Can my clinic force me to do FET ?

[duckhouse]

Hi Ladies, 1.5 years back i had a fresh cycle and collected embryos but had OHSS so transfer could not be done. With the collected embryos batch i had 3 FET and all failed. I have 4 ivf cycles approved by HFEA in my area - 2 fresh and 2 FET. I now have zero confidence on that batch and wAnt a fresh cycle but my consultant has again advised for a 4 th FET.. i dont understand why I am being forced to do another FET when i am entitled for another fresh cycle. Consultant is not sure but thinks i might not be able to use fresh cycle as i have embryo in store. However no such clause was mentioned in the approval letter for funded cycle. Has anyone gone through something similar and could go for another NHS funded fresh cycle despite of embryo in store ? Please advise

Yes I believe he is correct you have to use your frozen embryos first before going ahead with another fresh cycles. FETs cost the NHS considerably less money so they aren't going to want to fund a full cycle when you already have embryos ready to go

It's a pretty standard clause even with private IVF if you use finance package/refund guarantees

Yes I've also heard that any frozen embryos need to be used before you can have an other fresh cycle.
Have you thought about getting the frozen ones tested, I'm sure you can get them PGS tested even though they have already been frozen. I don't think it would be funded on the NHS and you would have to pay for the testing. It might be worth asking about?

Hi @ivfdreaming thanks for your reply..i have exhausted all FET cycle fund and any more will hv to be self funded., thats also another reason to use last funded cycle i.e. fresh one..i dont understand why i should not be allowed to use something already approved. I had a very high thyroid during my last fresh cycle (around 4tsh) and also had ohss due to long cycle prescribed despite of being PCO (not PCOD). Which clinic you took package from ?

@ivfjourney5 thanks for your reply. I requested for psg testing and happy to pay additionally for it. But according to my consultant there is no scientific proof that psg testing results into identifying correct embryo.. i dont get it then why so many ppl get it then 😐

I've done PGS testing and to be honest I wouldn't waste your money at this point - mine came back all abnormal/mosaic and had to be destroyed. I didn't test on my next cycle and am now pregnant with twins after getting 2 eggs.

I'm with Create - for cycles 3-5 I took a 5 year bank loan out for £275 a month - £13500 - total 9 eggs and 4 top quality blastocysts (we decided to go for quality not quantity after 2 rounds of normal IVF yielded 28 eggs but 4 average blastocysts)

£275/mth is considerable cheaper than the cost of raising a child when it arrives (childcare is £850+ a month or over £1k or more if you decide to drop a wage to be a stay at home parent depending on what you earn) so financially it is affordable

@ivfdreaming thanks for the info.. it is useful.. i am at the edge now with my clinic and would rather change clinic if i need to pay... my clinic has no variation in cycle type based on the person being treated.. cycles are standard and clinic is nurse led.. having done 4 cycles now i can say that a robot can run the clinic ! Have appointment with consultant on Monday and see how it goes else will start hunting for new clinic.. will look into create clinic.

As someone who had severe OHSS and ended up on critical care, I would always opt for a FET in preference to another fresh cycle