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Infertility

Our Infertility Support forum is a space to connect with others in the same position, discuss causes, treatment and IVF, and share infertility stories of hope and success.

Original poster

Belfast Fertility Clinics

400 replies

Sunshine180 · 20/06/2023 15:38

does anyone here have any experience with fertility clinics in Belfast. For background my husband and I have been TTC for 2 years now and my dr has referred me to gynae but the waitlist is currently 3 years. My husband has booked for his semen analysis and if it comes back ok I assume the nhs will just tell us we have to wait on my gynae appointment so I was going to look into going private.

I have seen In Ovo do an IVF package for £5k has anyone with experience of them experienced are there many hidden costs on top of this please?

OP posts:
TTC12 · 06/09/2023 13:56

Hi @Sunshine180 just wondering if you got any further with your investigations of Belfast fertility clinics as I’m in a similar situation?
Thanks

Original poster
Sunshine180 · 06/09/2023 14:00

Hi @TTC12 , we have decided to go with TFP as I seen dr roberts privately at another clinic he runs and he also works for TFP so was wanting to stay with him. All their pricing is on their website and doesn’t seem to be any hidden costs

OP posts:
TTC12 · 06/09/2023 14:01

Oh that’s brilliant. Do you know if they have a waiting list?

Original poster
Sunshine180 · 06/09/2023 14:45

no real waiting list, they said can book initial consultation within 2 weeks of contacting and then treatment should start 3-5 weeks later so all pretty quick! Especially compared to NHS

OP posts:
TTC12 · 06/09/2023 14:46

That’s great! Thanks for the reply! Will give them a call!

xCrystalQueenx · 06/09/2023 17:57

@Sunshine180 are the medication costs on top of the ivf pricing or included . Do you mind me asking roughly what you spent

Original poster
Sunshine180 · 06/09/2023 18:12

@xCrystalQueenx there are price lists on their website but they are very broad and I think depend very much on your individual circumstances! I haven’t started the process yet have just been in touch with the clinic and had all the investigation tests. Have been told it will be £7-7.5k all in for IVF and ICSI with meds. That’s for MF so not sure if different meds are needed in different circumstances.

OP posts:
MoonstoneGoddess · 07/09/2023 19:21

@Sunshine180 update us once you've got started let us know how your getting on. I'm undecided between in ovo, tfp or private with rfc

Original poster
Sunshine180 · 07/09/2023 22:23

@MoonstoneGoddess its so hard to decide isn’t it! Have you contact RFC about going private? I read about them having 10 spaces at once or something so I thought they might still have a similar waiting time to NHS but not sure if that is correct or not.

OP posts:
TTC12 · 07/09/2023 23:07

Has anyone any experience with Thérapie fertility in Dundalk/ Dublin? It’s a bit of a trek, but seems to be a lot cheaper!

MoonlightDreamer · 15/09/2023 14:22

I have heard of therapie but have no experience with them .
Have you decided who to proceed with ?
@TTC12

TTC12 · 15/09/2023 14:25

Therapie works out cheaper, but I think we will have to stick to one of the 2 Belfast ones for convenience :/ waiting on a call back from both to book an appointment. Not sure if we should go TFP or InOvo though- I think from online pricing they look to be around the same….

TTC12 · 13/10/2023 16:12

@Sunshine180 hey- just checking in. Have you started treatment?

Original poster
Sunshine180 · 13/10/2023 16:31

@TTC12 hi, no we haven’t yet. Tbh we have just been trying to save enough to make sure we can pay for it all upfront but we’re finally there and have our initial consultation next month! Did you pick a clinic?

OP posts:
MoonlightDreamer · 13/10/2023 16:35

I've just started my ivf cycle ladies.
Did my first injection yesterday 😳

TTC12 · 13/10/2023 16:35

oh that’s great! We were in a similar position. We may top up funds with access fertility as it’s interest free for 12 months. We have gone with TFP, so I now need to get an AMH test and then hopefully start treatment as soon as possible! We are still waiting on NHS, which I don’t think will move any time soon…. :/

Original poster
Sunshine180 · 13/10/2023 16:38

Aw we should be on similar timescales then! Have you had your initial consultation yet or do you need to wait on the AMH test first? We are still on the NHS list too. I was told it was a 4 month wait from referral but I imagine the process is slow after that

OP posts:
MoonlightDreamer · 13/10/2023 16:42

@Sunshine180 it's ridiculously expensive isn't it.
We've decided if this round fails we're going to just take a loan to cover the costs. We couldn't afford it upfront and although it's not ideal, I think at my age we don't have much option but to push on

MoonlightDreamer · 13/10/2023 16:43

I waited 9 months from referral to first appointment with rfc

TTC12 · 13/10/2023 16:46

Yeah we had the initial consultation, and now just waiting on this AMH test to determine medication dosage requirements. Our NHS first appointment took from getting added to list in Jan to app in July. They did tests at this point, and then asked for a repeat, now waiting for an appointment to do repeat tests, before we can get a consultants appointment. The wait in between stages is quite frustrating.

Original poster
Sunshine180 · 13/10/2023 17:20

@MoonlightDreamer it really is just so expensive! But hopefully will all be worth it in the end and we’ll definitely not care about the money spent then!

@TTC12 oh that’s good you should be starting treatment pretty soon then! Did you do you initial consultation remotely? And was there much of a wait from when you booked it to the actual appointment? Sorry for all the questions!

The waiting is the worst it’s just so hard to not think about it. I’m 27 so we probably would be ok to wait for our NHS round but I think mentally the long wait times and inefficiency of it would just be too hard

OP posts:
TTC12 · 13/10/2023 17:27

We waited 4 weeks, although I think a lot of that was partly our fault as we had work commitments on some of the dates they suggested beforehand- so could probably have done it quicker. We did it remotely so was very convenient!
It’s the disappointment month after month, so I just want to take back some control and hopefully move things forward quicker than NHS.

Original poster
Sunshine180 · 13/10/2023 17:43

We are lucky we both wfh/very near home so I’m hoping that we can just take a couple of hours out of work to do it remotely so we don’t have to wait for a time that suits really!

yes definitely! Every month that passes it just gets harder and harder. Did they say anything about when you could expect to start treatment?

OP posts:
TTC12 · 13/10/2023 19:30

After I get my AMH result and send it to them, they send out the treatment plan and forms to sign. They suggested within 2 months, depending on my cycle dates. So I’m hoping before the end of the year….
Once treatment starts they said that all scans happen in the morning between 7:30-9:00, and you would need approx 3 scans before egg collection.

TTC12 · 13/10/2023 20:01

I missed your post @MoonlightDreamer about starting today!! That’s great news! How are you feeling? Did you have to take tablets before injections? I haven’t been sent anything yet about treatment plan- so unsure when I would start tablets & injections etc! How has your journey been to date with clinic? Any tips/ recommendations for us?