Abc IVF

[computersaysso]

Has anyone recently had IVF with abc IVF? They have approved me for a frozen cycle only at the moment.
Do you know if they are only doing frozen cycles in light of the pandemic.
We have mainly chosen them due to low cost. I appreciate that the low cost means cut backs in certain areas, but I'm often waiting for 1-1.5 hours on the phone to speak to a central phone line for all branches.
It's tricky as I know that IVF is really down to the individuals body response, but I still feel that decisions made by doctors about medication doses etc are important.
Keen to hear about others experiences.

@edibletreats thats good to hear.
We've been booked in for the 16th so will find out more then. We've also booked DH in for some more bloods this week to see if there is anything more we can do to improve his quality. Its at a more local clinic and I'm not as impressed with them, so glad we went with ABC!

Hi everyone! Hope its okay to join in. Thank you for creating this thread, I’ve read through all your stories and have my fingers crossed for all of you who are in the middle of treatment!

I had my baseline scan last week and everything looks good which is great. I have my consultation on the 9th (week today) and then would be looking to get things started ASAP. What are the next steps after initial consultation/ timings etc?
Thanks all!

Hi @Strawberry08 welcome :) from my initial consultation to the treatment consultation it was 3 weeks but it was over Christmas and new year and there wasn’t much availability. I signed all the consent forms during this time and had my vaccination history and a recent smear test to send in. Also had blood tests too. Once the treatment consultation happened it was a case of ordering medications and waiting for my period to start. It was late, typical I had my first injection this evening. It’s hard to arrange anything until you get your treatment consultation. I now have a rough idea of when I’ll go in for scans. Hope this helps. Hope it goes quickly and runs smoothly for you x

@LeanneRW thank you that’s super helpful. I have already sent smear/bloods etc and signed all my consent forms so hopefully after my initial consultation my treatment consultation will happen quite quickly, although the way things are happening in my cycle I think I’m going to have to wait 6 weeks or so as my period is due in 10 days so will have to go on cycle after next which is annoying.

After initial consultation do you have to have further bloods?

Ah good luck with your treatment! Please keep us all updated and I will have my fingers crossed for you x

Sounds like your ready to go once you have that then :) I was frustrated over Christmas felt like it could of been quicker I guess that comes from all the waiting before. But when I look back I first did a webinar December 6th do from that point to starting the medications yesterday is pretty quick. Take the time you’ll have to get ready. No just the one set of bloods during that time.

Thank you I’ll keep you posted x

@Strawberry08 welcome! It is pretty quick but depends on the clinic as they each have different wait times for consultations. If your next AF is in about 10 days you're looking at your next one though as it will be a few weeks for the treatment consultation after your initial one and then a week for meds to arrive. You may need more bloods tests depending on what you've had. The only one they make sure you have is the non communicable diseases (hiv, hep a etc) which they do themselves before you start treatment. I think mine was the weekend before my treatment consultation, but after the initial consultation and you've paid the 500 deposit.

@LeanneRW hope it all goes well for you!

@Beaglemum91 @LeanneRW
Fab thanks both! I’ve got my initial consultation on the 9th and then il let you know when my treatment consultation is booked in for and then go from there.
I feel as though I have some hope now starting treatment so it’s exciting!!

Hi all,

I took a pregnancy test yesterday and it was negative but my blood test today came back positive. But the hcg level was 50 which is on the low side. I am now going back to for another blood test on Saturday.

I am 11dp3dt today. Is this still quite early? Is this the same as 14dpo?

Hi everyone,
I’m new to this mums net but wanted to use it as a platform to investigate about ABCivf, and that’s where I have found this feed! It sounds really positive.

So I am looking around to start my 2nd round of ICSI. My first was thankfully funded and I had it at the london women’s clinic in 2018/2019 which resulted in my little boy who is now 16 months.

I have a few questions about your experiences with ABC which I hope you can answer 🤞🏽

1. Do they allow you to transfer 2 embryos? (My first round of ICSI, I had 2 embryos transferred and only 1 stuck! 🙏🏼 But obviously if I didn’t have 2, I’m not overthinking that I may not have my little boy!)

1. Is the cost advertised actually what we will pay? Have any of you have major hidden costs? Of course every cycle is different so sometimes unexpected costs will arise, but on the whole?

