IVF is for rich people in The UK

[NightOwl08]

I feel that parenthood in the UK can be very challenging for those with limited means. I’m 39 and have been trying to conceive for 5 years without success. My GP informed me that I wouldn’t be eligible for NHS funding due to my age.

My BMI is under 20, I have never smoked, and I drink only occasionally, yet I am still facing unexplained infertility. I’ve reviewed around 50 clinics in the UK, and it seems that a single IVF cycle would cost at least £8,000, which is quite overwhelming.

I’ve now decided to explore IVF treatment abroad. Ladies, I would greatly appreciate it if you could share your experiences with IVF abroad—any information, tips, or guidance would be very helpful.
Thank you in advance!

Kings Fertility offers 3 round packages for around 9K last time I checked. Could be slightly more expesive.

Hi! I can recommend Thérapie Fertility in Dublin, not only do I think their cost of IVF is cheaper than in the UK I also think it's important to look at the cost of each frozen embryo transfer. It's €1500 and I've seen transfers priced at £2000-3000 in the UK. I also don't think they have a BMI restriction.

Sorry it is all so stressful, especially when we're older it feels like a lot of extra pressure to get it done asap. I don't know where you are in the country and maybe you need more specialised tests which is why it's more expensive, but there's a clinic I know of that advertised one round as 5.5k including screening and drugs. I've heard people on mumsnet mentioning clinics offering several rounds for around 10-12k as well.

It seems very unfair that your GP didn't advise you before you hit the age cut off to try IVF as 5 years is a long time to be trying and them not tell you.

we did 3 cycle package at create st pauls for 15k. might be cheaper not in their central london branch. got a 10k loan from create and put in 2.5 each. if you can handle paying off a loan for a longish time its much better than 8k a go. this was just last year so prices will be similar still.

In a lot of areas you'd be entitled to 3 rounds before 40. If you are the early end of 39 look into any neighbouring care board areas with more generous provision.

IVF in the UK is more like 5.5k-6k a cycle (4k for the IVF, 1.5-2k for the meds) than 8k if you don't do ICSI or PGTA and avoid the overly profit driven clinics.

Thank you for sharing. In my case, the doctor has recommended ICSI, so once I factor in ICSI, medications, and additional tests or procedures, the total cost would be significantly higher than the initial package price. That’s why the overall expense still feels quite overwhelming for me.

Thank you so much for this recommendation. I’ll definitely look into Thérapie Fertility in Dublin, especially the frozen embryo transfer costs you mentioned.

Thank you, I really appreciate your understanding—it truly is very stressful, especially with the added age pressure. If you don’t mind, could you please share the name of the clinic you mentioned? That would be really helpful.

The advertised prices do sound more affordable initially, but in my case, once I add ICSI, medications, frozen embryo storage and transfer charges, and other extras, the total cost ends up doubling or even more. That’s been the main challenge for me.

Unfortunately, in our case the doctor has recommended both ICSI and PGT-A, which significantly increases the overall cost per cycle. That’s why the total ends up being much higher than the base IVF price.

Thank you for sharing your experience. In my case, both ICSI and PGT-A have been recommended by my GP, so once these are added, the overall cost increases significantly beyond the base package price.

Ah yeh adding on icsi and pgta is expensive, so sorry. Everything's always so much more complicated than I initially thought with this whole process! Yes ofc it's called Yorkshire Fertility, they've been really good so far. But the frozen transfers are in the more expensive range at around 2.5k.

@Waitingforday6second this vote for Therapie and they now have a satellite office in London so you only need to go to Dublin 2 or 3 times. They’re also good with patients in this age range. They got me a positive test for my 40th and currently 35 weeks x

That’s so nice to hear, and congratulations! Wishing you a smooth rest of your pregnancy.

That price was with icsi. We originally opted for pgta as I’ve had two early mcs but we make such few blasts that it wasn’t worth the risk of testing them, freezing them, and we wanted time money for more treatment if needed. What’s your doctors reasons for recommending pgta? Are they a fertility specialist or gp? It’s red rated on hfea. If it’s stopping you affording treatment it’s a significant portion of the cost that might not be ultimately beneficial.

