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.

@AliciaWhiskers what clinic are you ?

@LongtermTTC - yes you’re right it’s a small positive if we can get to collection and freeze to preserve age given the situation . Fingers crossed 🤞🏻 .

..... just phone Care and they would accept frozen embryos for transfer but it would involve the courier cost and also the FET costs ( about £2k ) with them 😢

My best friend is having there egg collection this week and she has been told that her eggs will have to be frozen and implantation delayed. My sister is also having IVF but privately and only just started the process. She's also been told that her eggs will be frozen.

@Xx40yearsyoungxx London women’s clinic in Cardiff

My clinic part of the Fertility Partnership are not doing any tranfers - i can start stimming for a freeze all. Dont know what to do 🥺

ABC is part of Create

I suspect most clinics won't accept transfer patients as they'll be prioritising getting people already on their books through the process and sometimes clinics can be a bit funny about accepting people who are on protocols with other clinics and doctors as they won't know your history etc

Hey @HelloGabriel yeah with BelfastFertility its my 2nd cycle.

So I’ve called a few clinics and they all seem to be willing to accept the embryos. I’m waiting to hear back from the chief embryologist from my current clinic. I’m not anticipating that I can continue this current cycle or even start again in next few months. But my concern is that the NHS clinics will be closed for considerably longer than the private ones due to other understandable demands on their resources.

Oh god @YogaPants4 it's so stressful isn't it.

I'll prob go as far as EC if they let me but my biggest fear is my endo will grow back in the meantime, ruining everything 😢

@Lemongrass1
I agree - I suspect NHS won't be back on line for months and they may use this as a reason to cut funded IVF further especially in regions still getting 3 cycles

Given the cost implications of the virus on the NHS it could take months or even years to get back to full capacity

Our clinic is still planning to go ahead. We have FET tomorrow.

I’ve just been for my scan after a week in to stimming. I’ve been told that my eggs will be collected next week and fertilised but any embryos as a result will be frozen. The nurse was lovely and said that there is no risk to frozen embryos but as this virus is so new it is not safe to go ahead with trying to get women pregnant. I enquired about going to a private clinic and transferring embryos as an option for me. She said that is allowed but she would not recommend going ahead and that any clinic stating they will still do transfers should be questioned morally and about their concerns for the women they are treating because they are going against the advice given by national and worldwide agencies. It’s a very hard choice but thought it may help some people to consider everything following what I was told this morning.

Ok ladies,

I don't want to cause a panic but I called two clinics near me (which I was going to choose between the two because I was going to be a private client) and they said they don't accept new patients anymore.

They said they will do the usual pre checks (bloods and scans) but not have new ones that's because "pregnant woman are in risk group and they don't know the virus's impact on the them"

… so that's it for me I guess "until further notice"….

I think you should call them if you want an outright answer about your specific situation… I said "they need to update their websites asap with this" but they said the advice is keep changing so they are trying to do it as quick as possible....

So please don't wait them to contact you or update their websites, call them and see what they will say - especially if you have something ongoing ….

I’m having my embryo transfer this afternoon - when I spoke to the embryologist earlier she said they would only transfer if I was able to do good social distancing, work from home which luckily I am doing already. She said they still don’t know exactly what the risks of Corona on very early pregnancy are, but at the moment the risk would be if I had a high fever as this can affect embryos. It’s scary, I have a history of miscarriages and my anxiety levels are already high, but we are going ahead. Just holding my nerve...

@ByTheSeaCatsandAll - congrats . I would make an informed decision and do the same as you . Fingers crossed for you . Try not to stress . Keep us updated x

@ByTheSeaCatsandAll fingers crossed for you. I am a front line NHS worker so I can't work from home. Maybe we should cancel...I wish someone would just tell me what to do!

