Newbie seeks IVF Postcode Lottery & Private Treatment Ad

[hedgehog09]

Hello Everyone

This is my first time here. I am 36 and my husband is 35. We have been trying to conceive for the last 2 years and finally visited our GP after 12 months and we were referred to a consultant. It was found that my husband had a low sperm mobility and high abnormal sperm forms. My hormone levels were fine although they discovered I did not ovulate every month ( my periods were every 28-35 days). I underwent a hysterosalpingogram and they suspected a minor blockage on my left fallopian tube which cleared during the procedure.

We are now on the waiting list for IVF treatment through the NHS and we have been told we have a two year wait in front of us because of the area we live in. I know that other areas have less than a year waiting list! I can’t believe such a postcode lottery exists!

My questions, if anyone can answer, them are:

1) Has anyone else had experience of this post code lottery?
2) Is there a work around? – i.e. can I obtain a temporary address in shortlist area?
3) Because of our ages I am very saddened by this news and will have to also look into options of going private or abroad. I have no idea of the costs or practices etc or how they differ. Has anyone had any experiences they can tell me or any recommendations?

Sorry for all the questions! I have been getting into a right tiz about all of this and the consultant appointments on the NHS are so spread apart and I wont be able to ask any questions about procedures till my next scheduled appointment in Feb …the clock is ticking! ;o(

I look forward to any replies and advice you can all offer…thank you so much

xx

[shantala]

hi hedgehog

firstly welcome to the board!!!! you've found an extremely useful site with lovely ladies and gents to help you along....without this site i'm sure i'd have gone under!!! at any time you can ask any (and i mean any!) questions and you'll pretty much always get an answer. i would say the main of the ladies on here are from the US so may not be able to answer questions such as anything on the NHS but there are a few of us UK-ers that can help!! whereabouts in the UK are you from??

as for your questions....i agree, the NHS funding system for infertility treatment is very much a postcode lottery. i'm not sure if there are any loopholes around it as we were never eligible for treatment, therefore had to pay both treatments privately and therefore could start straight away. i wonder if you gave a different address (maybe a friends, family's, etc), whether you could get round it that way?? really not sure so hoping someone else might reply on that.

as for costs privately....well, it REALLY varies a great deal. anything from £2000 per go (thats a natural ivf clinic in london) to about £10,000 a go (which is the famous ARGC clinic in london). thats very rough figures but generally prices are given on each clinic's website so you'll be able to find out the prices of individual clinics. we paid about £4,000 per go in oxford but it really depends. it also depends whether or not you need a procedure called ICSI (which you probably will as you have male infertility issues), which, again, is extra (our £4,000 included that). then there's other costs that really depend on the couple....pre-treatment tests, if you have any embryos to freeze then there's a freezing charge, etc. but again, all of that should be on individual clinic's websites.

another thing to be careful of is success rates. you may come across a website called HFEA (human fertilisation and embryology authority). they regulate all clinics in the country and have useful info for patients. you can do a search on their website for local clinics and their stats. but be careful about stats because there are so many variables that are included and excluded that its not really an accurate data you can go by. its better to just use it as a general guide about which clinics are better than others but dont read too much into them.

anyway, i know i'm going on.....feel free to post any more questions if you have them and best of luck!! i can promise that the waiting is the worst part about it all!!

xxx

[beachbaby]

Hi Hedgehog, sorry about your problems. When i went on the list it was a 18 month-2 year wait, we were offered through the clinic to go privately, all our work ups were done on the NHS but had to pay for ICSI and all drugs, even though i had an excemption card,it cost around £4,000. In January 2007 i received a letter to say my health authority were suspending all funding until further notice, upon further investigation i found out I was top of the list and would have been called for treatment had it not been suspended.It has still not been re-instated at the time there were over 300 people on the list. I paid for 3 frozen cycles as well, i spent in excess of £8k but i have 2 wonderful twin boys it was worth every penny. I would say if you can afford it pay for treatment whilst you wait for your nhs cycle to come around.
good luck and i hope your dreams come true.