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.

@Xx40yearsyoungxx

With the natural modified I do I would go straight to stims on cycle day 4 and egg collection would usually be cycle day 12 or 13. No down reg and so over really quickly. Depending on how good a response I'm getting I either only stim every other day with 150ml bemfola or do very low dose 75ml Bemfola daily with 75ml luveris. As much as I love planning I also hate waiting - I don't think I'd cope with doing conventional IVF that takes 6 weeks to get to egg collection

@Xx40yearsyoungxx

At least I know that when I get my period egg collection will definitely be within 14 days (one cycle it was even cycle day 12) and transfer 5 days after that.

Normally with natural modified you also take estrogen tablets - usually tamoxifen (breast cancer drug but has similar effect to clomid) but because my lining tends to get too thick on them I'm not taking them on this final cycle to avoid having to do a freeze all. I have a mix of day 3 and day 5 frozen and then the plan is to transfer two - either 1 fresh and 1 frozen or 2 fresh depending on quality x

Out of interest @ivfgottostaypositive how did they decide what protocol you would do - I’ve only done the long 6 week one and they haven’t really discussed it being any other option . It takes so long !

@Xx40yearsyoungxx

Create only do short protocol which is part of the reason why I went with them. Because my AMH is ok (12.9) but not disastrous they recommended mild IVF for the first (and second rounds). It was after those it was determined that my egg quality is actually pretty crap hence why less than 30% fertilisation rate even with ICSI. I also PGS tested the second cycle and didn't get any normals - one complex abnormal (not allowed to transfer) and the other a low level mosaic which I did transfer but was BFN. I debated stopping at that point and I wanted to try a completely natural IVF - so collect just the one egg but Create recommendation was to do natural modified just to give my follicles a bit of a nudge (my antral Follicle count is generally pretty good - 10-15)
Create are really good - I drive my doctor mad with all the internet research I do and then we discuss my latest "findings" 🤣 - they are open to talking through all the options rather than just one size fits all. I have a history of recurrent miscarriage as well as ectopics so always knew we weren't going to be one of the lucky ones who got lucky first time round.

Everyone I know who has cycled through Create has got the same number or more blastocysts from far fewer follicles than those I know who did the long protocol. It's just that most other clinics focus on the numbers game - it is a gamble going for 2 follicles and hoping to get 2 blastocysts from them like I did cycle 3. But I know women who have had 30 follicles and still only got 2 blastocysts.

@ivfgottostaypositive - the more I read the more I’m thinking it’s definitely quality over quantity

Haven’t create been really good / vocal as well with regard to wanting to reopen and keeping you all informed?

I just wish someone could give a definitive date so we had something tangible to at least work towards.

X x

@Xx40yearsyoungxx

For me reducing to natural modified and collecting less eggs I've gone from 30% fertilisation, grade 2 or worse on day 3 and bb/bc day 5 blastocysts to 100% fertilisation, grade 1 on day 3 and aa grade blastocysts so big improvement. We made no other change to diet or supplements so it has to be the change in protocol which has made the difference

Short protocol - 5 blastocysts from 28 eggs

Natural modified - 4 blastocysts from 9 eggs

Yeah Create have also been the most vocal about reopening clinics - probably because they specialise in treating women no one else will - with AMH of like 1 or 2. They are also doing really good deals for new patients at the moment - £2.5k per cycle

@ivfgottostaypositive - yeah those stats goes to show doesn’t it.....

Hopefully create will be owning their doors again very soon

@ivfgottostaypositive that's really interesting, I would consider trying Create in the future although I think I'm going standard long protocol for our first round (hopefully eventually). My AMH is 10.8, no idea about quality. No other issues with either of us though so my suspicion is that my quality will be poor.

We were meant to start ivf in October but first I had to have a polyp removed, then I had to have some unrelated medical tests so everything was put on hold. The day I got the all clear to go ahead was the day the clinic rang to tell us they were stopping everything.

It's such a stressful time, I keep thinking I wish I'd started the ivf route sooner! But then none of us could have predicted this ...

Hey All

I posted a few weeks ago, we were lucky to have the transfer of our final embryo just days before our clinic (London Women's Clinic) shut down. Devastatingly, the test was negative.

After 18 months of treatment with low AMH, it's fair to say the not-knowing now, is absolutely killing us both. I'm starting to really struggle with friends who are pregnant or just having their babies. One of my closest friends and her wife are due next month, 2 days after we would have been due had we not miscarried at the end of 2019. I can barely reply to their messages...

We have a call with our doctor on Friday and I'm hopeful he can give us something positive to work towards.

Honestly I think I'm just offloading here but this really is rough.

Much love to everyone going through it.

Now that the government are taking public questions for the daily update, someone on Instagram is suggesting we all send a question re Ivf, the more people who ask the more likely we are to get an answer!
They suggest something like the attached, I've sent the same in.

Here is the link to submit Q's:

www.smartsurvey.co.uk/ss/govuk-coronavirus-ask/

Hi @runningfan

Sending you all the love! I’m so sorry to hear your cycle wasn’t successful. Take this time to re charge, relax and prepare.
XX

@runningfan - I'm so sorry, failed cycles are just awful. I hope you can come up with a plan for your next steps soon.

