IVF/ICSI May 2025

[GamerGirl09]

Hey everyone!

Thought I’d start a thread for those of us starting everything next month :)

Personally, I’m from the UK and will be starting ICSI in Ireland. Just over the BMI limit for the NHS in the UK and have been trying for c.6 years for our first. Had final tests yesterday and consult. Going with ICSI as my husband’s sperm analysis came back teratozoospermic. Other than that, nobody can find any reason we couldn’t conceive naturally, it’s just not happened!

Currently phoning up pharmacies in the UK for medication quotes (struggling to source Bemfola at the moment though). I’ll be on the short protocol and they reckon it’s likely I’ll be a freeze all as AMH and AFC came back decent. If I get get the meds in time, looking like I’ll start at the very end of this month, with egg collection next month 🤞🏼

Would love to connect with others starting around the same time ♥️ Good luck to everyone ✨

@JDann is it much cheaper abroad? If you don't mind me asking. So far we've paid £1000 for the basic blood tests, amh , semen and ultrasound. We've been quoted 6+k , not including medication and if we have to do a freeze , which he seems to be suggesting, regardless of numbers , that'll be another 1k for that first transfer . It's absolutely crazy the cost. Is it the financial side of things that made you opt for abroad? I've heard alot of women 40+ saying they had better success rates at clinics abroad.

Yes apparently they will ring me tomorrow with blood results. I don't feel that confident in the clinic to be honest. They just seem very unprofessional, I could say. We were supposed to have his semen analysis done but apparently nobody was there so he now has to travel back next week again for that. Kinda ridiculously since they booked us in for that date. They also hadn't prepared for the ultrasound and had to scramble a nurse for that. I've left the clinic not really having a clue what I'm supposed to do. I've no idea of whats next. They gave me a prescription to control cycle ( the pill and noristherone) but no indication of when to start it , or the steps moving forward. They seem a bit of a shambles to be honest and they don't even offer a review to discuss results and plan treatment. You sign your consents and plan treatment at consultation which seems strange to me also since surely you can't plan treatment until you have results.
Even my nhs round was very precise and controlled. They guided us every step of the way and we never confused at any point .

@JDann yes it's a minefield there are so many clinics, I'm with Dr Firdevs at miracle hospital, I had my transfer last Friday so 6 days past, also of as they say advanced age 🤣 , when I had stimulation the extra days were just to give a few of the follicles time to catch up.
The walk around the ghost town is a strange experience but we'll work the steps

@VioIetMoon The price of fertility treatments blow my mind!

For us, for the added things like ICSI and genetic testing that we will be doing with any embryos it definitely has worked out cheaper and it was our reason for going abroad, I We were looking at average of £12-13k in the UK, but by doing to abroad with what we have paid so far including everything from meds back home and tests to the flights accommodation and treatment etc here it’s going to come in around the 7.5k mark, given that we don’t know how many rounds we will need…. It just wouldn’t have been affordable to be paying over 10k each go at home…. I’m extremely lucky that my fiancé is covering the cost. Without him we wouldn’t be able to, but there also isn’t a never ending pot of money to keep throwing money at IVF. So hard isn’t it that we live in a country where wanting to have a family costs you thousands.

Oh jeez I’m so sorry you’re having to go through all that, this is stressful enough and to have a clinic that isn’t professional or giving you the confidence is no help, and it most definitely isn’t beneficial to your emotional wellbeing.

You also need things explained properly, they are the professionals in this, we aren’t experts a with the knowledge in what and when we are supposed to do things!

Is the option of going to another clinic one that you could take? I’m also normally the last person to say Google, but have you looked in to clinic reviews/know anyone that has been to this clinic? Xx

i like the “advanced maternal age” sounds far better than geriatric 😂

we looked at Miracle as well, I don’t know what made us go with this clinic in the end, but we were being pulled towards them so fingers crossed! Did you find your whole experience with them good?

we did the ghost town yesterday, it really is strange isn’t it! So glad we did it, but emotional too…. I’ll blame the meds there 😂
what’s got to me more is the strays eceryehere! Yes I am one of those who has gone to buy cat and dog treats and little tubs of water to keep in my bag for any we pass 😂 🙈 but they break my heart lol

Six days, eeek! Super exciting, but I bet for you the wait is intolerable! Fingers and toes crossed for you we want a nice big positive xx

@JDann we personally chose it due to location as I lived in Limassol so was easier to drive to, however for doing it from the UK and travelling to Cyprus yours is in a great location as it's over a tourist side of the south, yes my treatment has been good, it a busy place though, some people find the way of working a little strange however I was used to it withl living in the south and attending medical care there as the norm.
We did look at Cyprus IVF hospital as Famagusta area would have worked better now we don't live there. How have you found them

Oh lovely!

so are you still based in Cyprus?
That must be so good for not too much travel!
he price difference between here and the UK is wild!
personally so far they have been great, I cannot fault them at all, Aman our coordinator has been fantastic, constantly communicating even late at night, nothing is too much trouble. So 10/10 for communication. Appointments and updates have been prompt, explained everything well and answered all questions, I don’t know if it’s a Cyprus thing, or the clinic in general but it’s al been very friendly and welcoming whilst also being professional! Egg collection is with Dr Serap Kagar on Saturday.
Famagusta is cute too! We are staying at the Caddemm Inn and it’s 80 euros a night half board through the clinic, lovely hotel with a nice rooftop pool…. About the price for a bog standard travel hotel back home 😂 xx

@JDann no unfortunately moved back last year, but stayed with the same clinic, it's an easy drive from Limassol, oh egg collection is getting close are you doing a fresh transfer?

