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.

Nope, not a bean.

@xx40yearsyoungxx @ivfgottobepositive I started spotting today, and AF is due on Monday, so it doesn't look like the ubiquinol delayed anything - but I'll confirm then. I've since read online that it depends how much you are taking. I'm on 200mg and they were saying that was a good amount to take to not delay anything

There was been an update on my clinics website (ACS unit Glasgow -NHS) that phone calls will start 26th May. First patients to be contacted will be the ones who had egg collection and will Be doing FET. Then the FET that were scheduled and cancelled. And then the patients who had started the cycle but didn’t get to egg collection. Then I heard from a nurse who works there there is an aim of that all happening by July. Hope this might help you with time frames x

Hi ladies

Hope you don’t mind me joining 😊

@mabel92 I haven’t heard anything from my clinic yet.
Our cycle was cancelled in March- I’ve just been told to keep phoning in with my day one.

Has anyone else heard?

The not knowing is killing me.

I found a list on the HFEA website of clinics in which have had authorisation to resume.

Here’s the link if this helps anyone.

www.hfea.gov.uk/treatments/covid-19-and-fertility-treatment/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-patients/fertility-clinics-authorised-to-resume-treatment/

I have but my cycle was cancelled mid way through due to corona. My clinic have said that they are prioritising cancelled cycles, women who are over 40 and women with low egg reserves first.
Hope you all hear soon x

Hi all,
Yes I had an on-line consultation with my clinic last week with a view to starting medication mid June but I think my clinic are prioritising using the same criteria as yours Camfan1 and I meet all 3 of those criteria! So I’m feeling very thankful to be at the top of this list but also hoping and praying that everyone else hears from their clinics soon and at least finds out a time frame when treatment can start and hopefully it will be in the next month or so as I know how difficult and frustrating the wait can be 🤞🙏

Thanks ladies.
I do hope that’s the case with our clinic too, I presume they’ll standardise it. Although I have heard conflicting advice on the last two times I’ve phoned.
I’m pleased to hear some of you have dates already, and sending you lots of well wishes and baby dust when that time comes.

One of the fertility counsellors questioned how I’d cope if we had to wait another year? I do hope she was talking hypothetically as that wasn’t the reassurance I needed! 🙁

Goodness! I’m sure there is no way they could make people wait a year. Aside from the fact that it doesn’t make any business sense as they need to make money and recuperate losses from the last 2 months, it also would not be ethically right to elongate the process for those who have already signed up and probably mentally & physically prepared for the process.
I would really like to believe they will see all current patients over the next 3 months.
All fingers & toes crossed in hope!

How’s everyone doing? I’ve been told I’ve to wait 3 more months even though I’m on the priority list.

@mabel92 that's a shame. Where r u NHS or private? Iam NHS Scotland and they won't do any fresh cycles their labs are not even open I can't wait any longer x

Things have slowed down at my clinic too. My appointment tomorrow for a covid test and blood test was cancelled as they said they don’t have permission from the trust to go ahead with treatment. They do t know how long it will take before they can actually start - the not knowing is very frustrating but I do appreciate that I have been lucky enough to have been contacted by my clinic when others haven’t yet.
How is everyone else getting on? Is anyone getting anywhere in their treatment yet?

I’m sorry to hear that @RonRon1Have they given you any sort of timeline? I’m private, they told me I’m priority but I’ve to wait 3 months, possibly longer. It’s so hard.
I’m sorry @PositiveThinkerAlways what clinic are you with? Have they not started any treatments yet?

@Mabel thats a shame. That must be hard.

I havent heard from clinic but when they did eventually answer my call they said to wait basically.

My clinic called this afternoon and said they are hoping to be operational from next week onwards but that is not guaranteed. Anyone whose cycle day 14 is next week can probably start treatment but unfortunately mine is tomorrow so I’ve missed out on starting this month which I’m gutted about. But I do feel blessed that there is hope I can start soon and at least they are communicating with me.
Anyone who is a private patient I would recommend that you contact your consultant directly and ask for an update as I only got on their list to start in the first round because I emailed my consultant to request this. I’m not sure if it helped at all but it is worth a shot.

I started stims this evening (cycle day 5) so hopefully I'm set for an egg collection next week and transfer the following week (my last cycle was abandoned due to lack of response so bit anxious in case it happens again)

@mabel92

What was the reason your clinic gave for not starting? Sheer volume of patients or are they not ready to implement social distancing?

I had my first treatment scan with Create yesterday and it was strange everyone being in masks etc - the doctor said it was a fairly mixed response from existing patients - some wanted to start straight away but quite a lot had told them they wanted to wait. Very much depends on personal circumstances I suppose

It’s good news that some clinics are up and running & gives hope to us all!!

