I just don’t see how we can afford IVF.

[Yazzi3]

Hello there.

Feeling rather tearful and naive this evening. Just back from our first IVF consultation and due to my age and scan results, the best treatment plan would cost about 19 thousand pounds.

After a series of miscarriages, I had pinned all my hopes on the possibility of starting IVF. I’m feeling very silly as I knew it was expensive but had no idea it would be this much. We just don’t have the savings or the option of going abroad where I’ve read treatment can be cheaper.

The only way we could come close to funding the treatment (after overtime and emptying our savings) would be to ask to borrow from family but what a cheeky thing to consider doing. And even then, I’m well aware that there is no guarantee of success.

We are very very lucky to already have one child but I just can’t help longing for a sibling. More so since my latest miscarriage.

I guess I’m just wondering what to do. Take a chance and try to find the money or just accept that it’s not meant to be.

Thank you xx

AniSL was it Serum? That's where my little boy is from, they were amazing. He is from donor eggs

Oh wow AniSL. What a positive story. I’ve just started to research clinics abroad. We’d have to bring our toddler with us so not sure how that would work. Do you know if it’s possible for the man to fly out for a shorter period than the woman?

Yes, full break down. Medication alone was over £3000 though since discovered that you can buy it elsewhere cheaper with their prescription.

OP you've had some great advice especially from Lauren83.

Yes, look at ckinics abroad, but also you could look at other UK clinics to compare prices.
Check waiting times for miscarriage clinic as it seems to me this needs to be the medical priority, I know PGS could select the best embryo but if that is not the actual issue then sadly another miscarriage is a possibility so get that investigated before paying out so much.

Also on a practical note I've taken out a 0% interest credit card to pay for IVF, there are some good deals out there.
Good luck.

I had IVF at Guy’s in London at age 42. It cost a fraction of what you are saying you have been quoted. They do NHS treatment there too and so I think they are a bit less likely to push all the expensive add-ons. If you are in the right area they are worth consulting. My DS was born as a result of the second cycle, he’s 20 months now.

3 collections and one transfer is very weird.

Good luck!

Thanks JeNe

With traveling abroad your partner really only needs to be there for egg collection, or he can fly out ahead just to freeze a sample for them to use on egg collection day. You would need to be there 3-6 days to cover egg collection and blast transfer if you did your stimulation at home, although if you did that you would only get 48 hours notice of egg collection so it's better to be over there for longer if you can. If you are considering PGS then check which clinics abroad offer it as a lot only offer PGD for a specific gene disorder rather than PGS as a general screen. The clinics are very accommodating for people travelling with children, with serum we had an amazing driver called Kyriakos and used air b n b for a lovely 2 bed apartment called WES pink. You can also but your meds OTC there much much cheaper

Also the lister clinic usually give away 20 free IVF cycles a year and draw names at random, I know a few that have won. So keep an eye out for it I think they advertise it later in the year for the following year

@Lauren83 no we were not impressed at all with Serum, they gave us some advice that we knew they had not reviewed all our test results and we at times found then quite rude. We have since been told they are not the clinic to work with if yours os a MFI.

Yazzi the clinic had many parents wandering around with toddlers and babies so i dont think this will be a problem at any clinic. Your husband only really needs to be there one day.
I started my stimms in the UK and scans etc. Flew out what originally would have been two days before my EC but this was changed when they did a scan that morning. The clibic advised me to freeze my eggs if they make it to day 5 and come back another time for transfer as they wanted my lining to be optimum for tge transfer- after all the stims often it starts deteriorating.
They have a fixed cost programme too so you know what you will be paying for

If you still dont want to go abroad, you can pay by installments, the name escapes me but there is a website of a collective of clinics that offer finance options. There is also another thread on here about a current offer of free IVF to mark the anniversary of the first successful IVF

That's a shame you weren't happy with them, glad you found a clinic that was right for you though, I know how important it is to have faith in your clinic. We have 2 frozen blasts so hope to go back soon for them

Yowsers that's expensive. We got four rounds for a similar price. I agree with the advice above to shop around, in the uk or further afield.

Also, the reality is that at 42 the majority of your eggs will be a bit wonky. Miscarriages are sadly part and parcel of ttc at this age, unless you are very lucky.

Good luck with your ttc journey.

