NHS funding only 1 cycle

[Confusedivf]

Help required!

My local CCG only funds 1 cycle of IVF regardless of age (I’m 29). I have a known infertility issue (total tube blockage) but because I did have 1 pregnancy (ectopic within the last year, partially causing the current issue!) I am not eligible for IVF on the NHS for a while.

I’ve been looking at private options and can afford to go private if required. I know if you are entitled to 3 cycles on the NHS any private cycle counts against your eligible 3… could anyone advice the situation if you are entitled to 1 cycle?!

Does any private IVF mean no funding ever or do you still get the one cycle (as long as you haven’t had 3 total cycles privately).

also super interested in anyone’s experience of private vs nhs. I’ve heard NHS treatment can be better so don’t want to pass it up if so, but equally so inpatient for baby :(

many thanks!

Yes if you only get one NHS round if you have a private round first you get no NHS rounds
(I read a post just last week on another ivf forum where the poster had received formal notification from her Ccg that her funding was pulled for this very reason)

Also not sure where you read NHS treatment is better.....most peoples experience is private is much much better as you get what you pay for. Especially if you were using a fully NHS hospital previously (not so much if you were using your funding at a private IVF clinic)

Things like - regularly scans and blood tests, clinic being open 364 days per week, mid cycle changes to protocol if something found to not be working/responding. I know loads of NHS clinic whereby if your cycle day 1 fell on a day that might mean egg collection or transfer on a weekend or basically all of December you'd have to wait until cycle day 1 fell on a convenient day (ie mid week) and also where they'd get no mid stims scans at all

Each CCG sets their own criteria so you'd need to read it carefully to know whether you would lose your funded cycle.

I know people who have had great experience with the NHS, my experience was really crap but that's one clinic. People do choose to pay at some NHS clinics so they're definitely worth looking at.

If you can afford to pay, why not find out the expected waiting time on the NHS and what your entitlement is and in what clinic (there may be more than one possibility) and take it from there. You can look up clinicd on HFEA website or ask on here

It might also be worth challenging the decision that you're not currently eligible, sounds like a tick box rather than a decision made by someone with understanding of your issue.

Also get your DP checked out if you haven't already.

Good luck.

@Confusedivf it really depends on your CCG policy. Mine only offers one funded round, but however, we can have up to 2 private cycles before we take the funded round and it's in their policy booklet. You can either search online for your CCG's policy or request from your clinic perhaps? I also agree with @sneezingpandamum regarding scheduling convenience. I had my first round a couple of months ago with NHS clinic and I had no scans during stims until day 10 (!), when they found that I was ready to trigger. I started with 18 follicles, and they only retrieved 5. I had 10 within range when they did the last scan, so I can't help but think that if they had scanned me earlier, they could have either changed my dose slightly or stopped stims sooner to get the maximum number of eggs. They also refused to start the cycle in August due to bank holiday falling on the potential retrieval day so had to wait another month (luckily Queen's funeral bank holiday hadn't been announced by then) so they had to let me in. It was also so stressful having to ring up on day 1 especially when it falls on a weekend and then having to leave a message, hoping they'll ring you back on Monday with a scan date. You can tell that I'm not pleased with my clinic LOL. But I'm sure it depends from clinic to clinic. All the best with your treatment X

My ccg (Surrey heartlands) doesn't take away any cycles if you have private, and we get two. I've gone private for that reason to fit in a cycle whilst going through nhs referral process, hopefully won't have to use nhs ones as I'm currently 6 + 2 from 2nd transfer. Each ccg has different and specific criteria so read their info very throughly and you may not lose one.

As @Tinkerbell098 said, it depends on your CCG policy. NHS won't fund more than one in my CCG but they will allow you to have two private cycles before you void your eligibility to the one funded cycle. Other CCGs are more strict.