IVF process

[yustynne]

Hi there, I'm completely new in IVF world and I wonder if sb could help me understand what goes after what in IVF. I had my initial consultation, a letter to get booked in for AMH and a phone call to be sent out some sort of consent forms. I'm with the NHS hospital and I'll have to self-fund. I'm thinking to postpone the treatment for at least half year as everything seems to be uncertain and confusing. My initial consultation made me even more confused as the doctor didn't want to explain the process, prices or anything else, instead he was offering to ditch NHS hospital and come to his private clinic. Now if they send me out the consent forms and I sign them, what would that mean? Would I still be able to postpone my treatment? I know there is a waiting list anyway. What's the process then after consent forms? Also I was told that i would have to buy medicines only from hospital pharmacy and I wouldn't be able to shop around. Anybody else went private to NHS hospital and wasn't allowed to shop around? Is that NHS policy?

Out of interest if you're self funding why do you want to be treated in an NHS clinic? The costs will probably be the same and the private clinics usually have no waiting list and will probably be more flexible with appointment times etc.

If you are unsure if you want to go ahead there or are uncomfortable with the specialist then don't sign anything and don't pay for anything. Arrange some consultation with other local clinics and see if you feel more comfortable at them.

It's difficult to say what will happen next as it will depend on your situation: how old are you, what tests have you had, how long have you been ttc, what has prompted you to seek IVF, etc

@Gardenlady543 thank you for your reply. I went with NHS clinic purely because of trying to keep the costs as low as they can be or me thinking I would keep them low. I rang ABC fertility to find out their prices. Looking at their prices online they seemed to be the cheapest clinic but on the phone when I asked about the basic bits that I would need in my treatment, the prices added on top of the other and then it became well over 5k. I have checked other private clinics and their price lists and they all came really expensive looking at around 6 to 7k. We have a MFI and we are not worried about NHS waiting lists as we are not in a hurry and we would like still to try naturally for at least half year. That's why I would like to know what would that mean if we signed the consent forms. Would we be able to postpone our treatment if our turn comes too early? And if we didn't sign the forms, would they remove us from the waiting list? Has anybody received a cheque to pay after signing their consent forms?

I'm not sure about the forms @yustynne but if you are having doubts about doing the IVF right now I would hold off signing them. When I first enquired about IVF my specialist encouraged us to keep trying naturally for longer and told us to have a think about things. So I didn't feel pressured at all.

Most clinics have similar prices and you may find that the adds on are still added at the NHS clinic. You need to budget for it taking at least three cycles, so make sure you've considered the costs involved with that. I went through access fertility 2 cycle no refund package.

If you aren't wanting to start now I would park your current conversations with the clinic and revisit in 6 months. You can use that time to research your different options and work out which clinic is best for you? Prices vary a lot so do shop around, and check what each price includes. Most costs exclude meds (which can be an extra £1-2k) so make sure you factor this in. Our cycle cost £5600 including meds but with no other extras (ICSI etc). If we had had to freeze any embryos that would have cost extra. At time of looking this was definitely one of the cheaper options in our area unless buying into a package scheme, which we weren't eligible for. Be aware with the package deals there are lots of T&Cs you need to make sure you understand. They can be great for some people but are not for everyone. Good luck!

Thank you for your replies. To be honest, I feel a tiny bit pressured because it was so hard to get referred to NHS hospital as my GP was rejecting to refer us because we have to self-fund. For that reason, I don't really want to be crossed out of their lists but instead just postpone my turn.
I looked at so many other clinics but they all seem to come up really expensive. As we already have a child, we would like to go only for one IVF round in attempt for a sibling. We just want to put that final dot to say we have tried it all and have no regrets. I believe we will need some add ons like ICSI and leftover embryo freezing and storage. This NHS hospital is offering ICSI for £3900 including consultations, scans, monitoring, embryoscope, embryo freezing and storage for 1 year and I believe routine tests like HIV and Hepatitis included. Add ons would be AMH, sperm analysis and other serious investigations and also meds. This is what their price list online says but when I asked that specialist about pricing in my initial consultation, he didn't want to talk about prices and said that I would need to pay for everything separate and nothing is included. What would I make out of it? Me thinking it being NHS hospital the prices listed online supposed to be correct as NHS can't really hide them but then what to say about this specialist?

I'm a bit confused - if you're paying privately I don't think you need your GP to refer, even if it is the private wing of an NHS trust. We didn't, although I guess this might vary in different places but seems odd. If you want to pay for it that's up to you! £3900 sounds cheap for what you've said is included but I guess could be correct - it doesn't sound like it includes meds though, and as I said that can be £1-2k on top. Why don't you email the clinic and ask for their current price list? You need to be comfortable with the clinic you go with so if you have doubts already it might be worth considering going elsewhere. That said, clinic choice is a personal decision based on a range of individual reasons, no one can really tell you what would be best for you.

It is worth bearing in mind the likelihood of success from 1 round is low (especially if you are over 35). It takes most 2-3 cycles. You may also end up with embryos to freeze so it's worth considering now whether you would go on to transfer those (at further cost) if your first transfer doesn't work. Hope you work out what's best for you 👍

@MGee123 it was also confusing for me but this hospital insisted on referral from GP or they would not take me in as apparently it was their policy. I'm not surprised our GP didn't want to refer us at first. Oh yes, hat price doesn't include the meds and some tests like AMH. I'm 33 and I know chances of one round may be low but we can afford only one round and possibly one FET if needed but then we have to put a stop there and we agreed on that with my husband. So it will be us and our luck I guess:)
Hopefully, this week I'll find out more from hospital and decide what to do next.