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Infertility

Our Infertility Support forum is a space to connect with others in the same position, discuss causes, treatment and IVF, and share infertility stories of hope and success.

Coronavirus and fertility clinics.

999 replies

mabel92 · 12/03/2020 09:13

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.

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PositiveThinkerAlways · 02/06/2020 22:59

After my consultation online to re-start treatment I wasn’t asked to self isolate or anything like that. I was just emailed forms to sign to say I understood the risks involved with covid -9 still being around and agreed to be tested (alongside my partner). They also said they would be doing minimal scans to reduce the amount of time I would need to actually attend the clinic (approx. 3 rather than the usual 4-6 I have had in previous cycles).

I have never had any good or helpful information from the clinic when ringing them as I have only spoken to the admin staff or a nurse on occasions. I only got any relevant info and put on a priority list when I contacted my consultant directly - not sure if that helps at all???

One of the most frustrating aspects of IVF is the waiting ....Will my follicles grow...will I even get to egg collection.....how many eggs...how many mature....how many fertilise...how many make it to day 3...day 5....etc. But now the waiting has multiplied by 100! Will I ever even get to the clinic and start treatment before I am 105 years old!

Apologies for the rant but this is one crazy journey......hoping it’s all worth it in the end x

mabel9 · 03/06/2020 08:41

It’s all so frustrating waiting for a call and then waiting to start etc. We all have the patience of saints.
@PositiveThinkerAlways I’ve just been sent Covid consent forms too, I’ve been recommended to isolate during treatment (although I’m going for IUI so I don’t know if that will be different).
Has anyone had any issues getting their evidence of Rubella immunity? My doctors surgery don’t have any records of me getting it but my Mum swears I did (I was born in early 90s and I think all babies did?!) Has anyone else had trouble with this?

Lemongrass1 · 03/06/2020 10:45

@bunhead34 It’s so hard isn’t it? But I personally don’t mind being a bit of a nuisance. They had omitted me from their list of people cancelled mid cycle to call back so if I hadn’t chased then I may still be waiting to hear anything. Am currently sitting on my hands to stop myself calling them before this afternoon. But I really need at least 1 days notice to be able to move things around to get to clinic Fri if things going ahead.

@PositiveThinkerAlways Totally on the same page for waiting. Throw in the 2WW and it’s hideous, but I’d be super happy to be on 2WW right now 😂

@mabel9 I had a blood test to confirm my rubella immunity as my vaccination records were incomplete

Lemongrass1 · 03/06/2020 10:57

Just heard from the clinic and I’m starting downreg this Fri!

PositiveThinkerAlways · 03/06/2020 13:52

@Lemongrass1
That’s great news, I’m super chuffed for you and hope the whole process goes smoothly. I can assume that the nhs trust has had permission to go ahead with face to face treatments then?
@mabel2
I wasn’t asked about my rubella vaccination but maybe I will check with my gp beforehand so I am fully prepared so thanks for that.

Liliclaire · 03/06/2020 14:15

@Lemongrass1 that’s brilliant news!
I’ve got my appointment Friday to collect suprecur and meant to be starting injections next Wednesday too so I’ve got my fingers crossed for you!

Is it a full cycle you’re doing? I’m doing FET.

Lemongrass1 · 03/06/2020 14:54

@PositiveThinkerAlways Thank you, am relived to have an answer but I feel so much for everyone who hasn’t got a start date yet. Really hope you hear soon, the waiting and back/ forth is just horrible. The nurse didn’t mention it but I assume the trust have got approval? I don’t actually have to go to clinic on fri anymore either. They said I can just collect the meds from pharmacy and they will see me for downreg scan when they will do the Covid swabs.

