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.

@HopingforIVF

I would think NHS clinics may close for a year. Private ones absolutely not as furlough is only going to be paying their wages until the end of next month then they will need to be open to earn money to pay their overheads

I don't think it will be a year personally but maybe I'm being optimistic. Private clinics I reckon will open in the Summer again and NHS in Autumn. One of the reasons we were told was as it was non-urgent care which was stopped quite early on and staff needing to be redeployed. I'm hoping October/November time for NHS. We still need our treatment planning for Frozen Transfer so hoping they start consultations earlier as know some clinics are still doing g them.

How is everyone spending this time? I'm trying to be positive and focus on getting my weight down a bit more. I had also planned on starting my Masters post having children but decided that I am going to apply for that to start September as the likelihood is that Even if It is successful I wouldn't give birth until next September so can complete it.

@jodesxx I’m trying to keep positive too and hoping autumn (We are with an NHS clinic but self funded frozen cycle). Our clinic today has updated their site to advise the plan when they do reopen is to start with those who had cycles cancelled mid way first and then will be commencing with new treatments after that, so I imagine anyone that is due planning appointments would also be called in once clinics are opened so they are then “ready” to start their ivf cycles once those that had theirs cancelled have been seen. Not sure if this is the route all clinics will take as they all seem to be doing their own thing! But hopefully you won’t have to wait too long after clinics open to start your planning.
I am still trying to lose the 10lb I put on during my cancelled cycle (for some reason it piled on this time round!), but I keep eating cake by accident Ha. Diet starts again tomorrow! Last thing needed is for clinics to reopen and I can’t continue as I’ve grown as big as a house!

@Liliclaire I think being positive is all that you can do during this! I had to have a freeze all and would have had FET well this period coming but just needed to have the consent appointment again for an FET. I'm hoping that as I was due to start it will be quite quick. Obvs after people who have had cycles stopped etc.

Hi everyone! I just saw on Twitter that Danish IVF clinics have reopened. A proportion of the clinics in Germany and Austria and all infertility treatment in Sweden were never closed in the first place. In Australia there is a large petition urging clinics to reopen and their regulatory body is considering doing so. Sadly we all know that the UK has struggled much more in dealing with the virus but I think it is hopeful to see many examples where fertility treatment continues or restarts without a vaccine being available. On Twitter HFEA posts daily to say that new guidelines are coming but not yet It's both good and absolutely heartbreaking to see so many stories being published about patients having their fertility treatment cancelled. My impression is that some news outlets say a year because they don't know so they go with the worse case scenario. As has been pointed out- private clinics won't survive this and as many also treat NHS funded patients it would be a complete disaster for the whole industry. The chair of the BFS is still twittering horrible stuff. The latest thing was an open letter of fertility doctors in the US applauding themselves for stopping treatment. It seems quite odd that they feel the need for doing this. There is no more mention of risks of the virus in early pregnancy and instead the focus is on saving PPE (I hadn't heard this as a reason before).
I really hope we know more soon. I'm really not coping with the situation, tomorrow would have been my egg collection- two days after the cut off date set by HFEA. Take care everyone xx

@Matilda128 thanks for the update. I'm with you there - the waiting is horrendous. Fingers crossed the update comes soon xx

@Matilda128 thanks for that round up on the situation elsewhere - very informative. Let’s hope that we get past the peak sooner rather than later and that services reopen. It’s great to have found this group - although I wouldn’t wish this heartache on anyone, it’s comforting that there are other people out there who understand what I’m going through. It’s not something you want to go into every time someone asks you how self isolation is going.

Thank you for the update @Matilda128

I’m sorry to hear you’re under stress @AnnaLCox. Are you with a private clinic? I’m in the same boat re donor sperm, ours is waiting in Denmark for when we need it. I’m also finding this group helpful and a great way to get information.

So furlough has been extended to end of June
We've all just got to hope lockdown ends in 3 weeks and social distancing eases x

@mabel92 I'm with the private Assisted Conception Unit at Chelsea and Westminster hospital (they do both NHS and private work). Funnily enough I went to them after not being happy at my previous clinic on Harley Street, but now that could turn out to be a mistake if the private clinics open up first! I actually have donor sperm waiting in London already as my iui was supposed to take place about 2 days before lockdown. I actually elected not to go through with it there and then as I was incredibly anxious about getting pregnant right before a health pandemic (though the nurse told me she thought that was the sensible thing to do) so now I'm sort of in this phase where I'm thinking did I do the right thing because it could now be a long wait. I thought the delay would be 2 or 3 months max but now it seems it will be longer. I know in some countries you can buy sperm from the banks online and insert it yourself but not legal here. What is your situation?

@AliceAbsolum join us here

@aliceabsolum

I saw your other thread - sorry you got such a hard time on there. People can be tossers Especially the "I'm childfree out of choice and proud" brigade x

It is strange. The US, well in particular New York was hit quite hard with this, but lot of clinics across are now restarting some procedures or providing appointments from May I believe

@Simz01
From what we are reading in the news over here though the Americans are less accepting of lockdown measures - I don't think businesses have had as much financial support from the government so they have to reopen to survive. Also does the USA fertility industry have a regulatory authority like the U.K. does - most private clinics didn't want to shut here but were forced to by the HFEA etc x

Thanks @ivfgottostaypositive, that’s true, they haven’t had as tough measures. And actually they probably should have, but as you mention there is a lot of push to keep the economy going , arguably at expense of health.I think a lot of it is based by state too.