At least it’s local to you and the clinic gave you your baby boy, it makes complete sense! Having faith in your clinic is a big deal when going through this isn’t it, which I’m sure you learnt the first time too.

we are doing a frozen transfer, with being 41 they recommended NGS testing to detect any abnormalities, they didn’t push it on us, but gave us the info to make our own decision. We did umm do ahh a bit over as it feels like we are playing god, but at the same time a healthy embryo and baby is the dream, so we will have to wait up to 3 weeks for those test results before coming back to transfer, which isn’t a biggie to be honest, it’s only a 4 hour flight and we can spend a few days here before/after.

just hoping we get an okay collection on Saturday!

looking forward to your update on transfer! 🥰

Just catching up girlies! Been so nice reading how everyone’s getting on. I’ve had a constant headache for 3 days and felt sooo sick 🙈 (I’m on Menopur) introduced Cetrotide tonight and had a small red swollen reaction to it. So I’m having a great time 🙃🤣 scan tomorrow and Monday then EC Weds Thurs or Fri next week. They said I’m probs likely to need a freeze all due to OHSS risk and to be honest, I feel like it’s def gonna go that way.

Good luck to everyone with egg collection tomorrow and Saturday 🍀🤞🏼

and @OliveTurtleI’m from Yorkshire! ♥️

Oh bless you, that does not sound fun! One thing may be worth trying is a migraine cool cap, if you type it in to Amazon, they’re about £7 and you pop them in the fridge…. Also migraine cool strips you can pick up form boots… thankfully I don’t often now, but I used to suffer constantly with migraines and they did help when I’d maxed out the painkiller route.

good luck for scan today 🥰

are you staying in Ireland or travelling back and fourth? Hope there’s not too much travel where you don’t feel the best.
positive thoughts! It’s so easy to get carried away with getting down along this road, we have all done it I reckon! I had my wobble on Wednesday…. But we move don’t we! You’ve got this xx

Awh thanks @JDann♥️ that sounds amazing defo gonna buy a cool cap!! Thanks for the luck - flight is delayed though so going to be late 😭 hopefully it’ll be fine cos it’s just a quick scan 🤞🏼 Nah we’re going back and forth because it’s only a 40m flight. Alllllll the luck for your EC tomorrow 🍀 xx

considering it’s the flight being delayed that is the cause I’m sure they will be fine! Fly safe and try to relax for the short 40 minutes, that type of flight and no need to wait to collect luggage from the carousel sounds bliss 😂
thank youuuuu, 24 hour count down is on.

safe travels xx

@JDann thankssss, clinic have confirmed that’s fine so we can chill :) xx

@GamerGirl09 have a safe flight. Did I read correctly that your from uk but chose to have treatment in ireland ? Do you mind me asking why you opted for ireland? Have you found the experience better? Or cheaper?

@VioIetMoon yes, correct! We’ve gone with Therapie Fertility. A bit cheaper than the uk and I’m slightly over the BMI limit for NHS. Just shopped around for private IVF and this one’s a decent price, have good success rates and gave me good vibes :) we’ve had a good experience with them so far! X

@GamerGirl09 nice to know you've had a good experience so far. I have considered therapie myself as I'm in West Ireland. There's not alot of selections for clinics. We ended up having a consultation with a clinic in Belfast but I'm not feeling very confident in them . I'm unsure weather to proceed or not or switch to another clinic . I'm tempted to switch but it means another delay waiting for our notes as we've just paid for all our investigations and bloods with them.
Is there much wait before you can start with therapie? We're told now earliest we could start our cycle is July/August, and thats just to prepare with the pill / noristherone to schedule timing to start, despite them telling us initially before we booked we'd get started next month after the tests . I never thought there would be waitlists with private. It's giving me so much anxiety as I'm about to hit the big 40 this year.
Ah the dreaded bmi limit. I was lucky enough to get 1 nhs round but I remember how gruelling it was to get my bmi in check. Good job private are less strict , as I definitely wouldn't meet the criteria these days 😆 I ended up just piling all the weight back on afterwards. Fast diets never work

Hope everyone's egg collections and scans have all gone well today!

I had my last monitoring scan this morning and egg collection is now booked for Monday (slightly terrified!). I've been moved on to a freeze-all cycle due to OHSS risk which is frustrating.

