ABC Infertility

[Bubblegum89]

Looking at potential IVF options and to stay with our current fertility clinic, we’re looking in the region of about £6k for IVF including medication. I have come across ABC in London a few times and I’ve also seen women on ttc/infertility fb groups talking about having their IVF done there.

I understand it’s known as “shoebox” IVF which is why it only costs £2500 including meds, scans etc. Which is amazing to be honest when you don’t have thousands and thousands to spare like we don’t. I was just wondering if anyone on here was considering going, is currently or has been through IVF with them and if they’re worth it? I feel like it may be a “too good to be true” situation but if it’s not, it would really be a step in the right direction for us money-wise

@Kelbell86
I started cetrotide on day 8. hopefully all is ok for you starting earlier. wonder why you are doing evening and they told me morning? we are waking up at 7 to do the injection before hubby has to go work which when your half asleep is not the nicest lo.

see they only told me on first scan, one side had 11. she was very vague, but not sure if its because she was so busy and was running about hour and half late. ill make sure to get more details tomorrow I think as nice to keep note as I got myself an IVF diary. she did show me the screen with the follicles chart and all looked good she said.

@misty20 they told me evening last time as well and I questioned it because most people said they had it in the morning but they said evening again this time!

11 on one side sounds fab! Ah very best of luck with tomorrow, how exciting that you could have collection soon 😊
They always let me take a photo of the screen so I can show the other half when I'm home, maybe ask to do the same xx

@Kelbell86
I need to speak up and ask more information lol.she always seems in a rush so I don't ask too much but will defintely ask to take a photo today. Good idea.
Be nice to have more memories of this this time as I can't remember much from last time and actualy asked the lady clinic recently to send my notes as thought would be nice to compare. Not that I can ever understand their writing lol 🙈

On my way in now as I need to go for a blood test first so just got on a train. What times your scan? Xx

Hey @misty20 my scan was at 10.30 but had it about 11am 🤣 pesky lefty ovary was a mare again but 3 people later and they located it way up high, so pleased they managed to scan it though, they have been fab.
So they are still growing 😊 I have 12 between 10mm and 14mm and she made mention of a possible collection on Monday if they keep growing as well as they are, we will be so happy if we get to collection this time ❤️
How was your scan today? Any definite news on collection? How are you feeling? Xx

@Kelbell86
Hi sorry I haven't replied sooner. I have another scan today.
She said on Wednesday my right ovary was still a little sluggish, she hadnt told me this monday so now I'm worried I should have been on higher dosgae.
was quite quite upset after she said this about my ovary as I only have 1 mature follicle. She said d they are more but need to catch up. Hoping for good news todsy but I'm not keeping hopes up.

Glad you are doing great ❤️ keeping all crossed for you 🤞 another scan today? Xx

@misty20 Hiya, how are you? Sorry I havnt replied sooner - been so busy with the start of school and my sister’s Covid wedding.

How are the injections going? Having any side effects? I’m sorry to hear that your right ovary is sluggish right now - maybe they will up your dose now? Or maybe it will catch up, it just needs abit more stimulation so afew more injections are they will be raring to go.

I’m getting set for FET at the end of this month, I had 19 eggs collected but only 5 made it to freeze. I want to get myself physically ready for this transfer and do everything I can to help make sure it it “sticks” but I really don’t know what I should be doing.

How was your latest scan?

@misty20 have they upped your dosage then or are they planning on stimulating you for longer? I really hope your others catch up, try to keep positive, mine caught up in the two days between these scans so anything can happen 🤞🏻😊 when are you back for another scan?
I'm booked for egg collection on Monday but I will be having a freeze all because I have 46 follicles now (quite a lot are small). I'm just hoping there are some decent quality eggs in there 😬

@BrownHoney I've seen lots of people mention Brazil nuts and pom juice for lining and generally healthy foods and exercise. I'll be following your journey as I'll hopefully be doing the same in a little while providing my eggs turn into embryos, best of luck 🍀 xx

Hi @BrownHoney nice to hear from you.
That's amazing amount of eggs! I can't remember if I did anything different to make sure if stuck last time. Definitely needed to Google this.

So to answer you and @Kelbell86
Been given same dose of Bemfola to carry on for today and tomorrow and also trigger tomorrow eveving as I also have my collection Monday eeek!

I have one mature follicle at 22 and one 18.the rest are behind but a few at 13/ 14 so they are hoping they catch up. 🙏🙏 I really hope I don't only get 2 folicies and that is the right decision! So nervous!!

