TCC Fertility Appointment Advice

[Lounat]

Hello,

Brand new to posting on Mumsnet here. I've had a look around and can't find specifics so I was hoping for some advice from anyone who has been through similar.

My hubs and I have been TCC for 2 years and have just had our NHS referral approved. We have been provided with a list of 6 clinics in our region (north west) and have to choose which one to go with.

It's a little overwhelming and the NHS site advises that 9 out of 10 patients start treatment anywhere between 33 and 52 weeks for the options we have been given. I'm assuming this means within this timeframe, but I'm not 100%.

The clinic with the longest wait times so happens to be the one closest to my partners place of work and as a teacher, he won't always find it easy to get time away to attend appointments, so on balance, this seems like the best option - even though it could mean a longer wait for appointments and treatment.

Can anyone provide any advice on going through this process based on experience.

How many initial appointments does the man have to attend? Assuming first one and then for any tests he needs? I've said if needed I can go on my own when he doesn't have to physically attend but he wants to be there for any procedures I may need to have, at the very minimum.

It feels like there is such a long journey ahead so any other general advice to help ease the process will be very much appreciated. Trying to be more positive now we have the referral...

Lx

Oh, the title should be "TTC" - doh!

He doesn't have to attend loads. Initial consultation, sample and bloods, then egg collection. Everything else can be done solo. There might be option to join by zoom depending on the clinic for any other consultations too. It should be somewhere you are happy with as you will be going to for the scans during stims.

@Lounat it’s so confusing when starting out! Have you looked on the HFEA website to compare the clinic stats? Personally I found that really helpful when we looked to change clinics. We then did consultations with our favourite 3 and made our ultimate decision based on what we thought of the consultant. But that was after our nhs round. For our nhs, I looked at the HFEA and also asked my GP what they recommended, the ‘better’ clinic had the longer wait list but also their facility were so much nicer.
in terms of appointments, my husband attended a lot via zoom and I attended in person. For me it was a lot of appointments (every 2days for the week before transfer) where as for him it was very few (he came perhaps 4times total over the last 4transfers I had) so I wouldnt let his proximity be the driving factor. If you’re comfortable, you could also set up a thread in the infertility forum on here and name the specific clinics your considering and ask for people’s experiences.
you should be able to get your gp to send you off for initial blood tests & sperm analysis while you wait. Make sure you keep copies of all your tests! The one that caught me out was rubella, my gp didn’t test me for it and unfortunately it turned out I didn’t have immunity, so I had to go through a 3month course of rubella jabs before I could start ivf! Again, the HFEA have loads of useful info on stuff like that!
wishing you all the best on your journey!

The clinics near me all ran open days so I checked those out along with their published success rate stats and patient reviews. Defo see if there is anything your GP can arrange test wise in the meantime as that will save time when you're at the top of the list, otherwise the clinic will need to run the tests anyway. Whilst I was waiting for my first appt I think I had Day 2 and Day 21 blood tests to check hormone levels, internal scan to rule out PCOS, endo etc, chlamydia and rubella immunity tests. If you have a high BMI it is also worth getting that under 30 for the first appt, I wasn't made aware of that and I missed it by 3lbs which caused a 7 month delay as I had to prove I had a BMI under 30 and then go back 6 months later to prove I'd kept the weight off...

Good luck

Thanks so much for all of your replies. I have looked on HFEA however only one of the options provided comes up, which is strange - perhaps because the other options we have been given are NHS hospitals, rather than private? I'm not sure.
Good to know about the blood tests too, I will check what has been done with the GP already as I don't remember rubella being mentioned.

Do you have to have the hormone and semen samples taken again at the consultation at the clinic, or if already had them with the GP, do they go by those results? Once we decide on a clinic the GP practice send over the information. I suppose it will then be a case of waiting for an appointment.

I'll have a further click around in the infertility thread too - I should have posted this in there really.
I hope everything is going well for you all in your journey!

Lx