Very low AMH/IVF abroad

[Pippin34]

Hi,

I'm hoping for some advice from you lovely ladies as I start my ivf journey.
I'm nearly 35 and have a low amh (0.4 pmol) and having to make the decision of whether to try ivf with my own eggs or go straight to DE. The NHS have refused to assist with my eggs due to my low amh and there's a 2 year wait for donor here.
We've looked into ivf abroad and have had consultations with Gennet and Reprofit in Czech Republic.

Can anyone offer advice around how much cheaper it ends up being abroad? We've been given prices for ivf with my eggs abroad (around £2700) and looking at a clinic in the UK it states it would be £3300. I understand this does not include medication and there will probably be extras along the way. I'm just trying to understand the pros of having it abroad as with flights/accommodation and the sheer inconvenience/annual leave of it being abroad it seems with these prices there's not much in it?
Are there a lot more hidden costs in the UK?

From what I see DE seems to be a lot cheaper abroad but it's the standard ivf price that's confusing me.

Sorry about the amount of questions, I'm new to this and just a little overwhelmed by the amount of organisation and hassle abroad will be if it will only save a few hundred quid. Equally I'm aware if we try with my own eggs, there's a high chance I will have to resort to DE given my AMH so it's a lot of cash to part with. It's a hard decision!

I'd appreciate any advice re cost comparisons and such a low amh level.

TIA

Xxx

I haven't started IVF yet, but am going private as NHS wait time is quite long in my area so I have done all the calculations and been horror struck at some costs I hadn't thought of! The clinic I'm going with has IVF for about £3500, obviously not including meds. I'd likely be long protocol as we have MFI and need as many eggs as possible, so that's about £2000 worst case scenario (I've found it helps to think of max price so you don't get disappointed when you receive a bill). The initial consultation plus the AMH blood trst and astral follicle scan adds up to about £600 alone, then the thing that shocked me was for the price of the IVF you only get one fresh transfer when private. If that fails, any frozen embryos you have are charged at £2200 each! That was a huge learning curve for me, as although it's classes as one round of IVF, the funding element is you pay for the frozen ones.
I didn't want to gamble on one fresh transfer so I'm going for a mumticycle IVF package, which is for me £8500 because we'll have ICSI, plus meds so looking at around £11,000 for two cycles. In this you get any and all frozen embryos transferred included in the costs and a few other little benefits here and there.

Good luck on your journey, its such a difficult time of decision making isn't it! X

Antral not astral, not having a celestial baby! Typing on mobile not ideal sorry for typos!

Have you looked at create? They will treat women with AMH too low for NHS treatment? I'd imagine their costs when you factor in travel and leave like you say won't be too far away from using DE abroad.
Why not try an own egg cycle? You won't know until you try it? You can do a 3 cycle package of natural ivf at create for around £10k. (I did 3 cycles with ICSI and some drugs and that was £13k)

You could do a tandem cycle in Cyprus where you and the donor are stimulated at the same time. It's a v cheap way to get a round and you have the donor back up if you need it.

Hello! As I also have been recently searching for clinics abroad, I found the CGR . org website very useful! It's an official site that rates all types of clinics. I've been researching the top five clinics. Seems the best overall are in Greece, Spain and N. Cyprus. Hope this helps!
xx

Is low amh your only issue? If so studies have been done which show that low amh makes zero difference to natural conception - look it up.

my amh was 2.7 pmol (so v low) age 34 and I’ve been pregnant three times since - twice naturally and once via ivf.

i would be very sure about all this before jumping to donor eggs - especially at 35. It’s not like you’re 43.

I really appreciate all of your replies, very helpful!

@Imisscoffee2021 Wow I didn't think of the extra cost of frozen transfer. I did look at a multi package with Create but with how low my amh levels are and limited funds I didn't know whether that was right for me. Wishing you all the luck in the world, I'm thinking of you. Let me know how you're getting on.

@pastramionrye When I mentioned Create to the NHS and my acupuncturist they sounded cautious and said they are more money orientated than having your best interests at heart however I have read some good things. How was your experience?
If I had more savings I would defo do the 3 package deal but I worry I will use up all my funds on it when I need to prepare for DE as a back up, which is more pricey. I hope things worked out for you.

@AliceAbsolum I will look into this, did you or someone you know do this?

@Minamina Thanks I am also going to look at this and the tandem cycle and costs. What have you decided?

@Ilikeviognier Yes it's just my amh, although when I had my baseline scan I only had 1 strong follicle. How many follicles did you have? I also had a laparoscopy not so long ago. They did Hycosy too and said the dye did not get through the fallopian tubes but showed no blockages. They said they wouldn't do anything to fix this as it can do more harm than good which I challenged and I still don't have an answer but I have another NHS phone consultation this week so hopefully they can answer my questions.

It's very difficult as I keep being told my chances are extremely low which makes me believe there is little point with my own eggs but I definitely will try at least once. Who knows, I might react well to medication. I'm glad you had success and I hope things worked out as you wanted.

Xxx

Your chances may be low via ivf but that doesn’t mean the same applies naturally.

I had six follicles. And ivf worked the first time with 4. Yes I know I was very lucky and who knows - maybe it was just a total one off but as soon as my period came back after the ivf bday we started trying again: 2 weeks later I got a positive test so I have my suspicions about low amh and what difference it makes. They are bound to say that to you for ivf as it’s all about getting as many eggs as possible and chances are you won’t produce many. Then again, quality is more important than quantity.

“After the ivf BABY”

Had a child via gynem in Prague.
happy to share info if you
PM me

@Pippin34 I've narrowed it down and after some research I'm really liking Dunya IVF. It appears to have good reviews and top of the line equipment which is important to me. Hopefully it lives up to the results it mentions. I'm booking a consultation this week! Keep your fingers crossed
xx

@Minamina How do you arrange a consultation with Dunya in Cyprus? Also how long do you have to stay in Cyprus for the treatment?

I just phoned them and arranged a time! they were rather quick which was nice. I'm so eager to get started. Honestly it depends on what you're doing, but maybe just give them a ring? They said the consultation wouldn't be charged so you have nothing to lose. I'm super new to all of this also! just kind of going with my gut feeling. hope I helped out !
xx

This is so great for me to read. I’ve just been told my AMH is 3.9 and I’m 34, trying for our second which is taking a while (2 years so far).
was there anything you did to get pregnant naturally? And do you mind me asking why you did IVF for one?
I’ve been told to have IVF in 6 months to ensure I have enough eggs.

Hi all, I hope this thread is still live. So I have just arrived in N.Cyprus and have been to Dunya IVF clinic. They are very good, but during the tests, everything was going fine until we got to my AMH levels, I’m 37 but it came out as 0.08. I was absolutely heartbroken. But I still was showing 7 follicles. Dunya didn’t reject me and it’s actually been very very affordable. I did another AMH test and it increased to 0.14, still incredibly low but they are happy for me to continue. It’s €3,000 for the whole end to end treatment, not including meds, but meds here are half the price as in the UK. All my scans and multiple bloods are included. First cycle I had an abnormal large follicle so I had it popped in order for the other follicles to be able to grow. However the dr did suggest that this did not have a great chance in success. But I carried on with the cycle anyway as it was just the costs of the meds, unfortunately I wasn’t responding much to the meds, so on day 10 we stopped the cycle. I’m not starting acupuncture tomorrow and eating healthier to start the next cycle in 3 weeks. I can’t recommend Dunya enough, high tech equipment and not expensive at all.