can we have a campaign for standardizing treatment of infertility please?

[OracleInaCoracle]

after the great job that the miscarriage campaign, I thought this would be a natural next step.

Ive been on the conception boards for a long time now, and it would appear that the difference in treatment for IF varies a huge amount from PCT to PCT. some hospitals run lupus tests as standard, others will just run day 21 and day 3 bloods. some will check immunology, others wont even consider it.

infertility is still something that the general public remains ignorant of, with cries of "just adopt then" or "you shouldnt have left it so late" ringing in the ears of sufferers. I would like mn to help raise awareness, stop IF being such a taboo subject and maybe help the NHS standardize treatment, so the same tests are run in every hospital.

what do you think?

I agree - its a national service and personally would agree that there should be minimum national guidelines on this - like they have the body that gives guidance on types of treatment etc. The NHS should not be a postcode lottery - at least for the minimum services if some areas want to do more than others based on their budget that's fine ( is this a contradiction) but at least the minimum services are agreed. Does not just apply to IVF - what about other types of procedures / treatments too. IVf does seem to be a reasonable place to start.

SDD, the HFEA's future is in doubt at the moment as the only independent body regulating clinics here and there are proposals to allow donors and surrogates to earn money. this would then put the cost of many treatments out of the reach of normal people.

it makes me cross.

I would also support this.

cut 'n pasting from the other thread .... There's lots of myths aren't there? And PCT's such as Cheshire West are happy to exploit them all when 'consulting' to garner support for removal of funding. I think that Joe Public doesn't understand how restricted access to IVF is (normal BMI, no children for either male or female partner just to start the list). I think people get muddled by what it was like years ago (Walton sextuplets + low success rates) or what it's like abroad (Octuplets/ mums in their 60's). Add in to that the myths about the ease of adoption and you get a very unsympathetic public. A few things make me smile particularly when they come from parents - those who declare that they wouldn't have gone for IVF if they hadn't conceived naturally and people who portray IVF as the straw that will break the back of the NHS because of course having multiple natural babies doesn't cost the NHS a bean does it

lozster, you are v right.

there are so many misconceptions about infertility and its treatments!

Not researched it at all and personally not known people who have so apologies for any ignorance but I support that there should be a system that at least is not a postcode lottery.

SDD, I wasnt criticising. the HFEA is the only regulating body and, as an "unnecessary quango" will be abolished pretty soon. and then all hell break loose!

Thanks for starting this lissie. I've been to the GP just this morning after over a year of tcc a second child with just a miscarriage to show for it. I've been offered day 21 bloods and dh a repeat sperm analysis but that's it. She basically told me if the results are normal we've gone as far as the NHS will take us. Seriously? A few bloods and a sperm count and it's bye then, good luck, hope you can afford to see a private fertility specialist because you sure as hell won't get to see an NHS one! I know I'm lucky to have a child, and I certainly don't expect a full cycle of ivf for free but it would be nice to actually be referred to someone whose expertise is fertility rather than my GP going down a flow chart in front of me!

misstine, im sorry you are having a crap time. its awful, and frustrating. our pct didn't do sperm tests, just bloods. we have seen 4 different consultants at 3 different hospitals and they have all been hugely different. my local cons wont even consider immunology testing , another hospital provides it, but you have to pay a fortune, another does it on the nhs but it costs a fortune to get to..

You have my 100% support.

thank you.

bump

bump

thought, given some of the posts on the ivf lotto threads, a bump might be in order.

I'd back this as well (sadly I think a lot of the ignorance on the lotto threads means the average MN resident won't). They're still trumpeting the same crap about "you can always adopt"... "lifestyle choices" (well aren't YOUR children as well following that line of logic?) and trying to portray us as delicate little sunflowers that THEY know best and that we need protecting.

We don't. You HAVE to toughen up, to learn what's what, to learn how to find out what your PCT allows and how to access it - because there are no shiny advocates for us, no one protecting our interests (hell it's MUMSnet and on various occasions we get told to go away from here - like we're not part of any female community)... so you learn to do that yourself. You have to justify yourself harder to be a parent - people still think it's perfectly acceptable to trumpet such crap as "if you can't save the cash for IVF you don't deserve to have kids" (did YOU have 10 grand spare in the bank when you got pregnant after that drunken shag?) or "you can always adopt" - yet if we try that avenue (despite the problems with that system - here it's that the only adopters being sought are black or mixed race) - you again, have to prove even harder than a fertile couple that you've gone through IVF (how do you do this if you're inelligble?) and done a suitable social-worker ordained amount of emotional handwringing. EVERYTHING is doubly against you - especially if you dare to be infertile and, like lots of us these days, getting by OK financially but that's about it.

I've now done 8 years of this crap (I don't qualify for anything from the NHS - not even an answer about why and we don't have the means to afford to go private). That's a massive chunk of my life - from 25 to 33 gone over this demon - it's amazing I'm even still remotely sane. Thankfully I'm actually a very strong person or it would have destroyed me completely.

However I don't know if this is anything MN WILL get involved in to be honest. Being brutal - we ain't mums and there are a lot out there who even begrudge our existence on the site. This is a site where it's perfectly acceptable to judge and condemn those without kids as inferior, to tell them to leave, to tell them they're not entitled to certain careers, to demand that they do all the shit shifts, never have Christmases or holidays during summer months... to basically, like the rest of society - treat them as utter defective shits. You only need to look at some of the crap being pedalled on the IVF threads (and yes I'll be buying a ticket for that lottery) to see just how ingrained it is on here. I actually doubt MN will do anything at all to be honest - we just pure and simple do not matter.

mnhq have said that they will look into this, I have secondary infertility (well, recurrent mc) but I agree that the ignorance is shocking. I want to change that.

I no longer pedal out the "we'll see" explanation as to why I choose to damage ds by not providing a sibling. I tell people why. in graphic detail.

bump

Yep, I agree!

You have my support too Lissie

thank you!

You have my full support lissie
I agree completely with your OP

thank you prolific, how is the baby-having going? is he out yet?

Including infertility due to recurrent miscarriage. Treatment should not be a lottery.

willitbe, agree. my cons doesnt believe that immunology issues can cause mc. I have mc'd 13 times. each time was preceded by a temp spike and vomiting/flu-like symptoms at 5w. a PCT a few counties across would have provided immune testing, mine wont. and gp wont prescribe ABs

Oh Lissie xx