Coronavirus and fertility clinics.

[mabel92]

Has anyone’s fertility clinic told them they will close due to Coronavirus? I’m due to start treatment and now confused as what to do or whether I’ll be able to start. Thanks.

@bunhead34, the clincher told me to finish the antibiotic, but stop other drugs.

sorry, so many typos!! clinic not clincher!!

I got to egg collection but FT got cancelled, they said that because of egg collection, I needed the antibiotic (doxycycline in my case) to make sure there is no infection, but I can stop all other drugs, such as cyclogests.

Just been told i'm freezing after egg collection. Such a sad time for us all. This whole process is just mind numbing.

@bunhead34 I was told to stop all medication, now I’m wondering when to expect my normal cycle and how long it’s going to take. Not looking forward to it

@Liliclaire yeh, it doesn't seem responsible to just leave people pumped full of medicine

I've been trying to watch the Care fertility life stream about CV but it's very frustrating. 13 minutes in the video froze and they seemed to have stopped completely. I'll keep trying. The main update is that there is no evidence of harm in terms of early pregnancy. They acknowledge that there are many women who simply cannot wait for 6 to 12 months. Their clinics and facilities are not believed to contribute to pressures on the NHS. They are still doing ET and currently accepting new patients. Xxx

St Mary’s Manchester shuts next Thursday - they would’ve transferred next Thursday but I need an extra week of drugs as my lining is too thin so it’s been cancelled.

@Matilda128 thanks for the update !

I got the video back and now it seems they are saying that in the next few weeks they are moving to not doing ET's anymore. Sorry for the incorrect information xxx

@Maltida128 - thanks . Did they seem confident they would continue with freezing or is that coming to an end as well ?

My impression was that they are very determined to keep going as long as they can- even suggesting they take on new customers. They cannot make guarantees in terms of anaesthetists but they say they got contingency plans and of course a total lock down may be an issue but they think they can work around it by going to other care clinics (if for example London is locked down). I think you should be able to argue that a medical appointment is essential.

I'm sad that we will just about fall outside the group that is allowed a fresh cycle especially as they reaffirmed that there is no extra risk in pregnancy. That said- last time we didn't get any embryos at all so perhaps there is no point anyways. A wait of 6 to 12 months they said- how are we going to cope with this?

We are based in the North East and just had our cycle cancelled at the LWC in Darlo. My wife and i were due to start in 2 weeks time. My heart goes out to everyone at this time

@matilda128 - I know how you feel. It’s the not knowing too. When would your transfer be approx if it went ahead x

I was starting to feel a bit better about all this after my FET was cancelled on Wednesday. I understand why they want to cancel given everything that’s going on, but the more I’m thinking about it the more angry I feel. I know lots are undergoing fresh cycles and awaiting collection to then transfer or freeze depending on what your clinic is doing...I was undergoing a frozen cycle, my embryos were frozen in 2016! Reason for my transfer being cancelled was they said they have no concrete evidence if Covid-19 can harm embryos and of higher risks in early pregnancy, so it’s more a moral decision rather than being given a definite instruction that they must not go ahead with transfer. both I totally understand, but surely it should be MY choice?
There are so many of us now in this situation that could have to wait a long time to resume treatment or start again. Some of us simply don’t have that time or can’t afford it or mentally and physically have had enough. All the while couples around us will inevitably be getting pregnant and it’s rightfully their decision if they choose to do so right now in this crazy situation.
I’m trying to tell myself maybe this is all for the best and it would be a very stressful time to be pregnant but I feel like it’s all just been taken out of my hands. Gutted is an understatement.
I’m having a down day clearly...probably a come down from all the hormones I’ve been pumping myself with for 6 weeks...
Sorry for the rant but feeling utterly p**d off today and sorry for myself.

@liliclaire - you are allowed to rant. It does seem so unfair that the choice is taken away. Can you transfer your embryos to a clinic still doing transfers ? The only consolation is that the embryos aren’t degrading and you have them there ready ...... I know that’s not much comfort but a very small positive .
Look after yourself
Thinking you you
X x x

You're allowed to be pissed off @Liliclaire, I'm pissed off too.

@Xx40yearsyoungxx my egg collection is scheduled for the 17th so if everything went right the transfer would have been 5 days later

@BTJ18 I don't think clinics can give this information but Care fertility suggested it may take as long as 6 to 12 months.

@Liliclaire you have every right to be angry. I think many of us can identify with the idea that we have been robbed of our choices. With every IVF and FET we take a huge risk that impacts us financially, physically and mentally- why are we not allowed to make an informed decision during this crisis? And the argument that we are placing a strain on the NHS- why not ban smoking, alcohol, fast food and sugar during the epidemic? The accidents and diseases they cause will put more strain on the NHS than we do. If it's just the maternity care the why not just ban sex in general- so it won't be just us who will not be able to have babies in the next year. Xxx

@Xx40yearsyoungxx thank you. Yes that’s a massive positive for us it’s just the waiting for when we can go again and also whether I will respond so well to drugs next time in preparation as it was all going so well this time round and we were only a few days from having our transfer. I know there’s never guarantees of it working but I’ll never know now. I haven’t looked into transferring embryos but for me personally I wouldn’t want to risk that and then have the cycle cancelled in a few weeks again when guidelines change. It’s a time of uncertainty for us all. Thanks for your well wishes and you take care too x

Just got my period today and called to start IVF on the basis of my clinic’s statement on Tuesday that they’d start but freeze any embryos and was told that their position has changed and now they won’t do any new cycles unless you’ve already started taking the drugs. Absolutely devastated. NHS clinic I’m currently with for ovulation stimulation drugs and monitoring have also suspended all treatment so I don’t even have my fall back position 😢

So no we can't do anything other than this cycle. I have EC on Monday, they'll fertilise, hopefully get to blast stage and then freeze.
Goodness knows when we'll have FET, I'm so fed up.

I'm confused after watching the care fertility videos. I've got my baseline scan for a FET this coming Monday. I think that means my FET is going ahead, but from reading the comments in the thread some people have already been told that cycles they've already started are now freeze all, despite starting before the 30th March cut off.

I was at work when the videos were on so have seen it too late to contact my clinic today. This limbo is annoying.

I was also at Guys for egg collection on Monday! Was told the same thing x

@Simz01- I'm at Guys also. What were you told???

I'm planning on going in for fresh embryo transfer tomorrow (sat) unless the embryo's didn't progress or their guidance has changed.

Elouera, I was told that I will have transfer tomorrow unless there is any change in guidelines from government. I haven’t heard anything re that or how many embryos have progressed since day 1 call. Therefore hoping to transfer tomorrow as planned, unless something changes or none made it to day 5.

Apologies, I was replying to previous post and didn’t realise it ends up at the bottom, so probably I caused confusion