IVF referral criteria

[Vejc]

Hi everyone, I’ve been struggling with fertility. Finally got an IVF referral from my GP and it’s been declined as I had a miscarriage…. It seems my CCG (Bristol) says you have to wait 2 years after one and this will take me over 40. Can’t find anything online about this… just wondering if anyone else had come across this. Feels pretty rough…

I'm sorry to hear this. Every ccg is different. Mine says no live births after ttc for 2 years, so even though I'd had 2 losses we were eligible for one fresh cycle. But I do know someone who is under Bristol ccg and had to wait 2 years. They stopped trying while waiting. I feel these polices are often set to make sure no one can use them. It's crap.

Does the policy also give an age criteria? It might be worth going through the appeals process, but you might be better to look into private options.

Also, when we were referred, we were under the hospital and had further tests (hsg, hysteroscopy, scan) so it was about 9 months after the GP referral that we got the ivf referral. But I know each area is different. But you might be able to have some of those investigations in the meantime.

Best wishes x

I'd recommend looking into at least assessment privately. Cost us 1k for every assessment on both sides, which was useful as then once we finally got into NHS fertility clinics we didn't need to wait another 1.5 years whilst they did all those assessments!

I am sorry to hear this. It doesn't seem fair at all! Is there anyone you could consult about this?

The NICE guidelines for women over 35 is 6 months so I would go back to him on that. But yes even miscarriages and ectopics "count" in term of fertility referrals so the clock gets reset each time