once pushed fertility treatemenst on us because at 29 and 30 (when I eventually conceived) he thought I still had time to go down the natural route.

The costs of going private really depend on what tests and treatments you will eventually need (if at all). An initial consultation is about 150 pounds. I imagine you will be sent for Day 3 blood tests (you only mentioned day 21 -- which only tests progesterone and not FSH or estradiol (for ovarian reserve) as well as having serial scans of the ovaries to detect that ovulation is occuring properly. If you have had any previous pelvic surgery or infection, you will be sent for an HSG (an xray which looks at the shape of the uterus and determines whether the fallopian tubes are open).

I would think that in total with initial tests you are looking to spend anywhere between 400 -- 1000 pounds. This is obviously a lot of money but it depends on how quickly you want to see this through. On the NHS you are looking at several months for tests and diagnoses....privately you could have everything done within 2-3 weeks from initial consultation to follow-up.

Best of luck.....it can be so hard but you will get there!

I'm thinking of going privately for tests as my periods still haven't returned to a cycle after being off the pill for 5 months now. My DH is 41 so we really want to get cracking on. The NHS seems to waste so much time. Any ideas how I'd find a private clinic to go for initial tests?
At least if I know there aren't any problems we can just get back to the fun of Bd'ing

We went to Barts and the London (NHS) which does a sort of mixture of NHS and private i.e. you can self-fund at NHS rates which is considerably cheaper and you can also pay privately to have an evening appointment with the senior consultant to get things moving. We did one full IVF (resulted in DD) and had some frozen embryos. We then had two rounds of single frozen embryo transfer and the second resulted in DS. I think their odds are pretty good for NHS as well.

THanks Chocolaterabbit - will look into those

Wonder if I'm jumping the gun a bit given only 5 months since I came off the pill - I'm not the most patient of peopl but also don't want to waste time if there are any probs.
Might wait and go in the new year. Maybe my NY resoultions should be to stop stressing about TTC haa haa

Thanks for the advice - off to the CRGH at UCH tomorrow as the waiting for appointments etc is partly what is driving me crazy! We chose there as it seems to have a good reputation and is convenient to home/work.