@ByTheSeaCatsandAll
Excellent, how exiting !!! You have just made it in time. I think if you self isolate after the transfer you will be fine:) keep us posted xxx

I just wanted to share the link to HEFA www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-press-releases/2020-news-and-press-releases/hfea-coronavirus-covid-19-guidance/

It explains why some clinics are proceeding and others are cancelling. Because closing clinics do not want to loose customers they will argue that clinics who are continuing treatment are doing so irresponsibly. But there is no scientific evidence to suggest that there is any harm at this time and HEFA which is an independent body, can only make recommendations based on scientific evidence- as such they will not say that fertility treatment should be stopped. But there are, of course, always risks to getting ill while pregnant (like the flu or food poisoning). At the moment my treatment is still going ahead but the circumstances still may change. Good luck everyone! Xxx

I had a scan at my clinic this morning, they are proceeding with the cycles they have already started but freezing all.
They're also not taking on any new patients.

I suppose I'm lucky we can freeze and it's not just outright cancelled

Gosh so stressful for everyone.
I have found a private clinic to transfer to. I was day 2 following downregulation on the NHS about to start stimulation when cancelled.
My NHS consultant called me and recommended freezing as the virus may stop nhs treatment for a year.... and he advised my AMH is too low to wait.

We have a small amount of savings over the years that we had put aside for a flat deposit which we will now use for treatment, trying to not think about the financial hit and know I am fortunate to have a least something saved to go ahead with one freezing cycle privately.

From speaking with my consultant I advise that get to a private clinic and freeze what you can. There is no way to predict how long this could last for and at least you will have something in the freezer for the future.

X x x

Hope you don’t mind me joining here, I’ve read all your posts and you all seem to be as stressed and worried as me!!

Ive been stimming for a week had my day 7 scan yesterday, I was told they may take me to egg collection then freeze but were really vague about it. I’m devastated this was my first and last chance for a fresh transfer. On my last go we were NHS funded and I totally overstimulated so cycle had to be cancelled, I did FET 3 times and was unsuccessful so I really wanted a fresh transfer. I now don’t know what to do, do I cancel completely or take them to frozen and chance FET again when age is less on my side than before 😩 and if I cancel is that my money gone? We really can’t afford to be paying anymore out.

My clinic are not saying much at all so I’m stressed and worried now when I should be relaxed 😔 I’m going for day 9 scan tomorrow so hopefully they’ll be able to tell me more, they better be ready for me as there’s a million questions running round my head 🙈😂

Fingers crossed for everyone xx

Hi ladies,

I am in the south west. I had my egg collection today and in recovery afterwards I was told that it would be a freeze all because of coronavirus. I had prepared myself for it and was just so grateful to get the egg collection over and done with. They told me it is likely to be around 6 months before they are in a situation to go ahead with a frozen transfer. They also said that in the next week or so they anticipate having to cancel all cycles including egg collection.

Now that I've thought about it more I am really upset. I know that it makes sense from a medical point of view, the last thing i would want is to use any blastocyst i might get, become pregnant and then have a miscarriage due to high fever from the virus in early pregnancy. But on an emotional side I just can't bear the thought that everyone else will be getting pregnant around me and I have to wait even longer than i already have. I was ok when we had a plan and we were doing something about our situation, but now its just yet another six months of waiting 😔

@CarbsAndCheese it's good that you got as far as egg collection! Are you private as well?

I'm only day 3 stims so could still be cancelled before collection.

It is upsetting, but there is nothing we can do ☹️

My clinic told me if they are getting people pregnant and those people have non corona related complications, then it's just more strain on the nhs that they won't beable
To deal with.
It does make sense, but doesn't make it any easier.
6 months feels like forever to wait. Xx

I had my transfer and am feeling very grateful to have made it this far, thanks for your kind wishes @Xx40yearsyoungxx @AliciaWhiskers and @Katiebooboo

My clinic said that they are seeing through anyone who started treatment, and still transferring as normal for now. I’m really sorry for everyone who had been affected, it’s so unfair.