Next round.....

Hi everyone,

I am just after 1 round - fresh transfer at an NHS clinic. I have a frozwn embryo ready for a transfer and entitled to 2 more funded rounds on NHS. Which I am extremely grateful for.

I was prepared for the first round to not work - but I have lost confidence in my clinic during this process. I had really good results and was expecting a better outcome for stims and egg collection - sadly this didn't happen.

Have any of you guys paid for private consultations to get 2nd opinions?

Financially I will have to go with NHS I think for my next transfer and 3rd Ivf round if it comes to that. But was hoping a private clinic might give me a tailored advice that I can bring back to NHS.

Has anyone else done this?? Just feel like the 'one size fits all' NHS approach is a bit frustrating - we have good egg reserve egg quality and sperm....

Would love to hear other peoples experiences.

💕💕💕

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

I think you’re in a pretty good position to have a frozen embryo and the chance to have more funded rounds. Even at private clinics, the first round is often a bit of a “trial run” to see which drugs are going to work best for you. If it were me, I would go ahead with the frozen transfer and, if you are unlucky enough that it fails, go for the follow up consultation with your nhs clinic and see what changes to your protocol they suggest. If they don’t suggest any changes then maybe get a copy of your notes at that point and have a consultation with a private clinic. However, be aware that this will be pricey and there’s absolutely no guarantee that your nhs consultant would be willing to implement a protocol suggested by another consultant. Also, the private clinic is a money making business and they may well put discreet pressure on you to switch to them, which will mean a huge cost to you.

If you’re really unhappy with your clinic, it’s worth checking with your ccg if you have a choice of places for your treatment- in my area I was given a choice and I used a clinic which does both private and nhs work. I’ve had both a private and an nhs round there and the standard of care was exactly the same on both rounds.

[Hidden in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Thanks Lizzie. This sounds like good advice and we are feeling positive and fortunate to have some funded rounds ahead so are in a good position - apart from our advancing ages! 🙄

True that the nhs clinic might not implement what the private one suggests - but as we are unexplained I thought they might 'find' something that we haven't found so far....

Thanks for taking the time to advise it is really helpful.

😚😚😚

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Hidden]

In terms of “finding” answers, we asked our private clinic to test for everything possible after two failed rounds and one natural miscarriage. They were called “level one and level two tests”. Some are recognised by the nhs and some are not. It cost us £3000 and in our case it was worth it as the karyotyping test found my hubbie has a chromosome translocation, meaning we needed embryo testing. However, I think you’re at a pretty early stage of the process and chances are that you’ll have a positive result in your next funded rounds. I know it feels like the clock is ticking, but if it helps, I just got pregnant at 39 from our third round of ivf despite the fact that my fsh levels had started to rise and my amh has begun to decrease.

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Ps also, if you’re unexplained you might want to push for a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy under general anaesthetic to check for silent endometriosis, you might be able to be on the nhs waiting list for this whilst having ivf if you haven’t already had a lap- it depends on how open your subfertility consultant is to referring you for this.

[Hidden in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Oh yes - I can maybe suggest that. My acupuncturist thought I might have endometriosis. But I have never been tested.

Thanks this is good to keep in mind.

Xxx

[Hidden in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Thanks Lizzie. Your story is so encouraging! Yes we are early on in our treatment - this is the first thing the nhs has 'prescribed' no clomid or anything just straight to IVF.

That is good to know that you discovered something and now you have a positive result!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

We still feel positive it will happen.

Xxx

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Hidden]

They didn’t prescribe Clomid for me either, I don’t think it’s recommended if you ovulate naturally, and it would just waste time. I have my fingers crossed for your frozen round xx

[Hidden in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Thanks! Will put all my positive energy into it!

Xxx