@Kelbell86
Wow so many folicies! When would you do transfer?
I actually took a picture this time so will try and count how many in a bit!
Excited for you!

@misty20 ah we are collection buddies 😊 I have to be at clinic at 7.30am for a 9am collection, so nervous! What time is yours? I bet the others will catch up, mine shot up over the last two days and I stayed on the same dose, I really hope they do grow for you 🤞🏻 excited for you too xx

@Kelbell86 I know! I'm to be there for 8 for 8.30 collection. But will aim to be there before 8 just in case. I hope so. 🙏 But all it takes is one, we only got one good embroyo last time so as long as get that again I'm Happy.
I think we are in the same group on Facebook too BTW! 🙈 Or could be just a Kelly having collection Monday too lol. Just assumed it's you beacuse of your name On here lol.

If it was about the hubby it was me 😂🙈 please let me know how you get on xx

Haha yep! @Kelbell86
Its a good question.
Ill give you a little like so you know it's me 😊

Wishing you lots of luck 😊 @Kelbell86

Hi everyone.

I was wondering if anybody knows what the policy is at abc for doing fet cycles. I've just had a failed fet cycle and we went to try again. How long a gap do they usually require? I've just finished bleeding after the failed cycle so could I start when my period comes in October? Or do I have to wait until the next month after that?

I had to take a gap of 2 bleeds after the egg collection and everything frozen but that was only because I had ohss, so wasn't sure if this gets treated the same way and you have a 2 month gap.

@Kelbell86 hi how are you feeling today?
Wanted to ask, did Abc ask you to take a light snack with you for after?

Hi all

Just an update. I'm still a newbie

Had my initial consultation in August and they told us we would need new bloods doing and a sperm analysis. So, the bloods were included within the price (2500) but the sperm analysis cost £140. They advised results only last 3 months from egg collection.

Had both done and having the ivf (not ICSI).

Due to go on my bleeds next week and have received an email with the meds. The meds I am getting are:

Cetrotide 250microgram powder and solvent for solution for injection

Ovitrelle 250micrograms/0.5ml solution for injection 1 pre-filled pen (CD4)

Utrogestan 200mg vaginal capsules with applicators (21 capsules)

Bemfola 150units/0.25ml solution for injection 1 pre-filled pen

Tamoxifen 20mg (1 Tablet)

At the virtual consultation, they only mentioned bemfola and cetrotide, not sure what the rest of the meds are and when and how they are to be used?

Abcivf have been great but they have not been very thorough with us or explained a great deal especially for someone who doesnt understand anything. But they correspond quick by email. I'm with the abcivf in mancheste. Feeling nervous.

@Nora8 the ovitrelle is your trigger shot and the utrogestan is your progesterone suppositories that you take leading up to and following transfer. Sorry I don't know what the other tablet is as I didn't have that. Hope that helps. Please don't be nervous, it's honestly not as bad as we build it up to be in our heads 😊 xx

Hi all,

So great to read everyone's experience with ABC. I'm a newbie here as well as to IVF. I'm booked in with ABC for my first scan on Wednesday 16 Sep. We then have our initial consultation the following morning.

I'm 37 and husband is 51. We've been married 14 years (been trying for 6+ years with no success). All my blood work (done at the NHS) and previous scan came back all clear. Husbands sperm analysis about 2 years ago showed low morphology (3%) and we think that might be the cause of our infertility. He has done a new one about a week ago and we are waiting for the result of that but hoping for improved morphology. If this is not improved we may have to do IVF + ICSI.

Don't know what to expect but hoping it all goes smoothly.

Fingers crossed for everyone on this journey and will post here when I have an update as this post helped me massively over the last couple of weeks

Xxx

Hi, hope everyone on here is doing well. I just wondered what's the longest people have stimmed with ABC for? I'm cycle day 16 today and only have 2 follicles ready. Keeping going with stims now, next scan weds and possible egg collection Friday or Monday. Our first cycle we cancelled due to poor response. This time round I'm on 225 bemfola. Glad I am being given the time for the follicles to catch up but I am a bit worried as I know most have had egg collection by now! I'm particularly worried about the quality of the eggs. Has anyone got any experience with this? Thanks xx

Hi all

Just as an update. I went in for my first scan today (day 4). The scan revealed I had an ovarian cyst on the right side which means i had to cancel my cycle this month and start microgynon (contraceptive pills) for 21 days. They gave me a private prescription for this.

I have been advised to stop taking tamoxifen and bemfola.

They advised that I call them on day 1 of my next bleed to book a day 2 scan.

