Kings Fertility IVF 2023

[LucyFab]

Hi All, we will be starting our IVF journey with Kings Fertility next month. How was your experience? Was it successful? Thanks!

Hi - sorry to jump on the thread but I’ve just been referred for IVF by my GP at kings. Do you have any details on wait times and/or how you found the initial referral process? I’m completely infertile (no fallopian tubes!) so not sure if that effects answers.

thank you! Sorry to derail!

Hi, in our case we decided to go privately because there was 3-4 months of waiting on NHS (at least that is what they told us). We were initially referred by our GP and the process was smooth although we had to wait few months to book the initial consultation (they didn't have many availabilities). Post that, they book you in for usual tests and the feedback is fairly quick. IVF process seems also very quick. We confirmed and paid this month (May) to get started for the following one (June) (but not sure if it is different with NHS or if it takes longer). Staff is nice and they always reply to all our questions. I will keep you updated with how the process goes.

Thank you so much for your response! Super helpful! Good luck :)

I am pregnant (v early) following private IVF with kings. Overall, they have been good and I would definitely go with them again. Prices are very reasonable, staff very caring and conscientious, rapid response to emails to nurse led helpline, decisions don’t seem in any way money driven, embryology side is great also. My only criticism would be that you usually see a different doctor (usually non consultant) each time at appointments - though consultants do the egg collection/transfer. If things are quite straightforward it’s not an issue, but if you are more complex can sometimes be difficult - though whenever we asked to have our case discussed with a specific consultant whom we had met and had a lot of faith in this was never refused. Good luck!

Hi-we’re part way through with Kings, our egg collection was last Monday. It look us 8 months to get referred there through our south London GP (heaven knows why but they sent us to Sidcup for a referral meeting which was pointless and there was a long wait for that). Kings then lost our referral and it was another two months.

Once we had our initial meeting with Kings it all moved very quickly though and I started the drugs two weeks after the appointment. We’re having to wait a month for our post egg collection meeting (freeze all as I was high risk of OHSS) as they didn’t have appointments available. Swings and roundabouts but we’ve been happy with them so far. The staff have been really lovely are caring while I’ve been feeling rough post collection.

@Harryateacroissant ah that’s amazing! I hope all goes smooth in the next months so please keep us updated! Thank you for sharing, it gave me some hope for this process.It is my first time doing this and super scared that something will go wrong…

@Labradoodlepup how was with the medicines and injections? did they impact you a lot with side effects? The staff seems very caring so far that’s why we decided to pick them for our first IVF! Fingers crossed it works!

@LucyFab The injections weren’t too bad at all! I was pretty worried about them but found the Gonal-f to be really easy, the Fyremadel burned a bit but it was unpleasant rather than painful. I normally bruise really badly so was worried about that, but through the whole two weeks I had only one tiny bruise. No side effects until post collection where I felt pretty tired nauseous and overly emotional for a week! Finger crossed I hope it goes well for you!

Thanks so much for creating this post @LucyFab . I had a consultation et Kings a few months ago and am thinking about starting IVF with them soon and was also wondering about people's experiences. I was recommended Menopur 300 iu. For those of you who have already been there, I was just wondering how many appointments are involved in general from start to finish? Do you have to come in for frequent scans while taking the injections? I've realised I really have no idea what to expect!

@Ecdysiast I am starting medications in less than couple of weeks but by the info I have been provided so far there is a scan between day 5-8 of your cycle + another scan between day 8-12. In total, during the IVF cycle there seems to be couple of scans before the egg retrieval (assuming everything goes smooth and the reaction to medicines is good). Also, before starting your IVF cycle you have to come in for blood tests and a baseline scan. I will keep you updated as I discover this new world of IVF!

@Labradoodlepup thank you for the details! please also keep us updated on your process!

Hi all, just wanted to add to this for people doing their research in future. We have done 3 egg collections with Kings (to batch embyros) We think they are amazing and have had and continue to have a great experience. We find them to be organised, responsive and kind and honestly the director, Dr Sarris, is a real expert - he basically he knows everything! We were a bit of a strange case as I’ve had trouble maturing eggs despite having a decent reserve and quality. We have finally gotten there as a result of a bespoke ‘cocktail’ of stims and trigger timing. We really feel we have received personalised medicine, which is exactly what you want. The nurses, doctors and consultants are all great too, and we have huge faith in the embryologists as we have to do icsi which relies entirely on them selecting the right sperm, and we have experienced a higher fertilisation rate here than the previous clinic we went to. They also have technology like embryoscope. Good luck to all trying! Fingers crossed for us all

Hi @Eggbert83 , thanks for sharing your experience. How often did you see Dr. Sarris? Did you find that you ended up seeing a different doctor at each appointment like @Harryateacroissant ? Also, did appointments generally start on time, or did you often have to wait a long time after you arrived? Sorry for all the questions - really appreciate everyone weighing in!

Sorry, forgot to add thanks @LucyFab too!