1. I live near Gatwick airport, so ABC Wimbledon would probably be my closest clinic however I can travel to the harley street one? Which would you recommend?

I’m sure I had more questions but I’m so pleased to have found this feed! Congratulations to you all and for anyone going through IVF/ICSI, keep going 🙏🏼 It’s bloody hard but the end goal makes it all worth it xxx

Hi @edibletreats! It’s hard to say if it’s early or not, some people get an early positive and some people take longer as this will depend when the embryo implanted. The result seems like halfway between a positive and a negative so it could go either way. I’m thinking about you and keeping everything crossed. Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

@Whitney93 hi!! I’ve had a cycle at abc Harley street and Wimbledon. At Harley street they’ve done all my ultrasound scans and at Wimbledon they did egg collection and embryo transfer. Both places are small and have a cosy feeling. Staff are lovely at both clinics and I was always treated warmly and professionally.
I don’t think they allow 2 embryo transfer as they always try to go with a mild approach that is the safest for the mother.
The costs are real, I pad in total 2500 for ivf (didn’t need ICSI) and 995 for freezing an embryo. The only extra was the progesterone once a positive pregnancy test was confirmed. All medications were included.
I think I answered all your questions! :)
Best of luck!

Hi everyone,

I was having a look into Abc Ivf and was so happy to come across this thread, filled with so much information and support. It's my first time properly looking into my ivf options and after reading through the whole of this thread, I attended their zoom chat yesterday and have booked in for my initial consultation in March. It has been so lovely to read all your advice.

@luckfor2021 thank you so much for responding and so quickly 🙏🏼
That sounds really positive. I have booked my scan and initial consultation for mid March at ABC Wimbledon.
In my first round I needed progesterone up until I was 12 weeks. Although I know every pregnancy is different (I pray my next if I’m lucky enough for it to work it... my first pregnancy was HELL 🤮🤮🤮) , but how much is the progesterone if I were to need it again? Just so we can factor this in!
Thank you so much again and good luck with everything xx

@edibletreats finger crossed for you, let us know how it goes.

@Whitney93 welcome! I was at Manchester so don't know about those clinics but I'm pretty sure tjey only transfer one embryo at a time. We had icsi and there were not additional costs at all, even when we needed more medication during the cycle. The only extra I paid for was more progesterone pessaries which were about £30 a box of 21 they told me. I ended up getting sent a prescription for them (as I'm far from the clinic and was going to run out before blood test) and they didnt charge for this and I got them from my local boots, 2 boxes for under £60.
There are some extra costs for things like freezing and FET but that was all explained to me during the process by the patient coordinator so I know what they were.

@Beaglemum91and @Whitney93 if you have a big Asda with a pharmacy nearby you can get a box of utrogestan for £21. I read somewhere that they were the cheapest and went directly to them as I’ve had to buy now in total 4 boxes. Just in case it helps :)

@Luckfor2021 I will definitely do that next time, I wasn't able to this time as I just needed to get them before they ran out! Hope you're doing okay :)

@Beaglemum91 ah thank you so much for that info.

I had to do progesterone injections from about 5 weeks in my previous pregnancy as I started bleeding at 5 weeks? Has anyone experience the injections with ABC? I’m hoping it doesn’t happen again but just looking at the bigger picture and any costs! Whatever we have to oh we of course will just so we know what to expect!

That’s good to know about Asda as well. I read this earlier on in the feed 👏🏽

Ah ok, so looks like we will only be able to have 1 transferred... fingers crossed we even get to have 1 🤞🏽

Do you need to have a recent smear test as well? My last one was just before my previously pregnant which Would have been done in 2018 so should I call my doctors and book in? And also bloods?

Sorry for all the questions; just trying to be as organiser as possible.

Thank you all so much for your responses.

And I love that there is this feed to all communicate through when we are going through the same thing! Makes it so much better x

@Whitney93 I'm not sure about the smear as I'd only had one a few months before. I hadn't had any bloods prior to going for my initial consultation so unless you need them for something specific it should be fine. Our issue is MFI so I'd not been investigated and we weren't ever with the NHS for this so if you've had bloods before and want them so you have an update to show them I don't think that would be a bad thing. We just provided them with my DH SA. They do the diseases bloods they need when you decide to go ahead after your initial consultation.

