private or nhs

[Whilstwewait]

Hi

I Know its ultimately my decision but my mind is going crazy so just after people's thoughts.

We got referred for fertility in March. We have now been trying a year with sperm sample coming back normal and my bloods coming back normal. I have a regular 32 day cycle. Ovulate day 18 but usually spot from day 30.

I'll be 35 in October and my husband will be 37. Im thinking NHS treatment will be at least a year at which point im nearly 36.

We have the money to go private so won't be getting into debt but are not rich by any means. Its money we saved for our future plus a gift from parents that we put aside for nursery costs and our future family. Id definitely go private if we had a known issue, but i know IVF is a difficult process with no guarantee of success and I keep thinking we could technically get pregnant naturally in a few months but of course we may not. My mind is muddled

Any thoughts? x

Tricky one. Do you know how many cycles you'd be entitled to in your area on the NHS? Most NHS trusts state if you pay to go private first it comes off your NHS entitlement - ie if you are entitled to 3 cycles and have 1 private first then you only get 2 NHS

Have you had any correspondence following the referral? Have you had any appointments with the fertility clinic? The whole process can take up to a year and obviously there is a backlog at the moment.

Private is much quicker - I was able to start within 2 weeks as it worked with when I got my cycle day 1 but again most private clinics also have a backlog at the moment. I'd explore both options at the same time - let the NHS referral run its course whilst researching into private clinics - there are so many and it can be difficult to choose between them and i would advise doing some open evening webinars to get a feel for the clinics. Also not every IVF clinic offers the same treatment - we specifically wanted short protocol or natural modified IVF and Create is only the clinic offering that. Also if you wanted to sign up to a refund package - you pay a bit more but based on your medical history you could either have unlimited cycles within 24 months or up to 100% refunded if it doesn't work (takes pressure off) then that's only available at a few clinics like Care.

@ivfgottostaypositive thanks for all your help. Its so overwhelming at the moment so much to think about. We had only just been referred before lockdown so havent had our first appointment which makes me think we are looking at a year before we even get started.

We would get 2 cycles on the NHS where we live. I have checked and there's 2 clinics that this would be offered in either the hewitt centre in liverpool or the Shropshire and mid wales fertility centre (the Shropshire one would be an hour and a half from where we live. Liverpool would be closer)

Do you think if we go private it would be best to go to the same clinic that would do an NHS cycle? We also have the option of a care clinic which would be closer but doesnt do NHS for our area.

In terms of being eligible for nhs treatment once we have gone private the policy just states

'For couples 3 or more cycles by either partner will exclude any further NHS treatment. Previous cycles whether NHS or privately funded will be taken into account'

So i think we would be ok for NHS after? The 3 cycles just confuses me though as NHS only offer two

As we havent actually had any appointments yet i havent really got a clue about type of treatment and wouldn't really know where to start.

Thanks for all your help. I appreciate it. I do like to weigh up everything before making a decision so can ask a lot of questions xx

Previous cycles whether NHS or privately funded will be taken into account'

This reads to me that if you have 1 private cycle first your NHS entitlement will be reduced to 1?

They talk about 3 cycles because this is what the NICE guidelines recommend but each individual NHS trusts sets its own policy - some therefore offer zero IVF, other large 2 or 1 cycle

I personally wouldn't use the same clinic for private and NHS if its at an NHS facility. Couple of reasons

• it's the clinics located within NHS hospitals which have the longest delays restarting treatment even if it's for private paying patients

• level of service different - more one size fits all rather than tailored approach. Can be more rigid on when you can start treatment - eg if your cycle day 1 falls on an inconvenient day of the week which would mean a weekend egg collection you often get cancelled and made to wait a month

Location is important as it's stressful enough without panicking about getting there and traffic. I chose mine because it was close to both home and work (they have sister clinics where I could get scans done if I wanted)

Thanks @ivfgottostaypositive

It appears that the only clinic around here that isnt NHS is ABC in liverpool but it hasnt reopened yet.

My husbands friends did IVF on nhs. Took them over a year to start and I imagine covid will add on at least an extra 4 months so definitely private for us.

They have recommended their clinic and with their only being 2 within a reasonable distance we are going to book a consultation. Still lots to think about in terms of payment packages etc but feel we are getting somewhere. This one is a lot more expensive than ABC though xx

I actually had a better experience with my NHS clinic than the private one!

ABC is the sister (no frills) clinic Of my clinic Create and I've found them very good. ABC is also much cheaper which is also good! 🤣

Wow, I could have written this post myself! Been TTC for 18 months, I'm 30 and my husband is 40. Bloods are normal, semen analysis normal, ovulating normal! I've had referrals for both NHS and private and I'm leaning towards private. Simply because I've been so out of control of my body when it comes to conception that right now I think going private will give me more control. I'll be able to choose my appointment times, doctors and treatment options. Like you I have the money, but when it's gone we'll have very little left.
Have you had your initial tests/scans at a private clinic yet?

I had two failed IVF rounds on the NHS then chose a clinic abroad. We used it for further investigations and diagnostics. Got sent away for 6 months to try naturally before a plan to go back and use them for IVF.

Got pregnant naturally 4 months after returning home, after 6 years of unexplained infertility.

I much preferred the private experience, and I do believe that had I been able to have those (private) tests on the NHS, I wouldn’t have needed to use IVF at all (saving them money, but that’s not how it works, sadly!).

My NHS clinic (I’m in the South so no good for you) has decent reviews but I hated the whole experience. You are a number to the consultants, although the nurses were charming. My private experience gave us both hope, explained far more, and made the greatest difference to our lives - I’m now 21 weeks pregnant.

Allow me to join this thread . Am 41yrs, husband is 43 . TTC for 4 yrs with a couple miscarriages.
We have just begun the IVF journey and starting short protocol this weekend .
Looking for any tips and buddies starting this journey post Covid19?

If time is an essence due to age and esp COVID then I would go private

Also worth looking abroad. After 2 failed private cycles in UK we went abroad - with better technology’s- icsi as standard and higher drugs we for some to freeze

And it’s cheaper

After 10yrs ttc / 5 private ivf attempts we for our first ever bfp

She is now 3

NHS for me... 1free go and 1 paid with them.. pregnant from both goes... and have 1 little 10month old madam 🥰
Private clinic never entered my head good luck x