I do understand why what is being done is done, of course. Peoples health and making sure resources are used where it is urgent is the most important. I just wish at this stage there was just some communication especially if everyone is being dictated by HFEA so we had some line of sight. Any kind of milestone is atleast helpful even if it is not in set in stone at this stage x

Hi Everyone

I have been following this thread since early March as we were advised to hold off going through IVF end of March. We are using a private London hospital. If they said IVF can resume in 3/4 week would you all start straight away even though the virus is still around? Thanks for your opinions in advance xx

@Lyds246
Yes I would. For most people on long protocol they won't be transferring for at least another 6 weeks anyway as down reg is usually about a month.
I do short protocol and the whole process is over in less than 2 weeks but I would still need to wait for cycle day 1 of my next period so depending when the ban is lifted it could still them be another month to wait anyway
Im due cycle day 1 at the end of May and I'm hoping clinics will be open then so I wouldn't be transferring until the 3rd week of June anyway

I think the virus is always going to be with us so there is no point continuing to put life on hold. X

@ivfgottostaypositive

Thanks so much this is really helpful. I think you are right it’s best to get started ASAP as otherwise your lives are just on hold.

@Lyds246 I am going to go ahead as soon as they open and contact me to re-commence. I will be doing FET on a standard/long protocol so downreg before preparation for womb lining and transfer. Although I still haven’t got my monthly cycle since our frozen transfer was cancelled that was a month ago now so beginning to wonder how long it’s going to take for my body to get back to “normal” before we can do another cycle again I feel like I’ll be waiting forever.

Good luck to everyone on this journey x

I would start too (and plan to) when it is possible. As mentioned , this won’t go away, we hope the curve will flatten and some normality has to resume x

Hi @AnnaLCox I'm also with the private Assisted Conception Unit at Chelsea and Westminster hospital and I was supposed to start my treatment for IUI. But they cancelled my appointment a day before my first appointment. I was thinking if I was with a private clinic I'd probably had the treatment already. I'm actually looking into enrolling into a private clinic once they are reopened as I think the NHS branches will take longer. Can I ask why did you move from Harley street?

How’s everyone doing? I’ve been trying to take my mind off things but it’s hard not to be concerned about the future. My 41st is coming up very soon and am starting to think it all may be too late by the time the clinics open up again. I had really wanted to have a couple of tries and draw a line under things before reaching 42. I do know that people do go for IVF at this age and older but for us, we wanted to have a cut off date which is fast approaching. We are lucky to have embryos in storage but they are at a NHS clinic and it will take time to move them to a private clinic (I was told 3-4 weeks at least). Will have to start the process again with blood tests/ initial consult etc. And I now strongly suspect the drugs unused from our FET from March/ April will expire before we can try again. I’d also imagine we would be at the bottom of their list to get started as we are not existing patients. Really don’t know if I can continue in this limbo with all this extra delay for my own well being or if we should just call it a day 😞

@Limeflower2
Hi there
Nice to meet someone at the same clinic as me! Basically I first looked into fertility treatment about 2 years ago and did one round of egg freezing at a Harley Street clinic. I found that the customer care was a bit lacking there however. I was going to do 3 rounds but after the first I got a cyst that burst and caused a huge deal of pain and discomfort so promptly decided I was never going to do that again. I honestly don’t know how some women do round after round after round as the toll on the body can be immense but perhaps it was just the case that I had an unusually unlucky experience. Anyway, after that I was very put off fertility treatment so spent last year looking for a partner who wanted to have children. Unfortunately the man I found was wanting to take his time (even though he’s already 47!!) and didn’t see kids on the horizon for a few years. Therefore this year I realised the only way I could potentially have a child was to go down the donor route. I’m against doing ivf due to my bad experience with egg freezing. Also I’ve just turned 41 and I’m not convinced ivf is the better option at this age anyway - I think private clinics encourage it as they get more money this way. Personally I find iui far more natural. I was just due to start the first round before the Covid crisis. I’m hoping C&W start up again soon. As a back up I guess I could go back to my old Harley Street clinic but I may not get prioritised there. It’s a dilemma for sure!

Hi @AnnaLCox Thanks for your reply! I turned 40 in January. And my hubby and I have been trying for 2 years. We did all the test and it is unexplained infertility. We wanted to get IVF straight away. But Dr. NT (is he your specialist too?)suggested to try IUI first, so he can have a better standing how I respond to stim etc before IVF.
I'm so gutted I didn't even have my appointment to get Clomid. And now it's a waiting game. Fingers crossed the private clinics will reopen soon!
There is no harm to ring Harley street and ask more information as you are in their system. Or maybe they'll have waiting list?

@Limeflower2
First of all, sorry to hear that you and your husband have had problems conceiving. I am not with the same doctor as you but have probably seen some of the same nurses as I think it's a smallish operation compared to some of the exclusively private clinics. I am no expert but I think that many of the private clinics tend to push IVF. I know the success rates are higher than with IUI but it's also a very invasive procedure, which often seems to be rather overlooked. When I did egg freezing I asked what the risks were and was told there weren't any. Having subsequently done some research, it turns out that there are plenty and I had a bad experience myself. I thus think that it's good your doctor is recommending IUI first. A lot of people think IUI is a waste of time but I'd rather do a few rounds of that and see how I get on. If it doesn't work I'll try to use my frozen eggs.
I actually had an email today from the clinic in Harvey Street - they will prioritise those who had already started before lockdown and then people who've had consultations since. Not sure where I would stand as with IUI you only actually have to go in once (you wait for ovulation and then you go in and they do the procedure) - IVF/egg freezing is obviously a lot more intensive as you are going in every other day. The issue for me is that my preference is to stick with C&W and only go back to Harley Street if C&W take ages to reopen (on account of them being part private part NHS and based in a hospital). As I've no clue what's going to happen at the moment I'm just keeping an eye on the situation.