Ivf abroad!

[MoomooMummy01]

Hi all...is anyone doing ivf abroad? We are looking at doing our first round in Poland or Czech as it’s so much cheaper!! How did you find the traveling for appointments etc? We have 3 children at home and jobs that we need to work this around! I’m a little anxious! Thanks in advance x

@Moomoomummy01 cant help you with the answers but we are looking in to czech too. Its either that or access fertilicty which I'm waiting to find out more about. We would go and stay in Czech for 10 days but wondering how we go about getting the ultrasound scans leading up to it - assuming would have to go to a private clinic here for those which is more expense - anyone got any experience of this?

Hello!

I'm in the Czech Republic at the moment for IVF (ICSI and MACs), we've chosen Reprofit in Brno. We flew here on Sunday and are having all my scans here, so currently it looks like We'll be here for about 2.5 weeks, but we haven't booked return flights yet because we just don't know. The clinic think I may need an additional scan rather than the normal two.

Happy to answer any questions you have 😊

I used serum Athens last year for a donor cycle after 4 cycles in the UK, I was really really happen with everything and we got a lovely weeks holiday too, was a bit stressful not being able to book flights until the last minute but we managed it and got a great air BnB too

@one2three4five I am seriously considering Reprofit. Do you mind if I ask how much your treatment cost and how much the 2.5 weeks stay cost? Understand if you dont want to talk figures.

Absolutely I don't mind at all! To be honest, it has all ended up costing more than we anticipated, due to the NHS having messed up some of my tests which Reprofit then asked us to have repeated, as well as having to pay for extensive sperm testing which we hadn't realised we needed (very glad we had it though as it revealed a lot!) I'll break down current costs below-

Accommodation and flights- £1050 (this will go up if we need to stay longer which is very likely. Also, we haven't booked return flights yet)
Treatment- £1950 (including ICSI and MACs, as well as pre egg collection scans)
Medication- £280 so far, but this will go up as I will need more medication on Thursday.
Additional testing required prior to Treatment- £1000 (worth noting that this may not be necessary for you though!)
Spending money- Hoping to keep it around £500, Brno is cheap for eating out etc.

All in all, I anticipate the whole thing will end up having cost about £6000 with everything included. We were hoping to keep it around £5000, but the additional tests messed it up a bit!

You don't necessarily need to be here 2.5 weeks, but I decided to come early so I could have my scans here, which are included in the treatment price. If you have them in the UK then you will have to pay extra for them, and I believe they are around £100 each. Reprofit have been brilliant and so thorough with our treatment, it's a long story, but the NHS tests we had could have led us to having paid a fortune for IVF in the UK which wouldn't have worked, because we need ICSI and MACs, which they hadn't picked up on, so it would have been a huge waste of money and ended in certain heartbreak. They have been so kind and really quick to reply to every email I sent etc. Also worth saying that due to my cycles being really irregular, we had to book everything last minute, which frustratingly meant we arrived in Brno on the busiest day of the year, thanks to the MotoGP, and also meant we had to fly to Vienna and get a train to Brno, which bumped up travel costs and accommodation costs. It is possible to travel here cheaper at different times of the year, we've just been unfortunate!

This is so helpful, thank you! So does the £1950 Reprofit charge include the ultrasound scans? I hadn't heard of MACS before but have looked it up. I was wondering if even though you have an SA here if they still like to do one? Also did you have sti checks there? Sorry for so many questions!

The £1950 charge includes the ultrasounds if you want them done there (it seems like a lot of people have them in the UK instead as it reduces the amount of time that you need to spend abroad, but if you want them done at the clinic then they don't cost any extra). However, the £1950 also includes MACs, which isn't usually necessary, and is an additional cost, so if your SA is okay then the likelihood is that you won't need to pay any extra, and I believe your treatment would be around £1700 instead. We had an NHS SA, which showed average results, so Reprofit asked us to have it repeated (they like any tests to have been carried out within the last 3-6 months too so they are up to date, but ours was longer than that.) Anyway, the repeated SA showed a dramatic decline, so we were asked to have a DNA fragmentation test, which showed that MACs was advisable. Don't worry though, if your SA was okay then I don't think you'd need that. My husband's results were pretty shocking and borderline unusable, which is why additional testing and methods are necessary.

