Am I entitled to NHS funding for fertility treatment if I’m a non uk citizen?

[Hopefulmother]

Hi fertility friends

My husband and I are moving to England as he had accepted a job as a surgeon at a hospital there. I completed one fresh cycle and one FET here in South Africa with no success and would like to continue treatment when I move. As a non UK would I be eligible for any funding or will I t be completely out of pocket by myself ? IVF is significantly more affordable in SA

[KiboXX]

I would guess you wouldn’t qualify for funding as you would be on a visa? Most visas have a exemption on them to public funds which fertility treatment falls under unfortunately but you can check with your GP once you’ve moved and registered.

To be honest, IVF funding isn’t great in the UK anyway. It varies depending on where you live, some areas have no funding at all, some will fund 1 round, some 2 rounds etc. the criteria is also varies but can be quite strict xx

[KiboXX in reply to KiboXX]

I just noticed on your profile you already have children. No one in the UK gets funding if they already have children so you would definitely have to pay privately x

[Hopefulmother in reply to KiboXX]

Thanks so much for the reply. Really appreciate it. I am blessed to have three already but knowing that I have reached the end of my childbearing years is still quite painful. Hoping to look into adoption

[slinky00]

I had a friend from SA move to London a few years ago, her husband had a Dutch passport. They were able to get some fertility treatment on the NHS for free. However, this was before brexit and she did not have any children prior to her move to London so this would have most definitely had some part in her being able to get NHS treatment.

Once you have registered with a GP in UK definitely ask. Good luck with the move.

[Hopefulmother in reply to slinky00]

Thank you so much for the reply Will try to find out when I’m there

[FrancyItaly]

I’m not a British citizen and had NHS funding but I’ve been living here for 11 years xxx

[Patches86]

You need to have indefinite leave to remain to qualify as I understand it

[Zbez88]

My partner is from South Africa and is here on an ancestral visa, we were told at first we didn't qualify but because we live in Wales it turned out we were entitled to it and had 2 rounds.

[Hopefulmother in reply to Zbez88]

Ok that’s interesting. My husband will be on a work visa so I’m not sure what that will allow us. I just wish we had more time in South Africa. A single IVF round here with transfer costs about £3400 . I wonder if it’s around the same privately in the UK ?

[Ivfgotadream in reply to Hopefulmother]

It’s about double the cost - around £7k is what you can expect to pay

[Pnw2020]

Hi. Unfortunately in most areas having a child will exclude you from IVF treatment. If you know where you are moving to you can look up the Fertility / IVF funding policy online ( each area has a CCG or clinical commissioning group which is responsible for deciding what is funded ). Privately IVF probably starts at £3000 but drugs will be on top of that as well as initial investigations. You can also sign up for packages via Access Fertility, who then pay the clinic directly. This often works out cheaper although again you pay for drugs separately. Worth having a look into that.

Good luck x

[GR93]

Hi, you could possibly get fertility tests on the NHS but in regards to IVF funding in the UK you may not qualify as normally they won't pay if on a visa xx

[Hopefulmother in reply to GR93]

Yes that makes sense. Ok thank you