Feedback on private IVF clinics in London

[PicoUK75]

Hi
I am thinking of going private for IVF as it will be my second baby and I am hesitating between Guy's Hospital, CRGH and Kings Fertility.
Any advice? Guy's quoted me £5k max for a round of IVF. Any idea how much are they other ones?
Thank you!!!

Hey! I’ve done cycles at Kings and CRGH. CRGH are my current clinic and excellent - incredibly thorough, personalised etc. they have the highest success rates in London. My consultant is always willing to answer questions. They are more expensive that other places but I feel worth it after my previous experiences.

I did a retrieval, fresh and two frozen transfers at Kings. (All failures). We didn’t have a good experience with them. Beautiful facilities but not personalised care. I didn’t see the same doctor twice.

I found CRGH to be crap and super expensive. They didn’t think outside the box or appear to give much thought to our treatment, just created loads of abnormal embryos. A friend of mine rates the Lister and another said Evewell were excellent.

@PicoUK75 what did you go for in the end?

@Jkjellyhead i have not decided yet as I am still trying naturally and have decided to try acupuncture for a few months. I really don't know which clinic to go to be honest. I find it very overwhelming and I will have only one shot at it as I can't afford any more so it is very stressful to make the right decision! Have you had any good advice on your side? It seems they all have pros and cons!

@PicoUK75 I’m nearing 35 with two failed IVF rounds. I’m sure the NHS are doing their best but I’m nearly 4 years into this process & feel like I’m running out of time so private is hopefully going to be a more responsive route for me. I’ve done research into London clinics and a lot charge £200 for the first meeting so was hoping to get advice from others who have been through. What’s your story?

@Jkjellyhead i am almost 39 so clock is ticking for me and I have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility for my second! I have pco morphology but it seems everything is working fine. My first baby I had to have my ovulation induced and it worked right away but this time around nothing is wrong so the nhs discharged me and told me to keep trying naturally or to try IVF. Being a second baby ivf is not funded by the nhs which is why I was looking at private clinics. What about you?

My only comment on this is that i would be amazed if a private round of ivf ended up only costing £5k. The price you have been quoted probably doesn't include the drugs, which are often £2k or more on their own. Sorry to be a doommonger but it's important to go in with a realistic understanding of actual costs which in my experience is at least £10k per round once all extras accounted for.

I cant advise but I know that various clinics have had their own topics here on mumsnet.

This one is all about people who are/were/plan to go with CRGH and their thoughts: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/infertility/4314149-IVF-at-CRGH

If you search the others they might also have people discussing them. I think reviews combined with price and their success rates might be the best to help. Especially if you have any special needs like genetic testing.

Also 5k does sound cheap, does that include down cycle meds, stimulation meds, blood tests and scans, egg collection, fertilisation and lab stuff, embryo transfer, embryo freezing (if you hopefully have extras) and post transfer meds?

I’ve had two cycle at Kings - one with NHS and one private. The first round is a bit of trial and error and only got 1 egg to day 3. However the second round they got 6 embryos, all pretty good quality and am currently pregnant with the second FET. I paid about 12K all in all for 1 retrieval and 2 transfers, including meds. Yes they’re a bit impersonal (won’t see the same doctor), but what I liked about Kings is they are open every day- including hols! Could move me straight to next treatment once one round failed without wait times, and happily did blood tests for me when I was worried and suspected my chemical/ ectopic - without charge.

@AMN3000 have you started with CRGH? Are you happy with them?thanks!

At 39 I would crack on with ivf and not try naturally. I wished I hadn’t waited so long to start. I was scared and kept delaying ivf.
I didn’t go with any of these but found Argc good and tailored to me in each treatment.
I just had my baby