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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.

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:
TTC6 · 24/10/2023 19:17

@MoonlightDreamer one thing I don't love about TFP you could see 5 different consultants throughout the process it just depends on days and schedules. Most consultants are either retired or work in NHS

MoonlightDreamer · 25/10/2023 14:03

Oh that's quite annoying.
I've just had my first collection with rfc and the one thing I did like about them was we always saw the same consultant, from initial consultation to collection, bar once.
If this round fails , which to be honest I'm fully expecting it to then we may opt for a another round . We haven't decided where to go. I really liked rfc , mainly because of our consultant and everyone took great care of me although I did question some things along the way and wonder if another clinic might be a better solution.
We looked at therapie but like everyone else it's a long trip

TTC6 · 25/10/2023 14:08

Yes that's definitely a positive of RFC. I hope it's successful for you. Have you had a transfer as well?

I wanted to change this round just for something different, although after paying for a few initial consultants, I came to the conclusion I just feel they all do the same thing! And if you feel they should be doing something they aren't or if you've read something online speak up and tell them or ask them their advice. Just out of interest what progesterone do RFC use? And what dose post transfer?

MoonlightDreamer · 26/10/2023 00:15

I'm on Crinone progesterone gel 8%

Do they batch patients at tfp so they are all synced with start dates and collections or is it based solely on your individual cycle

TTC6 · 26/10/2023 07:16

Based on your individual cycle. Do they batch in RFC now?
They batch in therapie and that was one thing I didn't like.

MoonIightDreamer · 13/11/2023 15:45

@TTC6 yes they batched me in RFC.
I got a BFP following my cycle with them so I suppose I can't fault them at all

Stilltryingforbub1 · 18/11/2023 12:19

Hi
Where are the details of the package ovo offer?xx

TTC12 · 18/11/2023 15:22

Has anyone here been through NHS referral at Craigavon? @MoonIightDreamer how are you getting on?

Stilltryingforbub1 · 18/11/2023 16:37

I had my referral assessments at Craigavon then free cycle with RFC.

TTC12 · 18/11/2023 17:24

@Stilltryingforbub1 can I ask how long you had to wait in between finishing all tests before the consultation appointment? We have now concluded tests, and waiting on the consultant app, but have been told one of the consultants are off, so there could be a delay…. But not given an idea of what normal timeframe is,so not sure how long this will add to the wait.

Stilltryingforbub1 · 18/11/2023 17:28

@TTC12 hey, I'm actually sorry I dnt recall how long and it was a considerably quite a while ago and I'm sure since covid etc things are different.

Sunshine180 · 18/11/2023 22:00

Hey everyone, I have just read above what was said about batching - does anyone know does TFP do this please?

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username131024 · 19/11/2023 06:31

Hi @Sunshine180 - I’ve had private and NHS at RFC and private at TFP.

All cycles were pretty much the same in terms of down reg and starting meds aligned to my cycle. I’ve been recently in treatment with TFP so current experience.

For all those coming to this thread generally. In my experience there is little difference when in treatment between RFC and TFP. They are widely experienced NHS consultants in the main. You may not see the same consultant at every point at either clinic. At both clinics I had three different consultants for initial consult, scans and egg collection.

RFC takes longer to book and I was advised by a consultant if paying private go to a private clinic due to wait times and demand.

RFC meds come from the main hospital pharmacy. TFP order from Fertility2U. With both clinics there were issues with my prescriptions which was frustrating.

In treatment you will need minimum two scans, an egg collection and a transfer. That’s four appointments without a specific date so that makes getting to a clinic with a 4 hour round trip a bit tricky with work.

Wherever you go the process can be hard, frustrating and expensive. Timing is often a factor so if you can move fairly quickly. We waited to go on holiday to Mexico, started out treatment and then had to stop everything and rebook after 6 months due to risk of Zika. This wasn’t available on any websites at the time - buried away in the HEFA site. So things happen - plan early.

Reading on here people make it work in all sorts of places - so do seek out boards where people have good experience of that abroad.