Oops sorry just saw you said gp. Yours is rather knowledgeable, mine didn’t know what amh was. They suggested I adopt.

well, I’d say speak to a fertility specialist before deciding what you need. It’s usually consultants that make those recommendations.

Have you checked the assisted conception policy of your ICB to confirm the eligibility criteria? It is worth doing just in case. Although, your GP does seem to know about a few things so maybe their info is correct.

We used Therapie in Dublin (partially due to thinking it seemed cheaper than UK) and it cost c.£4,600 for ICSI, £670 for tests and consult, €1,000 for first FET, €1,500 for subsequent FETs, £21pm for embryo storage, £1,600 for meds up to egg retrieval (and part of FET), couple hundred for additional meds post-transfer. Add to that travel costs plus hotel for 2 nights around egg collection and hotel for 1 night before transfers. We’re having our second and last transfer soon and if that doesn’t work we’ll be trying again in the UK just as we found, all in all, we probably weren’t saving much money than in the UK and the travel was a little stressful / tedious at times (we did do all the blood tests we could in the uk and paid extra for lining scan in the uk to save having to travel). The clinic themselves were great though. We chose Therapie partly due to BMI but I’m pretty much at the NHS limit now so if this transfer is unsuccessful hoping to do next round with the NHS. It is annoying though that these restrictions are put in place with no wiggle room when you think of those people who have children they don’t want / smoke, drink, drugs during pregnancy 🙃 but hey ho c’est la vie. Best of luck to you x

😱😱😱😱😱

@NightOwl08 what about Cyprus (TRNC )
they offer very good prices and if you fly out of holiday season the flights and accommodation are very cheap, if you fly in holiday season costs more but you can make a full holiday of it
I and many I know have used miracle ivf by Dr F she is wonderful and ICSI comes as standard you can get most of the blood tests required from the GP and sexual health team( you need these to show you are clear) they get you on treatment fast so no long wait lists

to echo what someone said, i started ivf at 39 and had 2 free rounds on the nhs. sounds like it's more of a problem of the area you're in. i'm not sure how the nhs does it but it might be worth looking at whether you could apply in other areas?
we did pgt-a because of my age and the pricing at my clinic was 450 per embryo + if you freeze some and want to thaw and test them later, it would be 900 flat fee for defrosting and then again 450 per embryo for testing. other than that, everything else was covered by nhs.

Hi, I am sorry you are going through this. Here are the couple of helpful resources: a) Behind IVF Doors YT channel with very detailed reviews of clinics in Europe, e.g. Czech Rep b) IVFAbroad FB group, one of the most active I know c) fertilityclinicsabroad with reviews of top clinics, they have an awesome starter kit with IVF price calculator d) eggdonationfriends with their IVF package comparison option. Stay positive! A know many persons who underwent IVF abroad at very pocket-friendly prices and had 1st or 2nd time success. Hope this helps.

I’ve had 6 rounds of ivf in the uk, after the first 3 I had a little boy. Then next 3 for a sibling resulted in nothing.

i have gone to Athens to Serum IVF, can’t recommend them enough. With paying for 3 rounds and an operation out there (major endo that was never looked int over here) and with flights, accommodation and meds, I have spent half of what it cost for 3 rounds here! Medication is so much cheaper, they don’t push high doses like they do here…they actually want to diagnose and treat to ensure fruitful IVF. I have got an embryo good enough to freeze over there and 2 in me hoping one will implant. One round IVF is €3600 and meds/blood test so much cheaper over there!

Also, in the UK they blamed a lot on my age rather than investigating and once in your 40s (I know you’re not there just yet) you definitely don’t want to waste your opportunities and money xx

Good luck @MammaKG 🍀

Thank you 🤞🏾

They also have a satellite office in London so you would just need to travel for egg collection and transfer. I had a great experience with Dr Kennedy and success in first transfer with them after a failed NHS round. I was 39 approaching 40 with low AMH x