Feeling gutted as I have to wait another month and I'll be lucky if mother nature calls on time next month!

Has any one had a similar experience? :(

Hi.

Me and my Wife are due to start our treatment pretty soon. Everything had been going great for us however we had a little setback when her bloods came back that her Thyroid levels were 3.01 (normal for a healthy person) but they need to be at 2.5 or below for fertility treatment. They've given us a private prescription for Levothyroxine for 4 weeks to bring that level down before we can continue treatment, this means a further blood test in 4 weeks time and if its still not right, we will by that time have expired the 3 month limit on the bloods and then will have to rebook bloods at an additional cost. My Wife is CMV negative which means we can only use a Sperm donor who is CMV Negative, which suited us fine as it narrowed down a lot of choice and the one donor we really liked was Negative anyway!

So I've tried to read a lot around ABCivf and I've read there has been a few FET that have taken place instead of fresh due to OHSS? Am I right in thinking that a FET is £1050, on top of the £995 to freeze and store the embryo (upto 2 years) as well as the £2500 for the initial cost of the treatment (plus the extra £1500 for our donors sperm and shipping) My only concern is that we will be told a fresh transfer can't take place (just a gut feeling that extra costings will magically somehow add up)

Does anyone have any similar experiences? I've tried to get in touch with our patient coordinator unfortunately she is someone doesn't respond to my emails and when she does, she doesn't answer the question fully. I wanted to know that if we got our sperm shipped over, whether we would incur a storage charge of the sperm being held at the clinic until treatment (treatment cannot start until sperm is on site) but no one seems to be able to tell us anything. I'm holding off on purchasing the sperm because I don't want to pay for uneccesary storage but I do also want to purchase it ready before the 10 family limit number may be reached with our donor in the UK.

Feeling stressed with something that has been 2 years in the planning/saving. Really hoping the rest of our experience is positive. Our Nurse consultant is lovely, and we can't fault her.

Sorry for the rambling :D Hope everyone elses treatments are moving forward and going well.

@MrsRandMrsR how are you?

I can only relate to some of what you've posted (ie.. The fet cycles and cost). I started a fresh cycle in June but I developed ohss and had to be hospitalised for a few days, so after egg harvest we were told that for safety reasons we would need to freeze our embryos and come back in a couple of months for a fet cycle. So, we went back in August for a fet cycle. At that point we had paid the initial consultation fee £149, the treatment package price £2500, then we paid £995 to freeze and store the embryos for 2 years, after that we then paid I believe £750 for the fet cycle plus around another £100 for meds for that that cycle. If you have to swap from fresh to frozen cycle due to issues such as ohss you get a discounted fet cycle of 750 because its not your fault and quite often couldn't be forseen circumstances (eg. I was categorised and very low risk for ohss but nature had other ideas haha). Unfortunately our first fet cycle was unsuccessful, but I have now started meds for a second fet cycle (I'm on day 5 of meds now). To do this cycle we have paid approx another £1500ish... It was a little cheaper on meds because I had some leftover from the previous fet cycle. You do have to pay another hfea fee as well which we didn't realise but that was only about 85 quid, which compared to the 1000s already spent didn't really matter by that point haha.

Hope this helps. And good luck with everything! Xxx

Has anyone had back to back fet cycles? I've already started my meds for my 2nd fet cycle and they didn't weigh me this time before I started treatment and they've not mentioned it at all... When I started my bmi was under 30 but where I'm now taking 4 estrogen tablets a day I'm holding water weight and it's now over 30. Just worried about it... Its not 'real' weight. Will they just be going off of my weight from my fet cycle the month before? Or is it an error that they've not weighed me this time around? It's just worrying me. Thanks xx

Hi all

Further to my previous post, a quick update.

I finished my microgynon (contraceptive pills) and had to go in for a day 2 scan on my bleed to check if the cyst had gone.

Friday was day 2 and they told.me it had gone down but weren't sure if I could start the treatment straight away or of i had to wait for my next cycle.

I went home and received a call saying they spoke with the doctors and I should start my treatment again straight away. So since Friday 23rd I have taking 2 tamoxifen tablets and 1 bemfola 125 injection.

As of yesterday, Saturday evening 24th, I have been feeling alot of discomfort on my left pelvic area and on my leg.

Has any one else had this whilst doing their treatment?

Also, they charged me an additional £250 for my last scan. When questioned, they advised because my cycle was cancelled last month due to the cyst I had to pay for the scan. I wouldn't have to pay extra for medication as i only used 2 days of meds last month.

I'd love to hear back from you guys as feeling so nervous.