Wow. That’s an insane amount esp if no proper blood tests done

Seems very weird 3 cycles /freezing but only One transfer

What clinic was it ? I would stay away from them tbh

Do look abroad. We did 2 at local clinic. Both failed and looked abroad after licking wounds

Much cheaper !!!

And yes dh doesn’t need to be with you whole time. He needs to be there either on day of ec or fly over one weekend /day off work and give a sample which they will freeze

If you do take your child you need to have someone for them if dh isn’t there or you want him in the theatre with you for et

He won’t be allowed for ec

Due to timings - never down reg Oct as falls at Xmas time ...... - we flew in for ec and home the next day and then flew back 5 days later - flights were stupid money but cheaper then staying 5 days inbetween Xmas and new year .....

So you could fly in and out

Or

Dh leave a sample and freeze it previously

And payment

We saved for cycle 1&2

Then took loan and credit cards and overtime etc for 345

Yes it’s awful paying a loan back when a cycle fails

3 collections and 1 transfer isn't weird

It's called embryo banking, and is commonly offered to women with low ovarian reserve who will therefore only produce one or a few eggs per round

It allows them to do a few cycles back to back to collect as many eggs as possible and create as many embryos as possible before putting the best 1 or 2 back

That in itself isn't any cause for alarm given OPs age, but it is very very odd that they haven't suggested doing basic tests and investigations before suggesting this, as OP might be a good responder, let alone PGS given there is no suggestion of chromosomal abnormalities being the cause of previous MCs

HI @Yazzi3 the UK-based finance options that AniSL mentioned is Access Fertility. They have arrangements with quite a lot of UK clinics. They do 2 different types of package - One is that you pay a fixed cost for 2 or 3 cycles and they give you a proportion of the money back (up to 100% depending on what package you choose) if you don't end up having a baby by the end. The other is that you pay for 2 or 3 cycles at a fixed cost which would be cheaper than paying the normal clinic costs. You can also pay in monthly installments rather than all at once.

We went for the second option (a 2 cycle 'multi-cycle' package - no money back if it doesn't work out, but is cheaper than the refund package) - it covers 2 rounds of egg collections, all freezing costs, an unlimited number of frozen transfers, and all scans during the treatment, and also includes a couple of 'add-ons' (embryo glue and time-lapse). It doesn't cover the initial appointment with your clinic, drugs, or the blood tests you have to have before starting treatment (and it wouldn't cover PGS). The exact cost depends on your age, and whether you are going to have IVF or ICSI. 'Success' is defined as being a live birth, not just a positive pregnancy test, so if you were to get pregnant and then miscarry you would still be entitled to the rest of your treatment.

The main reason we decided to do it this way was that I wanted to commit to a certain amount of money and not have to think about it, rather than constantly be getting invoices and feeling under pressure of 'shall we have one more go?' 'what if we try this expensive add on this time?'. Also we worked out that while we would end up losing money if it worked the very first time, as soon as we started having to pay even for just 1 frozen transfer (let alone potentially more than one of those and/or a second fresh cycle) we would start to break even on what we would have spent.

As it turns out, I've had a bfp on my first fresh cycle, and so it turns out that this pregnancy is viable, then it would have been cheaper just to pay the normal fee rather than the package. But even if that happens I'll be so relieved to have been so lucky that I won't regret it!

This is just a thought, nothing more.

In the 1990's I had my first baby through IVF (male fertility factor). Once he reached 18 months I was keen to have another baby. After more IVF I fell pregnant three times over 4 cycles. I lost the babies at between 6 and 8 weeks.

Eventually in desperation i found a different consultant. I needed answers. He worked closely with a GUM clinic for IVF testing as the tests are free.

During my testing the consultant diagnosed up a deep seated pelvic infection that wasn't being picked up by tests the hospital or my GP.

She said this was why I was losing my pregnancies. She put me on very strong antibiotics for 6 months. I had a 4 month recovery period to get back to health afterwards and after another round of IVF I was pregnant again with my daughter.

It might not relate exactly to your situation but might be worth looking into and ruling out before going through IVF.

Had I been able to conceive naturally the pelvic infection I'd caught during the birth of my first born would have had the same results. Recurrent miscarriages.

Your problem is really staying pregnant not getting pregnant . May
just be your age , which you can't change but I'd have the recurrent miscarriage tests done before investing in IVF .