Self funding cycle, where to start!!

[Holiday_maker]

Hello,

We are about to start our first self funded cycles after two failed NHS cycles. I was just wondering what other people have experienced we had an appointment yesterday with our clinic and asked for some advice which they said they couldn’t help us with our decision on what provider to go with and how many cycles we should have.

Has anyone else had this problem or could share there experience that would be great!!

Thanks 😊

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi. Anyone wishing to reply mentioning clinic names, please do so via private message to "Holiday_maker". Thanks. Diane

[Purple276]

Hi Holiday_maker,

So sorry that the nhs rounds didn't work. We're lucky that the clinic the nhs sent us to also did private so we stayed with them which saved on new tests.

I'd ask for a copy of your tests, scans, records etc to pass over to any new clinic. You can see success rates on the HFEA website, also you'll be going back and forward lots so location is important. Find a few that look good and arrange an initial meeting. We speak to the consultant only once and it's the nurses who are fab and actually answer the phone and return calls. I find this really important. Also check how quickly you can start.

My clinic is expensive but really good. If you are looking Northamptonshire way then message me.

Hope that helps you and good luck on the search x

[Ownyee]

Hi Holiday_maker, we had a similar experience. 2 failed rounds of ICSI under our NHS funded cycles. The NHS clinic also offered private funded services but I had lost faith in them. Before starting our private funded cycles, we checked HFEA website for success rates etc and also read loads of blogs. I found Duff really helpful and that helped our decision. So far so good as the doctor is more attentive and responsive and has found out issues that no one told me about under NHS

[Babytocome]

Hi, I had a cycle by nhs and the hospital offers private too. I didn’t want to go with the same one ( even though it has good rate HFEA) because to be honest it is a very very busy place, I lost some trust and I wanted somewhere smaller where the attention was more personal.

I also got a zoom meeting with the doctor on the new place and I felt good energy about it.

At the end I chose it based on the energy I had with the consultant, the place when I went for a blood test and the price ( it was cheaper).

[Pittuck23]

Have just inboxed you xx

[MrsBobsy]

Hi!

We had just one round on the NHS before having to find a private clinic. I found it a bit overwhelming looking at all the clinic's websites, testimonials and HFEA reports. So me and my husband talked about what was most important - was it the nurses care? The advancement of technology and practice? The cost? The location?...

We agreed between us what it was and essentially "interviewed" our shortlisted clinics over the phone. They all have new patient information lines for free, so that was useful. We ended up going with what we agreed and, essentially, our gut!

We're really pleased with our choice, every step of the way. Currently in our TWW.

I'd also agree with the comment above - request your records from your previous clinic. That saved us £800 to begin!

If you're looking in Manchester, drop me a message and I can give more details.

Best of luck!

Kx

[Ivfgotadream]

Don’t feel like you have to stay with your NHS clinic and pay privately - have a look at the clinics in your area abs attend some online open evenings. Have a think about what kind of protocol you might want to do (NHS tends to be a one size fits all approach) - I only wanted to do mild IVF or natural modified IVF which restricted our options.

Cost wise most clinics are broadly similar (except the crazy expensive one you might have heard of which is twice the price of other clinics!)

Think about how you want to finance it? access fertility offer refund packages, or your clinic might offer a 3 cycle package (we did this to take the pressure off if the first cycle failed). Most clinics also offer finance options. Set yourself either a budget or timeline or number of cycles. We remortgaged and also took out a bank loan which was much cheaper as could spread the repayments over a longer time period

Don’t think that you “can’t” afford it....full time childcare/cost of being a STAHP in our case was 3x the cost of what our IVF loan repayments cost