@Liliclaire I’m starting on the same drug as you for a FET but my injections start Fri. Looks like we may be on similar timescales x

moneyonmymind · 03/06/2020 21:16

@Lemongrass1 greats news you can start treatment - I am also at Hammersmith and feel like I hVe been bombarding them with emails. We had a freeze all cycle in March and had an appointment for the 4th April ( which was then changed to the end of June)
I spoke with the clinic last week and they said our consultation at the end of June will now be a video link and they will then book in a coordination appointment
It is really positive to hear that treatment has started - I think this has felt like a very (long) and lonely time for so many of us on this journey during these extraordinary times! Hope all goes ok for you on Friday x

thefishthatcouldwish · 04/06/2020 08:59

@Lemongrass1 glad you chased the clinic.

@ivfgottostaypositive glad you are starting treatment.

Hope those of you who are starting treatment are ok with all the changes to clinic etc.

Hope those like myself still waiting actually hear from their clinic.

MotherOfShihTzus · 04/06/2020 11:09

Hello all, hope it's ok to jump in?

I was referred to ivf clinic through nhs in October last year, the wait went from 15 weeks to 6 months, was soon to be contacted, then covid hit 😔 I've been avoiding calling the clinic but did it this week. They are still closed, no view of when they will be open, there is a backlog of ppl whose spots were scheduled then cancelled; new procedures mean that starting new ppl will take longer due to social distancing when they do start up. What all this means is that I'm now not likely to start til next year, and will have to postpone my wedding for the second time (having originally booked it 3 1/2 yrs in advance anyway, thinking we'd have a few kids before 😂 oh the irony).

So I now don't know what to do; we get 2 ivf cycles on the nhs which would increase the number of cycles we could have, however, we'll have to wait a year, and I'm at an age where my chances are likely to decline quickly (almost 35).

Alternative is, to suck it up and go straight fir private; likely starting quicker, but forgoing additional chances going through nhs as we can afford maybe 2 rounds at a push.

I have no idea what to do; wait fir nhs with declining chances, but more chances; or go private, sooner with potentially higher chances but fewer chances? I'm at a loss. Any help would be much appreciated x

bunhead34 · 04/06/2020 12:31

@MotherOfShihTzus I'm so sorry what an awful position to be in! Also sorry about your wedding!

I don't know if your clinic/area is different, but we were in the same position as we are unexplained fertility we would have had to wait another year for nhs treatment.
But we were told if we self fund one round, we would still be eligible for nhs treatment later if that round didn't work.

Xx

PositiveThinkerAlways · 04/06/2020 16:12

@MotherOfShihTzus
That is a difficult situation to be in and no easy answer. From my own experience I would say it often takes quite a few cycles of ivf before being successful as the doctors can learn from each cycle such as how your body responds to the medication etc. I think the statistics show it usually takes around 3 attempts at ivf for a successful outcome too so the more opportunities the better. Would you be able to freeze your eggs through private treatment now and then wait for your nhs rounds as you could draw upon your ‘younger’ eggs at a later stage if your nhs round was unsuccessful?

@moneyonmymind
I’m at the sane clinic as you and seems like I will be starting treatment at the same sort of time (early July) - fingers crossed it all goes ahead and there are no more bumps in the road!

Good luck to those ladies about to start their FET cycles and sincerely hope those ladies who have not heard from their clinics yet do so very soon 🙏🤞🙏🤞 x

moneyonmymind · 04/06/2020 18:55

@PositiveThinkerAlways do you have an appointment confirmed with them? I do feel quite anxious as I know a lot can change and I have been holding out for the video link appointment since March 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
I have seen lots online that they are only doing medicated long protocol? Do you know if this is correct?are you doing a fet? Xxx

Lemongrass1 · 04/06/2020 19:25

@moneyonmymind I was considering to change to a short protocol but they told me they are only doing long protocol medicated FET at the moment. Good luck with your appointment later this month. X

PositiveThinkerAlways · 04/06/2020 20:17

@moneyonmymind
Yes I did have a virtual appointment 2 weeks ago to plan my treatment and booked an appointment for blood tests & a covid test for the following week, only to be telephoned 3 days later cancelling the appointments as they still didn’t have agreement from the nhs trust. So currently I’m waiting for my next monthly cycle before I can proceed. I’m not 100% sure what protocol I will be on, I didn’t ask any questions as I was just relieved to be on the priority list x

LondonIVF12 · 08/06/2020 07:09

Has anyone heard from UCLH?