Can I ask how long people have had off work or are planning off work for egg collection? I've got Monday off and was planning to just work from home Tuesday but the nurse made it sound like I'd feel pretty grotty so now I don't know if I've planned this right x

Hi everyone! Happy Friday!! I hope everyone is doing ok? I just wanted to pop on to provide some reassurance as I had my egg collection this morning and it was absolutely fine! I was sedated and given pain relief but chatting to them through it all and it was pain free and absolutely fine. 25 mins later I was out having tea and custard creams!! Hope those of you having yours tomorrow are feeling ok ❤️

Good luck to those who are having monitoring scans and egg collections over the next few days ❤️

First time IVF, am just about to start my first day of stims, very nervous and excited at the same time whilst over thinking everything.. I’m sure you can all related 😂

Good luck everyone with their scans ECs and hopefully ETs.

@lemonwrighty can totally relate! You will get the hang of stims v quickly.

I am 10dp5dt so testing tomo (a day early but I don’t want to test Monday which is my test date and have to work whisky processing the results 😆).

Hope everyone is feeling ok after ECs and scans yesterday!
I was actually fully sedated during my collection and woke up with no memory of it whatsoever! I have previously had a bad response to light sedation though at the dentist, and managed a panic attack so strong that it broke through the sedation 😭😂 so maybe that was factored in.
My maturity rate wasn't the best (just over 50%) as my ovaries clearly went for quantity over quality but all but one fertilised overnight so we have everything crossed for a lucky one 🤞wishing everyone else loads of luck xxx

Hi all so stupidly tested yesterday (7 days past transfer) and I got a positive on a cheep home bargains test, it's only faint but very clear what do we all think

Hi all, I’ve just started my stims yesterday I’m on an antagonist protocol for freezing so have started with Ovaleap for these first two days. Yesterday was all fine but this morning I woke with quite a bit of nausea and vomiting and 6 hours later it’s not improving and I’m not able to keep anything down. I’m 29 and have good AMH levels so am at risk for OHSS, is this a sign of this happening? I phoned my clinic and left a message for the nurses earlier but they only stay open til 1pm on weekends so I don’t think I’ll get a call back now. Anyone been in the same boat?

@VioIetMoonso it was very quick from doctors consult to starting - just as quick as I could get the meds - HyCoSi, semen analysis and doctor consult on 15th April. They gave me prescription to take home and I managed to source the meds in time to start on that upcoming cycle. They put me on Estrogen priming so started tablets 29th April, then stims 9 May, egg collection will be between 21-23 May. The only thing is we had to wait for our initial nurse consult - we booked that in December and the earliest they could do was 4th February (online call). The wait between nurse consult and the semen analysis and HyCoSi was just getting blood tests etc done in the UK. So if you were considering switching to Thérapie (for example) there’s usually a couple month wait for a nurse consult. It’s definitely understandable you’d be disappointed having to wait though when they’ve given you expectations it would be sooner 😩 Yea re the BMI, we had fertility tests done through the NHS in 2021/22 and were told just need to reduce BMI to start. I lost 2.5 stone and just stalled there - really struggled to push past that point and I was literally only half a stone off the BMI limit. Then got married, holidays, Christmas and weight fluctuating up and down 🤣 and heard long waiting times on NHS so ended up just saying F it, not getting any younger lets go private 🤣

@bamboobirdieour egg collection is later this coming week and asked the nurse at scan yest if we can fly home after and she said they’d recommend staying over 1 night because will take a bit to come round from sedation and probs won’t feel well. So now considering booking a hotel for that 1 night and taking the following day off work.

@OliveTurtlethats amazing news! Well done you. Hope all went ok in terms of egg numbers etc 🤞🏼 how are you feeling today?

@lemonwrighty good luck! As Toryory said, you’ll get the hang really quickly - drink plenty of water and fingers crossed you don’t have side effects / side effects not bad xx

@Bunnymum93 that sounds great! When did you have your EC? Hope you have a bunch fertilised and hope they continue developing and getting strong over the next few days 🤞🏼

@camelinastorm definitely looks pos to me - maybe try a few more tests over next few days but 🤞🏼 and congrats if it’s right!

@DuskyMaisie Welcome 👋🏼 I’m on Menapur, not Ovaleap but I’ve felt a little nauseous all the way through (not throwing up though) and nausea was worse on day 5-7 of stims, and had a migraine alongside the sickness. Felt ok day 8 (yesterday) which is when I had my first scan and the nurse said likely just my body coping with the meds 🤞🏼fingers crossed all is okay for you but I wouldn’t worry ♥️ see what the clinic says on Monday and hopefully your symptoms clear up quickly ♥️

Hi @DuskyMaisie, welcome! I've been on ovaleap, I've not felt nauseous at all just really tired so can't say for definite but I haven't been asked at my appointments if I've had any side effects and they've just judged my OHSS risk based on the number of follicles they've seen on the scans. I think you don't really present with any symptoms until after egg collection so like GamerGirl said its probably just your body getting used to the meds but see what your clinic says on Monday. Hope you feel better soon ❤️