Ovulation Induction Treatment

[kibit219]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to Mumsnet and hoping to get some advice.

My husband and I are trying for a baby, but as soon as we started taking it seriously, my period stopped. At first, I thought we were lucky, but the pregnancy tests kept coming back negative. I booked an appointment with my GP, had some blood tests and ultrasound, and was eventually diagnosed with PCOS. It’s been such an emotional rollercoaster, I was generally healthy, never skip a period, but got my first period stopped when we really want to have baby.

We decided to pursue treatment, and from what the NHS explained, the typical steps are ovulation induction first, then IUI, and finally IVF. It looks straight forward. However, we’ve found out we’re not eligible for NHS-funded treatment because we’re both on working visas, even though we’ve been in the UK for six years and paid the full amount of IHS fee.

The private charges at the hospital the NHS referred us to were very high. the initial consultation was £4xx for me and £3xx for my husband. We decided to explore the private market, but I’m struggling to find a clinic that isn’t focused on IVF. My period has been absent for four months that time, and I hadn’t received any medication during the time.

After my period came back, We’ve been trying for few more months with no luck, and I’m now looking for a fertility clinic that could help us start with ovulation induction, specifically Clomid. Unfortunately, most of the clinics I’ve found through Google seem to target IVF clients, and I don’t know where to find a doctor who can prescribe Clomid without IVF.

As immigrants in the UK, this journey has been much more difficult than I imagined. We’re eligible for ILR next October, but I’m 32 now, and we really don’t want to wait that long to start our family.

We’re based in Greater London and would really appreciate any recommendations for affordable and reliable Clomid treatment. Thank you so much for any help or advice you can share!

Hi @kibit219 i don’t have any experience of Clomid I’m afraid, but I recently got diagnosed with pcos. I have irregular periods ranging from 40-70 days. I’ve been put on metformin which is meant to help ovulation. And if I’m correct in thinking I’m ovulating right now, this will be the first time I’ve had a normal 30 day cycle. Could be worth speaking to your GP to see if they can prescribe this before you have to look at private?

sorry what’s ILR?

Good luck!

Thanks @Figtree11 . I talked to my GP today and unfortunately they can’t prescribe anything for fertility treatments. That needs to be done by fertility specialists.

Indefinite Leave to Remain, then I can apply for British citizenship in late 2027. But i will be 35+ at that time.

Before that I cannot use any funded fertility treatment from NHS, unless i pay it myself.

But the price of the hospital they referred is insane while compare to the private market, I mean the private is not cheap, but they are asking almost 3 times more.

This initial consultation fee cost more than £800 as a couple.

Do you either of you have private medical cover through work?

Also, have you actually engaged with the hospitals/doctors that have come up in searches? For example, I imagine that as "IVF" is the money maker AND the most well known to the general public their advertising would focus on that angle, whereas if you spoke with them then you might find that they're happy to prescribe a few rounds of clomid before going completely down the ivf route. The steps couples go through to get to ivf isn't the sort of thing known about until you're in a position of needing to know about it. I only know about it because my best friend used it and got pregnant on month 5. Apologies if you have already done this research though.

You might find the private clinics associated with NHS hospitals to be a good place to start because they can cost share the with the NHS to a bigger extent than a completely private place. For example, I've been to the Wolfson Clinic at Hammersmith Hospital several times on the NHS but know the exact same facility is also available privately.

Also, have you checked what you'd get fertility treatment wise if you were eligible on the NHS AND you did require ivf? Unless you're in a "lucky" post code area, you'd likely end up having to pay for at least some of it anyway.

You can pay as a private patient at Guys Hospital. I had my ovualtion induction treatment there on the NHS (also PCOS), but it's the same clinic that also sees private patients. They use letrozole rather than clomid now - lower risk of multiples and generally more effective. It took us 3 cycles. GPs talk about clomid because that's what was used previously The price list is on the website so its very transparent - i think I calculated it was going to be around £1500 in total when we were considering private care including all initial scans and consultations but obviously prices have probably gone up since then.

https://guysandstthomasspecialistcare.co.uk/services/fertility-prices-and-packages/

If you are in SW London, i believe St Helier also accepts private patients but I don't have any direct experience of them.

As pp has said, i would have thought that all private fertility clinics would consider OI if you emailed them and specifically asked about it. Its probably just not on the websites.

Have you checked the position re antenatal and maternity care and your visas? Presumably if you are concerned about the cost of fertility treatment, you wouldn't be planning on going private for antenatal care and birth so you don't want to end up with a massive bill for your antenatal care.