IVF/FET on NHS

[Starryeyed1001]

Hi,
We are going to be starting IVF soon and I just wanted to see if I had understood something the dr had said to us. She said that any embryos we freeze from our IVF cycles could be used for transfer and not included in our cycles. So would this be free or would we need to be treated privately for these transfers, providing the IVF doesn’t work? x

Hello,same situation.From my understanding I have 2 fresh and 2 frozen if there are any. .and it is free until all your rounds finish so if you have 2 ivfs you will get 2 fresh and 2 frozen unless you get pregnant the first try. However I don't know what happens if it works first time,can you pay to use the frozen ones in future?just thinking ahead!!

thank you! x

You get your IVF Free - so they take as many eggs as possible and if your lucky enough get some day 5/6 blasts after they fertalise they will freeze them.
All of your frozen transfers (FETS) are free and then once used (dependent on how many IVF's your entitled to (Lets pretend 2)) your next round of IVF collecting eggs and each Frozen transfer would also be free.
So effectivly IVF to collect and fertalise the eggs and all frozen transfers from the blasts that you have count as one free round.

Unless you have a live birth as you would then need to pay for any IVF / FETS in future. Effectively once you have a baby you need to pay to use your remaining blasts .

I hope this is of help x

I forgot to mention that there are no limits on FETS.

If you have your ivf and for example end up with 6 Blasts .
One for fresh transfer
fet 1
fet 2
fet 3
fet 4
and fet 5
are included in your one free NHS round. x

Unless you have a live birth from any of the above FET's

Hi @ScottishJaggyNettle, thanks for the explanation.Does this mean that the keep the frozen eggs if you become pregnant and you need to pay them for the storage as well? unless they don't get rid of them!

It depends on you clinical commissioning group and what they count as a cycle. For example some are a fresh cycle, done a fresh and a frozen and some a fresh and two frozen.

If you look on the fertility fairness website there is a spreadsheet with details of each CCG so you can check what yours should include.

For example, down here you get one cycle which they count as one fresh and one frozen.

Think it varies depending on the CCG. In our CCG, we were entitled to 3 transfers on the NHS, ie any of these combinations: 1 fresh and 2 frozen cycles; 2 fresh and 1 frozen cycle; 3 fresh and no frozen cycles.

Cornish Im shocked i thought that a NHS classed a round as your ivf and then any fets from the 1 IVF round. I think its shocking that they are aloud to vary so much and i was unaware of that being a post code lottery aswell. I was aware of the number of rounds being a post code lottery but not what the NHS classed as a cycle. Sorry if i have missled the OP !

If you are in scotland i know that the rules are as my previous post but if your anywhere else i would check as PP Suggested.

In scotland they freeze your blasts for 5 years for free to give you time to use them. After that you can pay for a further 5 years.
x

Thanks for all the replies, will check out the fertility fairness website x

I only know because a friend is having NHS treatment and we looked it up (I have to go private).

There are some which count one cycle as a fresh and then FETs with all viable embryos and some where one cycle is one fresh and no FETs.

It is a horrid postcode lottery and so unfair.

I was just assuming OP was in England. The Scotland treatment of all FETs are included sounds much better.

I do wonder whether if it was something other than IVF the NHS would get away with such a variation in treatment.

Our CCG gave us three IVF attempts although I was lucky enough to have DTs at the first attempt. We have 3 in the freezer - storage was free for the first year and now we pay a yearly fee for storage in case we want to use them for (privately funded) IVF but frankly two is more than enough at the moment

Cornish The money that they do have should be fairly distrubuted and everyone who qualifies should receive the same treatment. Recently in scotland they raised it from two IVF cycles to three (Only for new referals i think ). They now also include couples where one partner has a biological child but the other does not.

The waiting list i think may be longer to start IVF in scotland as most people i spoke to (England, NI, Wales) started within 6 months (on top of 1 year trying).
The wait for me was a year and a half from initial appt to the clinic (Inc other tests) On top of the nearly year and a half+ it took to be referred to the clinic in the first place . Double the wait.
I know people who have gone private just because its quicker.
x