Hello everyone, I'm 39 years old, nearing the age limit, and thinking about starting IVF treatment with the NHS. Can anyone provide an estimate of how long it might take before we could begin the process? I turn 40 at the end of the year, so time is a factor.
I would appreciate your advice on this matter.
Regards
hi Fragola , I hope you’re well , not a straight fwd answer as it varies depending on where you live and the queue they have at the time. I’d advise you to start as soon as possible , first step is to get your GP to refer you and your partner to the fertility unit. Be clear and direct with the request that you need to be referred and speed up due to age cut off. My personal experience from GP to having first consultation with the Fertility doctor took 10 months (oddly this was 3 months quicker for my husband who was referred using the LIVI app rather than GP) in the meantime the GP conducted lots of tests ( I now understand the test could have been done by fertility clinic too which might have be better). Once we spoke to the fertility consultant on the very same call they sent us to IVF treatment with the funding application, from that point it took 4 months to start treatment. My best advice on the NHS is chase all the time, if they haven’t got back to you in 1 week, make sure to follow up again (otherwise they’ll forget about you ) . Wishing you all the best of luck on this journey xx
Hi, depending on the rules in your area I would urge you to start the ball rolling ASAP. I started the initial process with the NHS when I was 39 (our cut of was 40 I believe) but by the time I had our first cycle I was almost 41! The tests and wait time for appointments can take months so best to get the process started as soon as you can.
Good luck! X
I think it took us about three months to start iui on the nhs but they said at our initial appointment we could go to ivf if we wanted. Our wait time after our referral for ivf was about a month. I think it all depends on where you are and what tests you’ve already have. My advice would be to chase, chase and keep chasing
no all on nhs. I’d be checking the local ccg funding criteria as I’ve never heard you have to go private to get nhs funding 🤔 could be wrong but it just seems a bit odd you have to prove something doesn’t work. You should be able to get your tests via nhs.
As every areas criteria and wait times for fertility treatment are different you won't get a clear answer on here. But if you look up your CCG online it will tell you the criteria for NHS fertility treatment and what the NHS funding covers in your area, some will also tell you the estimated wait time.
I’ve waited 8 months just for an appointment with the fertility doctor. I’ve had no tests yet. I’m 43 and been trying since 41 with 5 MC but that didn’t speed anything up. I’m not going to get any IVF now as cut off in wales is 42. Very frustrating process so I would say get on the list as soon as because the options decrease with each year 
.. good luck
It was almost a year for us from GP by the time consultants and tests and wait times and admin was factored in until we even had an IUI on the nhs. I’d advise you to also start the ball rolling with looking into private treatment at the same time (if your wait times in your area are like ours) and defo don’t bother with IUI. Its not just about the cut off age but the wait times as age is such a factor the chances of your success go down with each passing year at this stage so I would personally just get a private cycle done asap u less you need some tests in the nhs to help explain the cause of infertility as that can really save some ££ getting that done in the nhs xx
My GP said they had to complete a bunch of tests before the referral, so that all takes a couple of months initially as both me and my OH had to do a load of test - some of which have to be on specific days so you need to wait for a cycle etc. Once the results were in, the GP sent me as an urgent referral which was a couple more month waiting, but turns out I was referred to the wrong clinic (hospital admin error!) so have had to wait again for the correct one.
I started private treatment in that time as I actually already looked up the criteria in my area and knew I wouldn't get funded IVF as I have a child already so that delayed things even more as the hospital also want to do tests before you see the consultant and I need to wait to come off fertility drugs before doing that. So my NHS consultant appointment has now been booked for July so in total for me it will have been 15 months inbetween first calling the GP and seeing the Fertility consultant. I think if they hadn't of made that mistake and I hadn't of started private it would have been more like 8 months.
Hi there, I’m not sure how long it could take, but I would advise you to make an appointment with your GP asap. Considering your age they might put you in front of the queue. But all depends
I was about your age when I started my treatment and the process was quite quick, because my age at the time.,, I had FET when I was 40.
Fingers Crossed for you wishing all the luck in the world xxx
Hi, started whole process when I was 38 and 6 months and only got approved at 40 years and 11 months, but miraculously fell pregnant naturally 1 month after I was approved. It was all such a fight and stretched out process. Hopefully if you get the ball rolling it will be a much smoother process for you.
hi - I was 39 when enquiring with NHS, they told me we could pay £200 to get a consultation to “cut the queue”. We got 1 cycle under the NHS given my age. Not sure if it’s common practice but do ask the question if you are willing to pay.
This is what I did at 39 too, although we had to pay £400 for the first private consultation which included a scan. This appointment was with the specialist fertility clinic for our region (who GPs refer people to on NHS but there are conditions with the NHS that the referral needs to be so many months before a woman turns 40 to allow time for IVF process so we pay privately to skip the long queue). We got 1 round of IVF funded on NHS (1 fresh & 1 frozen transfer) but as I turned 40 between the fresh attempt (not working) and frozen, we were not eligible for funding on the second transfer and had to go private. So if I was you, get in quick! My GP surgery messed me around for months and months, and it takes quite a while to get all the bloods etc as it all has to tie in with your cycle (hence going private for first consultation). Best of luck. PS - I experienced no difference on NHS as I did with going private, it was exactly the same staff and treatment plans etc. They were amazing.
Hi, as others have said it will vary depending on your area. Our GP told us the waiting list was about 17 weeks. It took a few months before this for all the tests. In our area once the referral went through we saw an NHS fertility department who did some further tests and scans before we chose what fertility clinic to be referred to so it was about 10 months from the initial referral to our initial consultation at the clinic we had treatment.
I would definitely look up what your CCG covers under NHS funding. If you are thinking you may need to fund further treatment cycles, it may be more cost effective and quicker to go private straight away with a multi cycle package.
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