I haven't had an STI check here yet, but from what I understand, I will have to have one before egg collection, but I will confirm this in a few days as I'm not totally sure.

No problem, ask as much as you like, I don't mind at all! 😊

Thanks @one2three4five DH's SA was pretty bad so think we will need icsi. Been referred to fertility clinic and waiting on appointment but know we can't have ivf on nhs so not sure what they will tell us, so I am getting prepared myself. DH just had second SA today so waiting on results. We are thinking of having treatment at Reprofit in January so hopefully test results will still be ok to use then. Looking at Reprofit website I'm expecting our treatment to cost around £2500 including icsi, STI tests and embryo freezing if there are any spare but I'm assuming you don't really know until they look at everything while there. I would prob have scans here so that we can just spend 10 days in Brno

Reprofit only do ICSI, which is great as it is included in the price, which is good as a lot of clinics charge extra. I haven't factored in any costs for freezing embryos yet, I figured we'd cross that bridge if/when we come to it! If you're having scans at home then you may get away with less than 10 days 😊 Are you on Facebook? There is a great group for people going to/past patients of Reprofit which you could join. It's called Reprofit and Future Life. It's a private group, but if you can't find it and want to join then feel free to PM me and I can ask for you to be added. ☺

Thanks @one2three4five I have pm'd you. Would be good to say in touch x hope treatment is going ok

Pumpkin- I've just replied to your PM 😊

Hi there,

I've been looking into IVF at Reprofit too and came across this thread. Great info @one2three4five and I hope all is going well! @Pumpkin18 we're also looking to go for IVF in January, looking to have the tests & scans done privately here before so stay there is not to long:)

@dcreative1 same here, we have had most tests done so will probably have scans here and then go out for 10 days from sometime around d 12th January. We are going out there for a consultation next month. Are you on the private Facebook group? If you want to be added pm me your name on Facebook and I'll request you to be added

@dcreative1 - Good luck with everything I found out last week that our IVF was successful (first time which is amazing), and I am currently pregnant, so I 100% rate Reprofit, I owe them everything!!

@one2three Amazing news! I am hoping to attend this clinic also, just in the research stages, had initial email from clinic advising on all tests needed, did you get your med prescription from the clinic also?

Hi - I was just wondering if you could answer a few questions for me too please? We are looking at Reprofit as it seems cheaper than the UK. How quickly can you start treatment with them and do you have to go out there for a consultation? We had IVF in the UK in June so we’ve had AMH test and NHS did all our STD tests etc. Thank you

I'm 31 weeks with a Reprofit baby.

Once you have your protocol, they're good with you starting next cycle. No need to go out for a consultation. I had a virtual first visit - I answered a questionnaire and based on that they were happy to treat me. I didn't actually speak to anyone until I'd started the protocol it was all done over email.

The link for the virtual first visit is here. That'll detail what you need.

firstvirtualvisit.com/form/fvv-eng/

Congratulations! That’s brilliant
Thanks for replying. I emailed them today and they replied and said as long as I’ve got my Hormone profile - FSH, LH, E2, TSH, prolactin & AMH I can start on my next cycle. I only remember having the AMH test at our UK clinic however so not sure how I’d have them done o we here? Either NHS or private. Did you have those tests done? Ideally we’d like to do what you did and not actually go out there until we needed to, so have the consulatation online.
Also did you have your scans done over here during your treatment? If so roughly how much were they please?
Thank you so much for your help 😊 x

I had my AMH and estradiol tests done with an online company. The private testing near me could only do Monday to Thursday AMH tests, which would have meant a four month delay until my day 21 fell in their testing window. The online company was very good, and actually turned out to be the pharmacy Reprofit partner with, so I got my meds from there as well (at half the price of Asda)

I just googled for private scans locally and ended up in a Mothercare in house scan. They cost around £100, I want to say £89 but I'm not 100% sure.

Reprofit were fine with my NHS blood tests for everything else. Even though they were over a year old. If you have your tests from your last clinic you should be able to use them again.

Great thank you for finding that out. I will contact my clinic on Monday and find out exactly what tests I had done with them. I’m sure as I paid for them they can send me a copy. I’m sure it was only AMH though and none of the rest.
My doctor did my my STD tests so I have all those printed off ready 😊
Hopefully we can start soon. Thanks again for your help X

Anything you're missing you can either have dinner privately or online. Try Fertility2u for online testing