@ivfgottostaypositive Wishing you lots of luck and a very successful treatment cycle and really hope your body responds well 🤞🤞🤞

Haven’t posted for a while. I’m sad to see so many people are still in limbo not knowing what’s happening with treatments resuming. I really hope clinics start to contact people soon even if it’s to give a timeline of things can’t happen immediately.

I am extremely fortunate I’ve had contact from my clinic and have a planning appointment next week with a view to starting down reg the following week on day 21 of cycle. I had my FET cancelled 5 days before it was planned and my clinic are prioritising those that had cycles cancelled and had embryos collected and frozen so commencing with FET first I believe. I’m very fortunate the dates have fallen so well in my cycle in terms of being able to start again in the next fortnight. Not looking forward to going through the injections and the hormone horror again but needs must. My clinic only carries out medicated cycles for FET. I have a daughter from a previous ICSI cycle so this will be a transfer of one of the frozen embryos providing they survive thawing.

For anyone in a similar situation about to start treatment again how do you feel about guidelines for isolating? Will you be isolating during treatment just in case even though guidelines have been relaxed slightly again from today?
I so desperately want to start the cycle again and pray it’s a good outcome, I hadn’t even considered the reality of having to isolate even longer. Of course I’m not complaining and I’m fortunate I can work from home but just interested to know everyone’s thoughts. Like most I had started to get excited at the prospect of seeing family and friends but now realise I’m Probably going to have to continue to distance myself “just in case”.

I’m also very nervous this time round, the last cycle was going so well I feel like our luck may have run out I’m struggling to feel positive about it plus I’ve put on almost half a stone in lockdown emotional eating after the last cycle was cancelled so close to embryo transfer so feeling sorry for myself. I’ve got just under two weeks to try and drop the lb!

I feel a bit deflated. Was told clinic had approval from HFEA to start treatment and have already had video consult. They discussed changes to protocol, Covid testing etc and I had geared myself up to start downreg next week. I called to check a couple of things today and it turns out that they don’t actually have approval from NHS England to restart treatment (private patient at NHS clinic). So cycle may be cancelled.. again. I wish they’d told me this earlier so I could have stopped myself from getting hopes up too much. I find out the day before I’m supposed to start down reg whether it’s all cancelled or not.

Hi everyone
@Lemongrass1 - interesting what you said about no approval from NHS England - forgive my ignorance, but do they control all the NHS Trusts? It's clear from my own experience (private patient at an NHS Hospital) and that of many others on here, that Trusts are holding clinics back from reopening. Why? No clue. I suspect it's lack of PPE to be honest. I advised caution a couple of weeks back after the HFEA announcement and the explicit reference made to fertility clinics by Matt Hancock - it was clearly a direct response to pressure exerted by those campaigning to reopen clinics and certain sectors of the media. The HFEA announcement silenced those voices and now there is nothing in the media but most people are still waiting for their clinics to reopen. Wish I'd gone with Create now as they seem at the forefront the campaign to get restarted and one of the few clinics being openly proactive in getting things running again. I fear I will have to go to a private clinic (was previously registered at one) as I'm not optimistic about the Trusts relenting too soon.
Does anyone else have any experience to share about their NHS Trust clinics?

Hi @AnnaLCox

I am with NHS and also funded by NHS in London, hope my experience can give you some ideas. So after Matt Hancock announce that the clinic can apply to re-open on 11 May, I checked the HFEA website and saw that my clinic passed on 15 May (Friday). So I gave the clinic an email and also a call on the following Monday. The receptionist doesn't really know what is going to happen but told me that they still need to finalise how to get people in safely etc but I can request a call back from the nurse (after I explained that my transfer was cancelled hence should be on the priority list). The nurse called me later on that week, and explained to me that they are working through a list of people, with FET and those that the transfer got cancelled first. And despite the fact that my transfer was cancelled on 19 March, (Was going to transfer on 21st) I am not high enough on the list therefore are looking at July.

She also explained that in order to minimise the number of times of hospital visit, they are trying to do as little scan as possible and trying to stagger patients. So all FET will be medicated. And I suspect those are the reasons why everything is taking so long.

Hope this helps.

How many scans do you normally have with a medicated FET? I've only ever done non medicated ones and usually only needed max 3 scans to confirm ovulation is going to happen naturally?

Hi @ivfgottostaypositive

I have not done FET before so I am not sure. But from the information pack they sent me and the conversation with the nurse, I think the reason of having medicated FET is so they can control the date of patients having transfer rather than doing scans and checking if the womb is ready. So they can stagger patients more and make sure there are not many people in the waiting area.