Thanks @bunhead34 will do this!

Morning all - seems like things might start moving soon - I read that there are some significant meetings going on at HFEA etc to discuss things. Also many hospitals have started treating patients they cancelled a month ago 🤞🤞

Hello all. Just found this thread. Sorry, haven’t read the whole thing yet (will try I promise) but is anybody else thinking of just going to Sweden for treatment? I spoke to my clinic yesterday and she said she thinks HFEA will give them 4-6 weeks notice of re-opening, so she’s not expecting any movement for the next 6 weeks. She also thought when they re-opened it would just be for egg collections due to the time pressures but no embryo transfers allowed

@csa26

Hi! Which clinic are you with? I think it very much depends on the clinics - NHS connected ones won't be back for ages. Some private clinics are then running a priority list - eg if you had your cycle cancelled mid way through due to the lockdown then you are first in the list but many other clinics (like mine Create) are saying they haven't got waiting lists. Some clinics have been really vocal about reopening so I think they are already planning behind closed doors of how to manage patients so I don't think it will be 6 weeks for them. But really depends on the clinic x

Thanks for the link. I have uploaded a question. I think the public however are completely unsympathetic and uneducated on infertility unless they have gone through it. Something I also find with friends and family.

My question -

Myself and many women have had their IVF treatment cancelled. We are not women who have waited to long. Many of us are young women diagnosed with reduced ovarian reserve - a genetic disease, with only a few months of time left to have treatment.
When can this time sensitive service return for those women crippled with this disease?

Good idea @bunhead -thanks for posting he link! I think it's really important to be as vocal as possible as about this issue. No doubt hfea are trying their best to get things moving again but it is crucial that we still petition as much as possible.

@ivfgottostaypositive I'm with a private clinic, about 3 hours from where I live as I'm in London and it's so expensive here! They told me they have no waiting list. The nurse I spoke to though thought they wouldn't be allowed to do embryo transfers for the rest of this year.

We've been trying for this baby since last summer using embryos from our NHS-funded IVF (had two failed FETs and two embryos lost in defrosting) and I just see the age gap from our first child and any possible sibling getting bigger and bigger. I know this doesn't compare with those trying for their first and I'm so grateful for what we have.

@LondonIVF12 aren't they just - some of the comments I've seen on the recent articles relating to the IVF pause are quite astounding

The messages from the clinics seem to be mixed which isn't helpful. I spoke with care fertility manchester who said that they thought frozen transfers would be the first thing to start as they have the least impact on the NHS. Unfortunately I think a lot of it is still conjecture at this point. But at least it is looking more hopeful 😊

@runningfan sorry to hear of your negative test result. It must be very hard to see your friend's excitement as what should have been a wonderful time for you too approaches. Go easy on yourself 💐

I have a Skype appointment in a few weeks with my clinic in Spain but so much more to consider beyond the clinic being open (as of yesterday).
Let's hope for some clarity soon.

Hi everyone. It's really difficult at the moment as one moment there seems to be positive news and the next HFEA posts something that seems to be completely random and you panic as it's difficult to work out what it means to reopening the clinics. These last few days I have been really depressed. What HFEA is saying now on Twitter is that they will come with more clarity this week (perhaps even a date). I don't want to hold my breath because this date may be many months away but maybe it will give us and the clinics something to work towards. Submitting questions to the daily news briefing is definitely a good idea. I think it is really worth emphasising that IVF is a medical need and as such should be exempt from lockdown just like it was before 15 April (under HFEA's own recommendations). This is also important for the future of fertility treatment as many think that CCG funders will use what has happened to cut NHS funding even further (seeing that it is downgraded by its own regulatory body). They seem to have completely dropped the risk in early pregnancy as the reason for closure so when clinics are allowed to treat patients again it is very likely it will include FET and IUI. But it will probably be up to clinics what kind of approach they will take to deal with the waiting list. I have heard so many stories of how people have been affected by the closure- it's really heartbreaking. Please take care and try to reach out if you are struggling. You are definitely not alone

Hi ladies. Just looking for a bit of advice from anyone who might have experience of this. I was one of the ones who’s transfer was cancelled on the day due to the decision for fertility treatment to stop that morning. ( 3 frozen embryos so all positive there ). I bled about 5 days after which was like a normal period and probably less painful than I would usually experience as I can have pretty painful periods. It’s now come to next cycle and firstly the period was 10 days late which has never happened before always a 28 day cycle. I spent 14 days with pms symptoms and did countless pregnancy tests with no joy. Since it’s arrived it has been hell ! The pain is unbearable and as I said before I’m used to painful periods. TMI but if the flow matched the pain I would have been phoning nhs 24/ going to a and e by now. I’ve literally spent the last two nights just rocking and crying whilst my partner rubs my lower back, but the period itself is pretty light ! Does anyone know if this sounds “normal” for the second period after egg collection as I feel that I never received that after care clinical information due to not attending the last appt.
Thanks in advance.

@SarahDx
I had severe period pains in the approx 10 days leading up to my second period after egg collection. I normally have light/moderate pains for approx 4 days. The period itself was no heavier or lighter for me.