Belfast Fertility Clinics

[Sunshine180]

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?

@StillTTC7 hope you’re feeling good and getting some chill time.

@Anna531 can I ask you both how many scans yous had during your stims? I’ll only be having 2 but I had expected more

Hi @Sunshine180! Sorry I have been all over the place the last day or two so will have missed some posts. Hope you’re doing well and fairly on the countdown.

I can’t even remember how many I ended up having during treatment, 4 I’d say. Only because they kept me on the stims for longer and scanned each time I went back! Yours could change too, I was only pencilled in for 1 or 2 when they first did our calendar!

Hey @StillTTC7 don't worry at all, hope you’re keeping well! Yes one day to go until tablets start, weirdly excited lol.

Yeah that’s true, suppose they don’t know how many to put in until you start really. Just end up overthinking everything at this stage!

@Sunshine180 with the flipping progesterone my wee brain is too scrambled to go back and attempt to make sense / reply to them all lol.

Exciting news about starting! Everything no matter how big or small it seems to others is a big step in my book, tick it off on the mental check list!

Yeah they’ll put in the bare minimum to start, and every time you attend your treatment plan will be updated!

@StillTTC7 aw it’s crazy how they all have different side effects isn’t it. Will you keep taking the progesterone now then?

yeah that’s makes sense! Just really hoping I don’t over stimulate - it doesn’t sound nice at all!

@Sunshine180 I know. I’m to stay on it until the day before testing, then the doctor said the other day that’s it done. But on my portal it says if you are pregnant you stay on it until 12 weeks, so I’ll have to ask about that. Have you been prescribed any?

No I can only imagine it wouldn’t be nice, I was tender having only 12 follicles! I’m sure they’ll have you closely monitored and you’ll be grand :)

@StillTTC7 yes I’ve heard people doing both so it maybe depends on your levels at the time. I was given some when I collected my meds but it’s not on my schedule on my portal. She did say some won’t show until after I’ve had a scan and see how I’m getting on so I’m assuming that’s why.

Was your follicle count before stims the same as during stims? I had 30 at my scan in July which from reading on here seems high risk for OHSS and freeze all but no one has said about that to me they just everything looked good and normal on my scans so I’m not sure what will happen.

@Sunshine180 i only had the two scans, I’m sure they’ll bring you in for more if needed. They checked how things were going at my first, altered my meds a little and then back in for the second where they confirmed EC day and changed my trigger shot because of the OHSS possibility.

@Sunshine180 aw okay, as you say must depend. I don’t think they ever said they had checked my levels, they certainly didn’t mention it if they did.

I was told I had 9 in one ovary and 3 in another, and I got 10 eggs so I’m guessing they’re in and around the same but they didn’t count them again that I know of. I presume you’ll be back in before you start the stims at home maybe?

@StillTTC7 they haven’t added my medication on my calendar for after my first scan so they must just do that once they see how it’s going because I have my trigger injection too but it’s not on my calendar yet because we obv don’t know when I will take it yet so must be similar with the progesterone.

No I don’t have any scans or appointments until day 5 of my stims now! They just said to let them know if I don’t get my period by 20th but otherwise just carry on with the plan I’ve been given.

Hi everyone - it's been a while! Just jumping in as I've done a round, and can confirm they only give you your calendar until your first scan, then schedule the rest after that depending on how things look at that first scan, but they give you all the meds up front so you have them. They'll tell you exactly when you take everything in due course 🙂

Hi everyone. Noticed this post as recently went through IVF in Belfast.

@Snowdrop131 I was also told I would have to wait three months for review appointment after failed ICSI. I was able to get a private appointment for this review instead and there was availability about a week later due to a cancellation. Even though I’d waited years for IVF, I found just the thought of that three month wait the most stressful as you just want to find out what went wrong and what your options are, so paid for the private appointment for peace of mind.

Just know that they might not have any answers at the review or be able to give a reason for why it didn’t work out! At my appointment we were just told it was all going well up to that point and it was just one of those things that the embryo didn’t implant.

@Patientlywaiting37 that makes sense, thanks for confirming. I took my first northisterone this morning so feels a bit more real now lol.

Are you currently going through a cycle with TFP? Hope it’s going well!