Hi everyone,

Bit of a blow today 😢. Husband had his sleek analysis results back today. Low sperm count, low motility & abnormal morphology. None of them are REALLY bad but accounts for difficulties in conception and maybe also the miscarriages. Needed a sperm dna fragmentation test to confirm about cause or miscarriage but those results will take a few weeks.

I’m so worried that even with ICSI, it still won’t help to prevent miscarriage so it will be wasting money to still have the same outcome.
Clinic who did testing said it will be difficult for us to conceive and carry full time naturally.

Any experience from those of you in the group with male fertility issues and IVF/ICSI?

Still going for my initial consultation on the 9th to chat to them about it but thought I would ask for your experiences here. Thank you xx

@Whitney93 my smear wasn't due until April 2021 but i had one done as they said they needed a more up to date one. My period is due 15th Feb and we have all the meds ready to go. Ring or email to see what they say at your clinic. When booking smear make sure you tell your docs you have to have it done early or you can't start private IVF. Do not let them fob you off as they tried telling me nhs didn't allow early ones but i managed to get one in the end. A couple of days after your smear I would recommend finding online your email address for the admin of cervical screening for your area. I emailed mine explaining the situation and they prioritised sending me my results which i had in 6 working days. Nurse doing the smear told me 4 to 6 weeks and i was worried i was going to be putting treatment off for another month or two.

I had my first appointment (baseline scan) right at beginning of jan and now I'm waiting for my period to start this cycle.. just to give you an idea of how long the process has been for me. X

@edibletreats thinking of you - really hoping you got positive news today xx

Hi @Beaglemum91! I’m fine thank you! How are you doing? I hope you can start another cycle soon and that you’re treating yourself to many nice things in the meantime.

@Whitney93 they did ask me for a blood test and specifically to look at my TSH to make sure my thyroid wasn’t the problem as we didn’t have MFI.

@edibletreats I’ve been thinking of you today!
@StarryHannah how exciting you’re starting so soon!

@Strawberry08 sorry to hear that, we felt the same when my DH got his results, he's low all round with less than 2mil, only just 2% morph and less than 15% mobile but no forward momentum :( its hard but with ICSI they can pick out the normal sperm to use and lots of people can get pregnant that way. We do believe its the reason we had a bad result this round, but its not impossible. He's been recommended to have the dna frag test but we've started with some bloods first as he's not covered at all for fertility treatment on the NHS and that test is 1000 near us. He also has a varicocele which can cause low results but there isn't much we can do about that as the NHS won't do anything about them unless it's causing pain and sicomfort which it isnt. It's so hard but we're trying to stay positive and do what we can.

@Beaglemum91amazing thank you so so much. I think I will call my doctors on Monday and just ask to be booked in as mine will be due in a few months anyway! Can’t believe it’s already been 3 years and would rather have it all in place rather than waiting once I’ve had my consultation.
I won’t worry about bloods because our issue is MFI as well. Will they do a new SA as my other half’s was obviously last done 3 years ago aswell as this is where we discovered why we weren’t getting pregnant and referred!

@StarryHannah thank you so much! That is really good advise! I will definately chase the results! Ah it’s like deja vu, wish I knew this 3 years ago when I had a second smear through my previous Fertility clinic because the results were taking so long!

Thinking of everyone going through your journeys at the moment ❤️

Thank you @Beaglemum91, I really appreciate you taking the time to give that info.
My husbands results were 10m count per ml (but 45m in whole sample), 1% normal morphology (although was 4% 6 months ago so bit confused about this!!) and then 25% progressive/ 27% non progressive.
We did the dna frag test, it’s not so bad at about £370 here and it’s the final test for us both as all my tests are normal and at least we know all the information.
I am hoping ICSI can help us, got to give it a go at least!

I’m surprised the nhs won’t help with assisted fertility, what criteria does a man have to meet to be helped?
Also make sure to let the doctors know if your husband ever feels any kind of future discomfort from the varicocele, even if minor as would be good to get that sorted for him.
When is your next ICSI cycle? X

Hi all,

Thanks for those asking after me. Bloods were not good yesterday, hcg level went up marginally. So back in tomorrow for another blood test. If its decreasing I think I can come off progesterone as that indicates a chemical. Any increase or the same level may mean an ectopic and referral to an early pregnancy unit at my local hosp. I think any chance of a viable pregnancy can be ruled out at this stage.