Has anyone done IVF lately through the NHS? How long did it take and what did you have to do?
I was supposed to have IUI 6 months ago but they didn’t allow me as my fertility is a bit low and my partner’s sperm was also low. So they asked my partner to stop smoking and go back in 6 months. So tomorrow we are going back to see what they say.
But I was easing here that you have to get funding, how does it work? I don’t want to lose my changes as I’m 40 in May
Thank you for whoever answer I’m a little anxious about the whole thing
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Den16
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Hello! I’ve just been through the NHS which was carried out at a private clinic which was nice. I have to be honest it did take a while to get going... from our initial consultation and all the countless tests we had to do it took about 8-9 months until we started. The issue is with going NHS is that you are more governed by their time scale so you might have to wait 6 weeks or so in between appointments etc.
It’s worth it in the end as you save a lot of money but if you want to get going and don’t want to wait that long then that would need to be a decision whether you would go straight to private instead. I only had one funded cycle but it depends on your area and also what they will allow for your age/criteria etc. It’s worth looking up the info on your local CCG. Good luck!cx
Thank you for your reply I’m doing it through st Mary’s hospital/ Hammersmith hospital. where did you do it? And what test did they do, I’ve done a few test already like AMH, HSG test also the pelvic scan and saline sonogram
I did mine at Woking Nuffield. Previous to going to the clinic I had a HyCoSy which is where they flush fluid through Fallopian tubes etc. I’ve had every blood test under the sun and pelvic scans. So sounds like you have done the main ones already. They will have a check list and complete anything that is missing. Your blood test results can’t be older than 3 months old so by the time you start you may have to do them again. Xx
Hi! For us it helped that I had already done all possible tests privately and the FS confirmed we would do IVF straight away (if private) and in around 6 weeks time if NHS-funded. We went NHS, and after the 6 week wait everybody helped us speed things up as much as possible to start the earliest possible. We submitted the funding application then and the response came back super quickly, like in 3 weeks time, then we could start.
Firstly good luck with your journey, I had NHS funded IVF although the initial start felt like a while, I actually needed all the prep work prior to the IVF which was about 8/10 months in total.
I looked at it as being completely match fit, and used the time to change my diet / increase my exercise (in my head that was going to help, I am not suggesting it makes any difference)
We had our IVF in London at a Private clinic it was one of our options but my husband and I found once we got to that point things moved very quickly, and the next thing we new we had a toddler 😊, I really hope things work out for you and your husband 🤞,
Thank you, Keep positive I found the entire experience edge of a cliff worrying, I over thought about every decision, worried about every timescale, I know it feels easier said than done but try to just go with the flow xx
In May we began our first cycle of NHS funded IVF. Took about 6 weeks from funding to beginning treatment. We are now 24 weeks pregnant with our rainbow baby boy 💙 good luck with everything! Xx
Hi Den16. We first went to our gp August 2017 and had all our tests completed and had been planning to start June 2018 with 3 rounds funding agreed. Once we had had all the tests it was only a 3 month wait for treatment if that helps.
Due to other health complications we are only just on our first round now but that would have been the same even if we were private x
If you’re 39 then best practice is straight to ivf without wasting time on iui. Waiting times vary according to area but I believe smoking is a no for all areas funding rules. So if hubbie has stopped smoking then push for an ivf referral ASAP.
Hello there! I went through the NHS and it did take a while to get going, once they had established we needed IVF, it took about 7-8 months to finally get started - but once we started it was all fairly quick and if anything we slowed things down ourselves as potentially we would have done a fresh round then started on frozen embryo transfer immediately after the
Fresh one failing- but I needed time to recover first, so out the brakes on. Good luck to you xxxx
Hello! I’ve been through NHS and it is a bit of postcode lottery in terms of number of cycles that you can have provided on the NHS. If you go to fertilityfairness.co.uk/nhs...
you can see what your local area provides and the age limit. There are also restrictions such as no smoking, no previous children and BMI so make sure you ask your GP - they explained no point referring as the referral will just be rejected. Hope you don’t live in Cambridge or Croydon as it looks like they don’t offer any NHS treatment.
Once I was referred to the fertility clinic things happened quite quickly within 2 months we started our treatment. Good luck x
Hey. We were first referred to a fertility specialists from the gp in March. Had an appointment with them beginning of June and tbe doctor sent me for an HSG scan, done all thr bloods required, semen analysis so its a female factor due to pcos and a littlr scar on my left tube. The fertility specialist said we better go straight for ivf. She sent all my documents on the 19th September, got a call from the local commission on the 21st September asking me to pick a clinic. The clinic phoned me on the 10th October to let me know the funding and the referral have been received and i have a telephone consultation this Thursday to plan ahead. Luckily the gp sent me for all the tests required, we did the semen analysis privately in the clinic in May before even knowing i will need ivf so all the paperwork have been done. And now hopefully will start our first cycle in November. Like everyone says dependson the are you live in. In West Sussex they fund 2 fresh and 2 frozen cycles. Good luck! Sending lots of hugs and positive vibes your way xxx
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I’m doing it through st Mary’s hospital/ Hammersmith hospital. where did you do it? And what test did they do, I’ve done a few test already like AMH, HSG test also the pelvic scan and saline sonogram 
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