@Ecdysiast So sorry for the delay, must have turned off notifications. Don’t worry at all about the questions, I am happy to answer anything if our experience can help anyone else though it all as it is tough.
Yes, I usually saw different people for scans. Wait times were low, perhaps because there’s quite a few doctors doing these at any one team. The previous clinic we were with is really highly rated too and you’d always get a call later in the day from the consultant after a nurse had scanned you, but honestly I found that a bit chaotic. I like how at kings you go in and a doctor reviews you and that’s usually that, get on with your day. I’ve always felt confident though that the consultants are overseeing everything, they definitely do get your charts, and they also discuss their cases at team wide meetings. You usually only directly see the consultants when you are planning for egg collection or transfer, and then after for follow up, esp if it didn’t work. So basically you only see the consultants when you really need to but when you do you get your time with them and all your questions answered. How are you getting on? Have you started yet?

Just wanted to share that I had IVF with Kings and was very happy. I had a round on the NHS in Nov 2020 which unfortunately didn't work. I went straight into a private cycle in Jan 2021 which worked and resulted in my son. I have low AMH so only got 4 eggs and 2 eggs on each round but I never felt like the clinic made me feel hopeless. I did see a different doctor each time but they were all kind and compassionate, so I didn't have a problem with that. The nurses and embryologists were all great too.
I found their prices were very reasonable compared to some other London clinics.
Good luck xx

Hi Jane I am seriously considering Kings privately and have low AMH too, but finances are a consideration.

I am also weighing up doing a conventional IVF or a Natural Modified at Create, there I know roughly what in total it might cost. Would you be ok sharing with me how much in total you paid for at Kings for your cycle?

Obviously it's so hard to decide what to do and where and knowing in practice how much to prepare paying would be so helpful.

Did you get all your meds through Kings or were you able to get a prescription and get it elsewhere like Asda? Thank you!

If anyone would be so kind, I'd really like to know how much you had to pay privately at Kings in total?

Hi @RarePlant
We paid for the 3 cycle package which was around £10k and included 3 fresh cycles and transfers. It didn’t include drugs. My drugs were at the very top end as I have very low AMH so had to take a lot. Worked out at just under £2k per round but I got them through the clinic. I can imagine you can get your own prescription and buy through Asda if you weren’t as lazy as me.
After we had success on our first round of the 3 cycle package we got a refund on the remaining 2 rounds. Not sure if their prices have increased much since 2020 but I do know all their prices are available on their website.
sending you lots of luck!
x

They have a posted price list (does not include the meds, meds will be about 1,800 per cycle).

FullPriceListV2.0.pdf (kingsfertility.co.uk)

I am also a patient at King's. Our second cycle (first hasn't been successful). Really have had a good experience so far.

Two annoying things though: as it has been mentioned above, you never see the same doctor and also they never send you your test results. They don't have a platform to see them online either. So you just have to either ask them to send those to you each time (and it would take them like a week or two to send) or just call and ask for your doctor to call you back with test results. They will call you anyway if test results are abnormal, for example. They also call you from embryology after egg collection every other day to give you updates.

It took me a while to get over these two annoyances. But now I am used to it (and who knows, maybe it's less stressful to see a detailed breakdown of every single test, ...less time spent googling them haha).

Anyway, once you get over these two things, the rest of the experience has been really great. Everyone is super caring and nice. The clinic itself is also beautiful and it's in a way makes the whole thing relaxing too. Really recommend it.

FYI, drove around pharmacies in Lon and got quotes for meds, hoping to get a cheaper price (incl. ASDA), and Stork (which what Kings uses) ended up being cheaper than all other options. And they deliver straight to your home. I saw some ladies online posted that ASDA was much cheaper, but maybe their clinics just charged them lots more or something, because we saw no difference.

Hi all I am also with kings and want to add to everyone’s experience above and say I think they have been really really great!!

i am an nhs patient and was referred by my gp. Took a bit of time and chasing from me as gp didn’t send across all information apparently. But once that was done it was all super quick and I was told there was no waitinglist and could start straight away.

I had first cycle in November which unfortunately ended in mmc but I found all the staff super kind and caring.

had second egg collection in April by dr sarris himself who seemed to know all our history and was lovely- I was very impressed. Then a fet in May. I am now 10 weeks pregnant 😊.

as others mentioned you do see different doctors at each appointment but I found them all to be really lovely so didn’t mind much. They have a daily meeting all together to discuss patients so you do feel like you are getting the best care.

I have only had to wait for my appointment once otherwise they all run on time and the building is lovely.

In regards to scans you normally start injections on day 2 and then have first scan between days 5-8 and then every other day from there till egg collection. Egg collection for me was on day 11 so only 3 scans or so. This is for short protocol.

I would really recommend kings!!

I had also thought about getting medication with Asda because I had heard that it was cheaper, but found that Stork (which Kings uses) was reasonable and much less hassle because they coordinate closely with the clinic. Meds came on time, straight to my house - no fuss

Thank you!! This info is so helpful!!!! You may have saved me from a lot of going around 🙌

I had my first frozen transfer with Kings on the 14th but it's ended in a chemical. Does anyone know if you can get back to back transfers there? I've been so dismayed with the amount of wasted time I've had there and their weird and pointless insistence about baseline scans being the cycle before the cycle you're doing the transfer 🙄