Natural FET no scans?

[Landygirl17]

Just had my consultation at Aberdeen fertility clinic and I am set to have a totally natural Frozen Embryo Transfer.
All I have to do is phone on day one of my period and then start ovulation testing on day 9 of my cycle and when I have my peak, phone them again and they will book on my transfer for 6 days later.
This all sounds great and stress free however my concern is that how will they be 100% I am ovulating without doing a scan? I thought ovulation tests only confirmed the surge and ovulation could take place 24-48 hours later in which case the transfer could be too early/late?
I did have a scan at my consultation which was day 9 on my current cycle and they said my lining was perfect and womb was "textbook" but next time I see them will be my transfer 🤔
Has anyone else experienced this with positive outcome?!

There is no chance I would accept that plan and potentially waste a precious embryo by not getting transfer time correct. I’ve done a few FETs, mix of natural and medicated. Have always had several scans and blood tests. Only one has been successful but at least I felt like the clinic were optimising my chances with the things they could check.

Can I ask how much they are charging for this? I have never heard of such an approach (have had treatment in 3 clinics).

Thanks for your reply, they said that as my cycles are regular (within around 4 -5 days) and there are no other known issues then it's been proven to be best with as little intervention as possible although they will give me progesterone to take after the transfer. I can't remember the exact cost but it's around £1700 for the process. I think I'll phone the clinic and ask for a bit more clarity on why.

Well an ultrasound scan or a blood test can give useful information and is not akin to a medication having any effect on the process.

My cycles are also reasonably regular (otherwise most clinics wouldn’t contemplate a natural cycle FET). Maybe others will have advice but it sounds to me like an inferior level of monitoring and I think they’re taking the mickey.

Not sure if this helps but I'm at the same clinic but doing a modified natural cycle. Having a scan day and blood test day 10 then a trigger shot when they say. I'm NHS funded currently so not sure if that makes a difference.

From what they have said it does sound like the correct process if you have indeed ovulated. But I can totally understand why you would be concerned about no ultrasound/blood test, I would feel the same way.

@Landygirl17 the problem with not getting scans is that even with regular ovulation stick testing you can miss your surge, or you can surge but not actually ovulate/release an egg, or like me you never seem to get a positive ovulation test because you drink so much water and can't hold wee for long enough! The most reliable way of tracking ovulation is through scans which show dominant follicle. Also it's really important that they know the thickness of your lining for optimal receptivity. I would not be happy at all with having no scans for an FET. It doesn't sound like best practice imo

Hello just jumping in. Around a year ago I had the exact same protocol around for my FET. Our preference was to have as little intervention as possible so we were happy with the plan at the time. The transfer was successful but unfortunately miscarried at 6weeks. Tried again with same completely natural protocol, but this time consultant requested (with my insistence) that I have a scan morning of transfer to check my lining and everything in order. I was shocked when the nurse told me my lining was too thin to do the transfer and it was cancelled. I’ll never know if the thin lining contributed to my miscarriage or not but in hindsight, I wish I had a scan the first time around, seems crazy to me they didn’t do that. So I guess it depends what your motivations are with doing the natural, did they give you the option to do the natural modified version? I do think at the very least you should request a scan on the day or or day before, if anything to put your mind at rest.