IVF funding question

[Here4ivfinfo]

If you’re allowed 6 embryo transfers from a maximum of 3 stimulation cycles does this mean you can do 3 egg collections and have 6 transfers from those collections max? Or does it mean something else? I’m probably being stupid but I don’t understand this 😑.

[raverg]

Hi there, are you asking about the NHS funding? It differs from area to area but in London we usually get one cycle and up to 3 transfers plus freezing the eggs from what I remember. After that, if you have any embryos left you can probably move them to a private clinic and transfer them, or a lot of the times the NHS clinic also offers their service privately too. Anyway, is the funding different in your area?

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to raverg]

Yes nhs. I’m in King’s Cross and it’s “6 embryo transfers from a maximum of 3 stimulation cycles” I pulled that directly from the hospitals website. I am just confused about the meaning of “stimulation cycles”. I think in a lot of London it’s what you have described. It doesn’t seem fair to not allow everyone the same amount of attempts.

[raverg in reply to Here4ivfinfo]

It sounds to me like you’ve hit the jackpot then! We get much less in SE London. And I think you’re probably reading it correctly. 6 embryo transfers from however many stimulation cycles (up to 3 though) you can get to 6 embryos that can be transferred and survive the thawing probably. But they’ll probably freeze the rest if you have more and you can transfer those privately.

Do refer back to your NHS letter for funding approval as well, where they detail what you personally qualify for.

Also, I would assume a stimulation cycle is any time you go on a short or long protocol that ends up in egg collection, and transfer is every time you transfer a fresh or frozen day 3 or day 5 embryo.

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to raverg]

Yes we hit the postcode lottery, there is no denying that. I don’t have a letter but hopefully someone can clarify that I can do another egg collection. It’s such a long time since I was given the info it’s fallen out of my head! I have transferred one and that’s not looking to have worked. I have 5 on ice but one is definitely not great so I am going to see if I can transfer one more embryo and then see if they will allow me to do one more collection as the rest are lower quality. Not sure if they would allow that though. I didn’t get any top grade blastocysts. My partner has poor sperm count and quality but recently had a procedure that takes 3 months to improve his sperm. Just wondering if we might get some stronger blasts if we do an egg collection in a few months time when his count and quality may have improved. Although I am hoping my second transfer works because that blastocyst is as good as this one and I heard a frozen can be better. X

[raverg in reply to Here4ivfinfo]

That’s a shame about the letter, and I definitely understand your position. You want to give this the best chance and take advantage of the treatment your husband has just gone through. We got our NHS funding letter via email - maybe worth checking through the inbox? If not, just ring your clinic, they’ll know for sure and will be able to advise. It seems like you have another top notch embryo to transfer so you’ll get to see them in person again and chat to them then if they’re not very helpful over the phone.

Other than that, you’ve done well to have that many embryos on day 5! Give yourself a pat on the back, as you two are killing this process even when things did not look very rosy on paper. We only got 2 x day 5 embryos and things looked decent on paper. And we have no clue what grading they were. You can’t be choosy when you don’t have many, but from what I keep reading on this forum is that even lower graded embryos are successful. But I totally get you and probably would do the same in your shoes. Best of luck! And I’m pleased you get so many chances! You’ll definitely get a baby at the end of all this, since this is a numbers game.

[sazzle2680 in reply to Here4ivfinfo]

You really have hit the jackpot, congrats - I work for the NHS in commissioning just out of London, but I suspect this might be the case for you. They usually require you to use all of your embryos first before allowing another stimulation cycle (ie egg collection) which would mean transferring your remaining 5 plus the one you have had. If one or more doesn’t survive the thaw then you would be allowed another stimulation cycle until you’ve successfully transferred 6 embryos. If you’re eligible to do double embryo transfers and you choose to do that then that would impact the number of transfer cycles. For example if you transferred 4 as singletons and two as a double you’d have 5 cycles but transferred 6 embryos. Sorry, I know that’s not what you want to hear.

[McQueeny]

It sounds to me like:

Say first cycle gives you 3 embryo transfers, and second cycle gives you 3 embryo transfers - they won’t fund a 3rd cycle, as you’ve already done 6 transfers.

But if the first two cycles only gave you 2 transfers each, they’ll fund the 3rd cycle to get you to 6 transfers….

Likewise, if 3 stimulation cycles have only yielded 3-4 embryo transfers in total, they won’t fund a 4th cycle.

It does sound pretty amazing though, where I am you only get 1 cycle!

[McQueeny in reply to McQueeny]

One last thing to say - it’s definitely worth asking, but most funding models will not pay for another stimulation / egg collection cycle if you still have unused embryos that are good enough to transfer…. So if your first cycle gives you 6 transferable embryos, it might be that they won’t fund anymore stimulation cycles (unless some didn’t survive the thaw and therefore weren’t transferred).

But - worth asking!

