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

@MrsSharp29
I wish you all the best for Monday and your future treatment. I know how frustrating it is!

Please let us know how you get on x

I'm on day 11 of stimms injections, it's been a longer cycle this time round. I'm on a lower dose (125m) of Bemfola this time to try to keep my estrogen levels down. Abc have been monitoring it with blood tests and scans every few days.
My egg collect may be next Wednesday.

@ouryear19

Wishing you all the luck also. How many cycles of IVF have you had if this isn’t your first? How are you finding the drugs that they give you? How have you found your journey with ABC? We were looking at going abroad for our IVF and did one last google of ‘IVF London / UK’ and kept disregarding ABC because we thought it was ‘too good to be true’ price wise. We did a lot of digging and searching before speaking with them and so far we have found them informative with the couple of phone calls I have had with them.

Thanks @MrsSharp29

I had one IUI on the NHS while on the NHS IVF waiting list (9 months). So we've had one unsuccessful IVF on NHS , and this will be our second attempt with ABc.

We're had a different experience going private, everything feels better monitored, and you feel less like you're on a conveyor belt. Our one cycle on the NHS had to be FET as I got OHSS. The NHS put me on a high dose of stimmms meds. I never got sent for a blood test to monitor my hormones while stimming. I put on weight, my breasts were sore and I was very bloated. I've not had this with Abc.

Abc checked my thyriod level before starting any treatment and put me on Levothryroxine. This was not even mentioned on NHS.

I recently turned 38 yrs, I honestly feel I wasted a lot of time waiting for on NHS. Maybe I was naive.

I have no other private clinic to compare it to, but I'm really happy with them. It's a small clinic in Harley St. There is a small team there, but everyone is very friendly and welcoming.

Blood tests are done a couple of streets away (76 Whimpole St). Egg collection and embryo transfer are done at CREATE clinic (just outside St Paul's tube).

We did it! Just gave birth to a healthy baby boy at 40+4, with huge thanks to ABC and Create. So happy with how quick and affordable it was. We had the first consultation with ABC in July 2018 and now in April 2019 we have a baby. So amazed at how quick it was. It was much easier and fewer injections compared to Bourn Hall and half the price for a "standard" ICSI cycle.

We had lots of failed cycles on the way (at other clinics), so understand how hard physically, emotionally and expensive it is to get pregnant. No one is guaranteed success but we believe ABC always took care of us and we would not hesitate to recommend them.

That is amazing huge huge congratulations to you reading your story gives the rest of us hope can't wait for our first consultation on Friday xx

@robato so many congratulations and what a wonderful testimonial for ABC, especially those of us on the start of our journey. All of those years of wait, injections and I’m sure tears will be so well worth it. So incredibly happy for you.

@sarahloub1 good luck on friday you’ll be absolutely fine and I hope you get the outcome that you want with your initial appointment. I’ve got mine tomorrow!!!

@ouryear19 thank you so much for everything you wrote on your previous post. I’m extremely new to all of this and the thought of the drugs etc is the thing that’s worrying me the most and how I will react to them. It sounds like ABC have the best interests at heart rather than a prescriptive and general load of generic drugs for this kind of thing. I wish you all the best and I hope that the egg collection goes well and that you have your dreams come true. Xxx

So just a update I am fresh out of hospital for 4 days after a big stupid mistake,
I had taken this bmi weight etc far far too serious I had stopped eating not 1 crumb passed my mouth in 5 days I drunk a ltr in about a week I bought diet pills online made everything worse, I became obsessed with the scales weighed myself 3/4 times a day depending on if I put weight on was wether I ate obviously I was putting on so I stopped eating until I literally collapsed in the town centre 4 bags of fluids iv morphine to control the pressure in my head it caused and a massive telling off from everyone I am home safe and not 100% but getting there.
I could have blown everything through been obsessed fingers crossed I am well enough for Friday xx

@sarahloub1 sorry to hear that and I hope that you’re well enough for Friday. I’m sure a lot of us have been in a situation where we are so focused on the end goal that we feel like we should try anything to achieve it. The main thing is to look after you and nurture your body. Sending all the love to you xx

@MrsSharp29

How did you get on xx

Congratulations @robato !! So delighted for you!! Thanks for sharing your positive news.

Do you mind if I ask how old you are?

@Ouryear19. Thanks. Was 35 at time of egg collection.

@Sarahloub1 make sure you look after yourself xx

@Ouryear19

Thanks I know I definitely will from now on it's given me a wake up call, we are just going over everything for Friday

@Sarahloub1 it went really well thank you, is there anything specific you wanted to know?

I did go in thinking worst case scenario and came out positive mentally. I cannot say how nice it was to be welcomed so warmly by everyone we met today. It was a very full on day for the two of us. Husband had his sample appointment at 1130am, we had our initial appointment at 130pm and I had blood tests at 330pm (we’ve made a personal choice to do our individual testing with ABC - which does add a slight extra charge to the £2500). Each location today (3 in total) were very professional and welcoming. We were talked through everything in a very detailed manner but understood it all and we were told that each couple (as long as they meet the criteria) are put forward to a panel which is set every Wednesday and each couple has their treatment plan set out for them in these meetings. The treatment plan is set by all the doctors and nurses and is tailored to the couples individual needs. The standard risks are spoken about so that you know what you’re going in to, but I suspect that all of us here know that it’s not guaranteed and there are risks, like any procedure. Me and my husband got the answers we wanted today from our tests - the answers we had waited so long for. I had lots of blood work done this afternoon and I will get the results of that on Wednesday but we’ve made the treatment appointment for when we get back from our holiday in late May to start the process with IVF.

