Private or nhs ivf/icsi

[nancy1984]

Hi we are wondering what is the best route to go down for ivf/icsi? Does anyone know what the waiting lists are like for ivf and is it better to go private (if you can) - are the doctors any better/chances higher? We have pcos and low sperm count. I know this may not even work :(

[Lauren83]

Hello

Well for NHS it completly depends what area you are in, some have waiting lists, some have no lists as such but gaps of up to 3 months between appointments that might delay things, my clinic you would start a cycle within 6 months.

Now if you check stats most private clinics would come out with higher sucess rates but that's mainly due to them being more picky about who they take on, you have newer techniques available to you at a private clinic that you wouldn't NHS, other thing to think about is if you cycle privately it gets taken off your NHS entitlement so if you had 1 go and went private to save waiting then you wouldn't get that go, so it makes sense to use your NHS goes before you move into private if you can afford it, have you looked into the funding for your area? X

[TSSDNCOP]

As Lauren says its time that's a key factor.

Obviously with the NHS you get as many free goes as your local area allows, but you have to wait so long for appointments and also in my area you had to wait 6 cycles between attempts.

Private means you can go again after 3 cycles so long as you can get on the list. You get better at that if you're unsuccessful a couple of times.

I'm not sure I believe much about results TBH I think both can use a statistic to create a neatly turned success story.

[nancy1984]

Hi thank you so much. I'm seeing my gp on Friday so will find out wait lists and waits between treatments.
I need to go with a list of questions prepared! What should I ask?! Eek

[Lauren83]

Before you go find out who your CCG is, some gps aren't clued up on funding so call the ccg and ask to be emailed a copy of the assisted conception criteria, this will tell you how long you need to of been trying to get referred, what treatment they fund and how many cycles, some will refer you after 6 months with known issues, some 3 years!!

Have you had any tests already? Some GPs will run your first bloods, infact you must have to know the above I guess, so what's happened up til know? Find out if you have a choice where you go, some CCGs have contracts with private clinics so you could even end up private but NHS funded anyway

See what bloods your GP will do anyway incase you do go private it could save you a fortune, also fertility friends forum has boards on all the main ivf clinics, you can get an idea of waiting times from that x

[Lauren83]

I don't think your GP will have that info really, mine didn't, I got referred to gynae at first by my GP, they ran tests and found issues so referred me to ivf dept who ran same tests, then found even more issues! Then I had 2 operations, 3 month injections of chemical menopause and 2 operations

One thing I will tell you is if you go down this route you will find 10% of the info you need from your GP/ivf dept, and the rest you will find out yourself online and on forums! X

[TSSDNCOP]

Agree Lauren about the GP.

My GP wouldn't do anything other than refer. No funding at all for blood tests or anything else. Then it's all about your consultant.

The nature of IVF is that it's a very personal and unpredictable path. It does work; DS is living proof. But you need to brace yourselves, it's got no definites (sp) at all.

I wish you all the luck in the world for a speedy result xxx

[naty1]

I would say a lot depends on your age and how much money you can spend on it.
I waited for the 1 nhs round which worked.
Im not sure in my area private would have been any quicker as it was investigation that took the time.
Things are always more expensive than you expect.
Our clinic charge about 4k for ivf 6 for icsi.
Success decreases after 35 so i would bear that in mind with your decision. ( but a lot of that also depends in exactly what is wrong and how many eggs you get.
But then if you need to save money for a second child or want to do that before you are x years old.
Also doing a second ivf(fail) after successful first one i can see it could have cost us a lot of money to have a baby