Hi @daisy9207 - I’m sorry to hear about your recent failed round. Did you have your private review at RFC? Are you going to have a FET with them now? Sorry for all the questions but would you mind me asking how much it was for the review please?

@Sunshine180 yes, going through a cycle with TFP. Also on my northisterone atm, so all being well should start my injections in the middle of Feb!

@Patientlywaiting37 I start my injections on the 23rd, hoping they’re not too bad to do lol. Everyone else seems to manage so I’ll just have to push through.

How have you found the experience with TFP compared to RFC?

@Sunshine180 no problem at all to ask questions. I was completely clueless going through the process.

The private review was at Medical Associates but they were able to get a copy of my notes and records from the RFC. The review was £175 but I understand I would have paid more if they needed to do any scans or tests.

At that review I was added onto the waitlist for FET at the RFC as we were very fortunate to have a few frozen embryos from our initial cycle. We then had the FET which thankfully was successful.

@daisy9207 ah I see, that’s a good tip then that you don’t necessarily have to wait on their review appointment. Can I ask how long you were on the waiting list before having the FET please?

Thats fantastic to hear it was successful, congratulations! How far along are you now?

@Sunshine180 it was about 4 months before we had the FET although started medication a few weeks prior to that. Their wait times for FET are on the website and I think the wait time for NHS and private were the same.

I’m now 12 weeks so discharged from the RFC.

@daisy9207 that’s a long enough wait when you’re ready to go, every extra wait just feels like forever doesn’t it! Their wait times seem to have significantly decreased from what is on their website, we had our first appointment with them on 18th December where we were put on the waitlist and told 4 months but we got our letter to say we were top of the list early January and have started already.

That’s great, congratulations! Did they give you any early scans or anything or once you were pregnant was that it?

@Sunshine180 yea I found their wait times constantly changed. We were initially referred by GP and waited about 9 months for initial appointment and then another 7 for the process to actually start.

I think we were impacted by the backlog caused by Covid so unfortunate but then these things happen.

The wait for the FET actually flew in and I was just glad we didn’t have to add another 3 months on top of that just to have the review appointment.

When you do the pregnancy test at home, you fill out a form to confirm result and return it to them. They then either book your review appointment if negative or a scan if positive. The scan was at 7 weeks and then they discharge you if all ok.

Thanks btw, still doesn’t feel real and I’ll probably continue feeling anxious for months. Hope it all works out for you and happy to answer any questions as I feel like having more information helps reduce the stress even just the slightest bit!

@Sunshine180 aw that was a long wait but glad it was all worth it for you now you’re at the other side of it.

Yes it’s just from worrying about one thing not working out right to getting past that stage and worrying about the next thing so I understand what you mean but fingers crossed everything goes well for you from here!

Thanks so much for answering my questions. Really does help to talk to people who have been through it especially since sometimes you don’t think of the questions until after the appointments and think oh I should have asked this etc.

Random question - it says on my portal to bring my dressing gown for transfer day, did you need it for EC too? I imagined it would be more needed then as you stay after but I just seems random they tell you to bring it with you! Lol

@daisy9207 whoops don’t know how I managed to tag myself instead of you above

@Sunshine180
Yes just finished cycle 5 day transfer was 23rd Jan but unfortunately didn't stick. I had been to TFP while waiting for NHS appt and they don't have a long waiting list at all while I read on RFC their private waiting time is 11 months!?

@Sunshine180 so I was told to bring a dressing gown and slippers for the EC, not told to bring anything for first transfer (just used a sheet they gave me) and then told to bring a dressing gown for the FET.

It’s just to cover yourself when walking from one room into the room where the procedures are done as you take everything waist down off.

I just bought lightweight slippers and dressing gown that didn’t take up much room in my bag and brought them with me just in case and then just did whatever they told me on the day!

@Snowdrop131 yeah 11 months to pay to go private seems very long especially when you’re ready to go now! Definitely wouldn’t want to wait that long either. Have you already had a cycle at TFP or just for consultations? I had a consultation with them in December and they said we could start in February or March so definitely a lot quicker. Good luck for your next round, hope it is successful for you!

@daisy9207 that makes more sense then I’ll bring it for EC, would rather have it than not. How did you find the collection procedure?