Liliclaire · 08/06/2020 08:28

For those I said I’d update, had planning/collection of drugs on Friday and I start my injections suprecur on Wednesday to down reg ready for FET. I wasn’t given a full plan though I have been given a certain amount of suprecur and I am to ring the clinic when I get my bleed to discuss the rest of the plan, so I still feel in limbo a bit! I’d rather have rough dates at least for follow up appointments as I’ve always had before (understand things can change). It was very surreal going in wearing masks etc and it felt quite rushed clearly they are trying to keep us there for as little time as possible.

Good luck to anyone starting treatments again and fingers crossed for everyone else you start to get a clearer idea from your clinic when you can start ❤️

Pinkbunny2811 · 08/06/2020 17:13

Had a small win today. Sort of. We can book an appointment for semen analysis (obv we're right at the start of our journey) but our GP didn't email the form through :( so I can email it but still going to take 48hrs to be able to book the appointment. At least it's better than I was initially anticipating.

I also have an appointment to see the obstetrician in October which I'm hoping I can change to a bit earlier soon as we get semen results...

LongerthanMrTicklesarms · 08/06/2020 17:51

@Pinkbunny2811 check your referral, I think obstetrician is for women who are already pregnant, you don't want to wait to October if it's not the correct team, someone on here recently got referred for incontinence instead of infertility!

Hope the semen analysis can be done quickly.

Pinkbunny2811 · 08/06/2020 18:44

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms
Sorry that's me saying the wrong thing. It's defo the right person, I work with them :)
Thanks for the luck. I don't expect it will show anything due to OH's past medical stuff but gta start somewhere

PositiveThinkerAlways · 08/06/2020 18:52

@Liliclaire Thanks for keeping us updated, hopefully your clinic is just experiencing some teething problems as they get up and running. It’s interesting to hear about the changes clinic are making to keep us all safe. Maybe having scans etc by mask bearing health professionals will become the new normal to us!
@Pinkbunny2811
I hope the start of your journey gets off to a flying start and appointments come to you in record time! 🤞

Waiting4myrainbow · 08/06/2020 19:15

Hi Ladies,
Have been following this thread for a while. Just to let you all know the clinics have started treatments. I’m with a private clinic started my FET protocol on May17 and had my frozen embryo transferred today. So TWW here we go again 😬.
I know lots of you have asked what it’s like.... they take your temperature at every appointment.....you sign a covid disclaimer. I had my own face mask which I wore to every appointment. All the nurses and doctors had masks too. Slightly odd to begin with talking through the masks but you get used to it. I didn’t come in contact with many people people. Waiting rooms were empty so that clinics could adhere to social distancing. Let me know if you have any other specific questions and I’ll try to answer as best I can.

Hope you All hear soon from your respective clinics. ☺️

LongerthanMrTicklesarms · 08/06/2020 19:17

@Pinkbunny2811 oh that's good I just didn't want there to be a mix up! If you work with them maybe you will hear if a short notice cancellation comes up?

DH has been taking Wellman conception, not sure if they help but can't do any harm. Hope the GP sends the form asap.

Pinkbunny2811 · 08/06/2020 19:27

@PositiveThinkerAlways thank you

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms I know everything is delayed and wouldn't want to take anyone's spot but I haven't heard anything about them starting up fertility services again yet so not sure.

I'll have a look in to those, thank you

Nmvasey · 08/06/2020 19:54

Evening!

Looks like at my clinic we need to have 2 COVID tests throughout the process which doesn't come as a surprise, feels like another hurdle along with everything else to consider throughout this journey. Is this the case for anyone else? I'm NHS and whilst then have permission from HFEA and the hospital I'm yet to be contacted, the wait is 😬