Feeling like a weight has been lifted today. I’m under no illusions that this is a hard journey etc but having had no idea at the start of the day what was going on with my husband and what was happening with my own body, my mind is clear and all worry from that aspect has gone. Xx

@MrsSharp29

That's brilliant I'm so pleased for you, did you know to book for your tests in advance or did they tell you today?
Tell me to mind my own business if you want did you have to pay the £500 deposit today for your treatment,

I'm 35 on Sunday bmi is 26.9 hubby is 43 so fingers crossed we will have a good chance like you
I feel really nervous about it but my hubby can't understand why I'm so nervous

Do they tell you there if your in with a chance?

I'm so happy for you exciting times ahead xx

@Sarahloub1

I had phoned ABC before I booked the initial consultation as we have no NHS or other clinic test results so wanted to know where we stood and they offered to do all the tests for us for an additional fee.

It wasn’t a case of them ‘accepting us’ but we do meet the criteria as my BMI, my age (31) and my egg reserve, as we discovered today, all come within their threshold. Our nurse spoke to us about the process from today onwards and it was up to us whether we booked the treatment appointment with them. They allow you thinking time to see whether you want to go ahead but we’d already had the discussion prior to today so we booked our treatment appointment with them. At the point of you wanting to go ahead is when you discuss payment terms. On your initial appointment day you don’t have to pay £500 for the next step. If you book for the next step and you want to pay then I’m sure you can.

And I totally understand your nerves. Both me and my husband were nervy about today because we were going into the unknown with everything. But as long as you are both on the same page then that’s all that matters. It’s not like an interview when you go there, it’s just a chat and they go through everything with you.

When you arrive at the address in Harley Street then they’re on the 4th floor and you go through a door that has a Dr’s name on it xx

@MrsSharp29

I'm thinking now hubby should have done his sample before so we had results ready there hope this doesn't set us back,
Did they do the scan to check your ovaries?
Again tell me to mind my own business did you have to pay anything out yesterday I'm just worried because we haven't got all out payment together yet I was wondering of how much was needed to take on Fridays consultation xx

@sarahloub1 I would give ABC a call today and see if they can pre book a sperm test for before your initial consultation... they had the results by the time we got to our second appointment which was like 25mins. It was super quick.

But I would say, depending where you are in relation to London, that there is no waiting list with them so don’t worry about having to wait a few months before starting treatment. If you meet the criteria then the next step is doing your treatment plan which they say to book in 2 weeks before the start of your period. So you can work it around you and what your life / financial plans are. But I think the £500 is payable when you book or you attend the next step which is the treatment consultation and then the remaining £2000 is when you do either the egg collection or the transfer. But this will all get explained to you on Friday about payment terms. The £2500 is the best case scenario. They will speak about other options in case there has to be other procedures added like the ICIS or if you have over stimulated ovaries then they freeze everything to allow your body to relax then do the transfer in a couple of cycles time. But they explain all of this to you and because we’d done our research and we had read the website etc then none of this came as a shock to us. ABC are still a lot cheaper than elsewhere even if you had to go down an alternative route with them. After yesterday I couldn’t praise them anymore.

We didn’t pay anything yesterday as I had pre paid for the initial consultation as well as husband analysis plus my blood tests which I think in total was an additional £145.

I also had an internal scan of my womb and ovaries so wear suitable clothing on the bottom half of you... unlike me who wore far too much and spent forever redressing 🤦🏻‍♀️Xx

@MrsSharp29

Brilliant thank you I will give them a call today see what they say.
We're quite away out from London we are in Leeds so I'm trying to plan round work, cycles etc I've booked nearly 3 weeks off in July so I'm hoping the collection transfer could be done around then.
I do think we will need the ICSI as during a visit to the gp after not catching on for 2 year hubby was told his sperm count was on the low side.
I don't have a clue I'm just wondering into the complete process stressing out about anything and everything.

I will feel better on Friday I guess xx

Our admin person throughout the whole thing has been Konstantina. She’s been great from our initial chats a few weeks back and yesterday as well. She’s very lovely and explains everything. And she goes through the payment process and all admin stuff with you in detail. The nurse that you’re assigned too also goes through everything medical with you so by the end of it all you’ll be extremely well informed. Xx

I had my egg collection yesterday, 7 eggs were collected. The embryologist phoned today and 4 have fertilsed. We will get further updates over the weekend. Hoping for a 5 day blastocyst transfer.

@ouryear19 That’s great that your egg collection went well and some have fertilised - fingers crossed for the transfer day. How are you feeling? Xxx

@sarahloub1 how did you get on today? Xx

@MrsSharp29
I have a bit of cramping, but besides that I feel fine. I'm using 3 x pessaries a day now.