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to McQueeny]

That makes a lot of sense! Thanks very much for this info. I am wondering what happens if you transfer two embryos in one transfer. So if I had agreed to transfer two the first time would it still count as one transfer or two? Obviously it’s one but funding wise I wonder what would happen. The embryologist said one of my blasts isn’t very good, the rest are acceptable yet they did keep that one too so I am thinking they think it’s worth holding on to else why bother? I guess I will find out in time!

[McQueeny in reply to Here4ivfinfo]

Good question about a double transfer, I have no idea….

The general rule is that they wouldn’t bother freezing an embryo that they didn’t think was good enough. If it survives the thaw, it’s good enough to make a baby 💪 but naturally no guarantees as we all know….

Good luck 🤞

[Hopewhite]

Hi, I hope you're doing well in your journey and keeping strong xx

wow! your NHS funding is super generous!! I'm reading it as a total of 6 transfers, but you could have 3 stims and 3 collections to get to those 6, another way of looking it is you're entitled to 3 stims and 3 collections but they'll only fund up to 6 transfers, if you had 9 embryos as a result and you needed more attempts you'd start self funding from transfer number 7. I think it would be best to double check with the clinic to make sure the interpretation is correct.

All i can say is I really hope you don't need that many attempts and you are lucky with fewer rounds than that. In the worst case scenario, consider yourself lucky already, as it would take the financial pressure part from it xx. We are in Birmingham all we get is 1 cycle: 1 stims, 1 egg collection, 1 transfer. All the best of luck with your journey!

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to Hopewhite]

Thank you for this. I wish you the very best xxxx

[Rollercoastersmiles]

we only got 1 egg collection and up to 2 transfers. As far as I know, Camden is the only London borough which offers 3 rounds. I think Croydon gives you nothing. It’s almost worth moving for. With regards to how this works if you have more than 2 transfers available per round…I think you’d need to clarift with your clinic. We did ours around covid and I was told that if I did a transfer privately from my nhs collection, I’d lose the transfer (this was when we were delayed by covid and I didn’t want to wait anymore. )

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to Rollercoastersmiles]

Having ivf during covid must have been awful. I was thinking about it the other day about how people must have just had to wait. Hard when you’re running out of time! We purposefully didn’t move from our area because we knew the funding was the best. Although it’s that expensive to live here it’s probably cheaper to live somewhere less pricey and go to a private clinic 😂. Did you manage to have a baby in the end? Hope you don’t mind me asking. X

[Rollercoastersmiles in reply to Here4ivfinfo]

Yep. We have a beautiful little 9 month old boy!! We did wait for the NHS in the end. I didn't want to lose any NHS chances I got. I didn't know how long, and how many attempts it would take and I didn't want to spend the money and lose the NHS round in case we needed more egg collections in the future and needed the extra cash. In the end we were lucky and had our little boy from the NHS collection. How are you doing in your 'journey'?

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to Rollercoastersmiles]

Ah that’s fabulous news. I’m so pleased to hear that your ivf worked out!! I hope you’re enjoying being a mum! We’ve been trying to conceive for 3 years now. We have had a diagnosis of low sperm count, motility and poor morphology. I have possible adenomyosis and think borderline pco (I get told different things but I have no symptoms and I always ovulate). We’ve done one cycle of ICSI now and I am on day 9 post transfer, i did an early detection pregnancy test this morning and it’s showing negative. The clinic I go to grade blastocysts a bit differently with just AA and then B+B+ etc. transferred one B+B+ and I have one other of the same quality which I assume we will try out next. The rest are lower quality but not horrendous. My partner recently had a varicocele embolisation so I am hoping this might resolve his issue but it also very well might not. I am thinking if we could get another egg collection that maybe we might get some stronger blastocysts but I do understand that we’re in a strong position comparatively to others. I am aware of how fortunate we are to get 6 transfers so if we end up having to do a private collection, so be it. Hoping we won’t need it. X

[Wishinandahopin]

from my understanding you will have to transfer all your frozen embryos before they will let you do another egg collection, I don’t believe they will fund another egg collection if you have frozen embryos. I could be wrong but that’s my understanding.

[Here4ivfinfo]

Thanks. This seems to be the general consensus. Hopefully we won’t get through all the embryos 🤞🏻

[Laragh13]

Small rant… I’m 40 and got nothing. Everything has had to be privately funded. It’s not my fault I was being cheated on and left in my early 30s and not in a position to start earlier! All that said… I’m truly grateful to have met the ‘1’ and be in a financial position to fund it ourselves. Good luck with your journey xx

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to Laragh13]

I wasn’t complaining. I just wanted to work out my own options and figured people here would know. I think it sucks that they have different rules for different locations in the UK. Best of luck to you too x

[Laragh13]

oh I’m sorry… I’m not having a go at you at all… I think it’s wonderful you’re getting support and you’re right to work out your options… I just get frustrated with the postcode lottery sometimes!