A-Z of fertility process?

[Hopefulgal85]

Hi, I’ve been TTC for nearly 2years now and am 35 years old. I also tried with an ex for 1 year many years ago before things ended with no luck then either.

I have a phone call (no face to face due to Covid) arranged this month to discuss my situation with a fertility consultant. I was hoping someone on this group could outline the process of fertility treatment on the NHS. Timescales, when/if I should turn private if possible to speed things up but being mindful of costs etc...

I haven’t been offered any tests/treatment etc yet so any advice would be appreciated. X

Timescales vary wildly depending where you are and Covid has added delays.

If you are going to go private it might be worth doing it from the start as quite often a private clinic will want you to repeat the tests anyway.

It also depends how good your fertility clinic is, I was constantly chasing them up.

Here's what happened to me:
Told doctor I was struggling to conceive
Doctor sent me for tests
Tests came back ok, doctor referred me to fertility clinic
Fertility clinic appointment, asked me questions, sent me for tests, told me my partner needed sperm analysis
Had HSG, Ultrasound, more blood tests
Went back to clinic with results they gave me Clomid.
Clomid didn't work had to chase for another appointment.
Given more clomid
Clomid still didn't work, they told me they couldn't help any further and said they were referring us for IVF
More tests before being referred
Filled in and sent off IVF forms
Got telephone consultation from IVF clinic
Blood tests
Medication sent
Medication started
Scan
Egg collection and sperm sample
Embryo transfer
Pregnant

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have questions x

Ask the consultant what their wait times are for tests initially. Once you have them done you will know more about your situation and treatment required. Then you’ll be able to weigh up the NHS wait times for treatment against the cost of private treatment.

We went private:
End April - First consultation
May - Tests completed during cycle
End May - Results and IVF recommended
End June - Next cycle started
Mid July - Started tablets
Start August - Started stims
Mid August - EC

I had a freeze all due to OHSS or I would have had a transfer 5 days after EC. Instead I waited for two bleeds before a FET at the start of October.

Thank you so much, that is very helpful. The NHS have now cancelled even my fertility consultant’s phone call due to delays. Private seems the way to go, at least for initial results.