Haven’t experienced Ovo so can’t comment.

Sunshine180 · 19/11/2023 09:30

Hi @IslandsintheOcean thats really helpful thanks for sharing your experience!

was there much of a wait with TFP between your initial consultation and starting treatment? We have our initial consultation at TFP on the 28th (have already completed all initial tests and spoke to one of their consultants about this at a different clinic so imagine there won’t be much new information) and we were hoping they will start us in January - does that seem realistic?

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username131024 · 19/11/2023 10:53

Yes that’s realistic if everything else is in order. From your booking appointment it’s up to two months - so you wait for your next period and the down reg, stimulate etc. In our case we booked in start of one month, and had egg collection by end of next month.

The paperwork’s a pain. But if plan is straight forward then booking will follow. If you need further tests etc then it can take long.

Sunshine180 · 19/11/2023 11:02

Oh that’s good to hear glad we’re not completely off in hoping to get started early next year.

we have already did our consent forms and everything as the clinic just sent me them early once they seen we had all our tests done so hopefully that’s a good chunk of the paperwork.

my thyroid was too high for IVF at 4.5 but I’ve been taking tablets and got it down to 2.1 at last blood test so hoping that will be ok now that they can see it’s down!

Do you know how they decide between long and short protocol at all? We are doing ICSI for MFI. My AMH is 29.3 and at my last scan my AFC was 30 so I had thought we might go short but not too sure on how they make the decision between them tbh!

thank you so much for giving so much information! It really helps to talk to people with first hand experience rather than good! Are you going to go for another round with TFP?

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username131024 · 19/11/2023 17:47

Hello, I’m not sure how they decide on the protocols but it will be to give you the best chance of having a baby. Do ask lots of questions as it’s really good to understand what’s going on with you and on what basis they make decisions.

On my side I’ve just had a successful round with them - early stages of pregnancy - so all being well I don’t have to see them for a while.

Sunshine180 · 19/11/2023 18:33

Yes I’ve got a list of questions at the ready for them! Lol.

aw congratulations, that’s amazing. Im sure you’re delighted!! Will this be your first?

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username131024 · 19/11/2023 19:32

We had FET following failed fresh transfer at RFC. From that FET we have twins. We were TTC for over 10 years so know how very fortunate we are - I never thought these days would come.

So this would be second pregnancy & third baby (of course all being well).

Sunshine180 · 19/11/2023 19:37

Aw I’m sorry that you had such a long journey to get to this stage but at least it has all been worth it! It is so lovely to hear success stories to give hope at the start of our journey. Hope the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly.

can I ask did you transfer 2 embryos with your twins? or did one split?

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Patientlywaiting37 · 19/11/2023 20:54

@Sunshine180 just jumping in here to say that we have also decided to go ahead with TFP and have our first consultation this week (tests have been done). Also hoping for January IVF 🤞

Massive congrats @IslandsintheOcean and @MoonIightDreamer!

Sunshine180 · 19/11/2023 21:57

@Patientlywaiting37 oh that’s good hopefully we will be around the same time then! How did you find the initial consultation? Did they give much new information or was it mostly what you already knew?

do you know when your nurse appointment will be yet? Sorry for the 20q!

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Patientlywaiting37 · 19/11/2023 22:11

@Sunshine180 we had our initial tests done, and this week is our first consultants appointment to discuss the results and next steps. We have already been through one NHS round at RFC so I suspect i am hoping it'll be fairly straightforward and onto ivf.

So we haven't actually had the first consultation yet. What is the nurse app for?

Sunshine180 · 19/11/2023 22:51

@Patientlywaiting37 ah yes hopefully will be straightforward then and not much more waiting. We have already did all our tests through NHS and a private gynae who works at TFP so they have accepted them even though they weren’t done by them. I believe at the nurse appointment they give you your medicine schedule and injections

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username131024 · 20/11/2023 19:40

@Sunshine180 - two embryos transferred - so fraternal twins. It’s quite an adventure!