New to IVF.....

[2021cath]

Hello
After near 2 years TTC and a year of NHS waiting we've found out we're unexplained infertility and only option is Ivf. And I've learnt funded treatment is different dependant on where you live and we would only get one round funded. It's a lot to take in :(
One cycle of ivf does that include numerous egg transfers I.e. they get 4 good eggs they'll transfer the 4 over time in that one round? Sorry if it's a silly question were only getting telephone consulations and not really hearing much.
Anyone with unexplained infertility tips or advice that worked for them! Weve never had a positive test in 2 years.
TIA

Hello,

Sorry you've had such a long journey to get here and hope your IVF journey goes really well :)

I just wanted to chime in about rounds as I had assumed from what I'd read that a round is egg collection and then a fresh transfer plus any frozen embryos you got too, one after the other until pregnancy or you run out. However I've since found its not as simple as that, and it depends on the clinic you are seen at. Some will do just a fresh and then charge for frozen, some will do one fresh and one frozen and then a fee is incurred etc.

I would ask outright to your fertility clinic when you are referred to prepare x

Hi Cath, sorry you're going through this. DH currently undergoing diagnosis for unexplained male infertility. Took a lot of diagnostics to get this far and we've had all of my husband's tests done privately to speed it up. The NHS wait was 7 months just to have a introductory meeting with a consultant. I would recommend both of you having as much diagnosis done as possible. We are going to have to go down the SSR and ICSI routine if we ever want to have a baby. But the IVF clinics won't start with us until we have diagnosis. It's very frustrating all the waiting and I would recommend getting those tests in asap

Thank you so much, I'll ask them directly at our next appointment x

Sorry to hear you're are also feeling the frustrations of having to wait! I hope you are seen soon.
Thank you I have submitted an email on timescales and if we're not happy we'll seek private help x

I'm in exactly the same boat as you op, TTC for over 2 years with no positive and unexplained infertility. I can't answer your questions but I just want you to know you're not alone

I finally have my first appointment next week with fertility clinic after the looooong wait with the NHS. Now things are finally moving I feel so scared and anxious, but excited at the same time.

@bathbombaholic aww thanks you 😊 it is frustrating isn't it.

I hope everything goes really well next week for you! Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. Wishing you all the best for the appointment xx

We are also in the same boat and been TCC for over 2 years now with unexplained infertility. Infertility is not fun 😔it gets so frustrating! We are on the NHS waiting list but in our area the waiting time is around a year so we decided to go privately for first cycle (in Scotland we have x3 cycles NHS funded so we could still use x2 cycles even if we self fund the first one). For the clinics in our area one cycle under NHS was the fresh and any subsequent frozen transfers from that egg collection. Currently waiting for a fresh transfer on Monday 🤞

I would highly recommend just going privately if you have the funds (and if we need to do another cycle think I would consider a clinic abroad as less waiting times than in UK). Even privately time from enquiry to treatment for us was 9 months but I imagine this varies dependent on clinic! You can get all the preliminary tests through NHS to save you money before going for treatment (we did this and didn’t have to wait long)

I went private to avoid a wait for ivf on the NHS, from first consultation to now being a few days from stims it was 2 months as had to have their usual tests then wait for the rest time in my cycle. If its something that can be afforded and depending on how it effects your NHS rounds it saves alot of time (I get two in my postcode and none of the private knock any of them off thankfully!)

@Ellennn @Imisscoffee2021 thank you so much thats really helpful! Weve found out there's another 2 month delay due to shortages so I'll explore private and ask the questions I think! Xx

I had a miscarriage in December 2021. I was only 8 weeks. They told me my chances of getting pregnant in the following months are high. However, did not happen. So decided to do some fertility tests, and it turns out I can no longer conceive naturally.

I started looking at my options & now doing my blood tests at NHS. They told me there is a 4-month waiting time, which is not too bad if it is true.

I looked into private too, but the prices in London are insane. For the cheapest private clinic, I have had an appointment with, the price starts from £9250 + other expenses, such as sedation, medication, etc, and this is only for one cycle. Imagine needing 3 cycles!

We’re unexplained too, although I had undiagnosed subclinical hypothyroid which caused high prolactin levels so it certainly didn’t help matters.

It really is a bit of a postcode lottery with IVF on the NHS, so I’d have a look at your CCG policy. Some get 3 rounds, but frozen FETS are treated as a round. In the East Midlands, I get 1 full round, but that includes any frozen from that egg collection up to the point of live birth.

So, for example, if I got 5 embryos, 1 was fresh and 4 frozen, I’d have the fresh, if that failed they’d work through the renaming 4 until one either worked or we ran out. After that, we’d have to go private.

Thank you :) wishing you lots of luck too.

We get 1 round on the NHS unless the policy changes in March

Hello. Very new to all of this so looking for anyone that could possibly give some information or suggestions 🙏🏻 we have our first fertility clinic consultation next week and I'd like to know what to expect- is this likely to just be a conversation to begin with, or will they do any tests there and then? How long will it be between first consultation and any treatment? We are going with nhs for now.
OH has extremely low sperm count. Bloods all fine. My investigations (ultrasound and bloods) have been normal so far.
Thank you so much

@Magix86 hi, we had our first fertility appt last week and we had our joint consultation which went through loads of health questions and previous test results. I had an AMH blood test and was booked in for a pelvic X-ray and given a number to call to book in for another test. Felt good to feel like we were getting somewhere

@shellybon that does sound good. I can imagine how great it is to be able to see some progress after such a long wait. Hope the next stage of tests go OK for you 🤞🏻

Thanks @Magix86. Got home today and we have had a letter telling us our second appointment has been booked for a few months time. I presume this one is to go through test results and hopefully discuss the next stage if I am still not pregnant by then. Hope everything goes well with you x