maz

We now have a big decision to make - do we go private??

I just received written confirmation today that I am on both the NHS and 'private' IVF waiting lists at our hospital. Yippee!! However, when I phoned to find out timescales I was told that the NHS list was being worked on and she couldn't get access, and that it would be 9 month before I'd reach the top of the 'private' list!! 9 months - NINE months!! WTF?? We had our review appointment on 9 June and were told then that it was 6-7 months but would be reducing. Maybe I misunderstood - but I thought reducing meant getting smaller/shorter not bloody longer!! Grrr. Turns out we're number 36 on the private list which doesn't sound all that bad - but considering they only do 4-5 private treatments a month, it's not that great!

Phoned DH as soon as I got off the phone from the hospital and he is not one bit happy. Had we been told at our review that it was likely to be April next year before we'd be starting our treatment, we wouldn't have booked a fortnight in a private villa in bloody Florida, we'd have put that money towards proper private treatment.

I don't know what to do now. We were happy to wait 6 months and pay £3000, but 9 months is bordering on ridiculous. But do we pay £5000+ for a treatment that might not work??

What would you girls do?

x

nicky

Hey hun, I can't imagine how you are feeling. It all very good and well other people telling you what to do but unfortunately only the two of you can decide what to do for the best. Its your journey and only you know how you feel. I will say though 9 months is only 3 months more than 6 months, sounds better when you think of it like that. I hope your cycle works for you first time and I am sure it will but you have got to also think of what you are going to do if it doesn't. An extra £1000 and you could get two £3000 treatments if you need it. I know it will be really hard waiting though especially as you have waited so long for your LO already. Good luck with what you decide.

Nicky

FJL

Thats really tough hun.

I don't understand o/s treatment...here in Auz, you can start whenever you like. Medicare covers a good chunk of it and if you have private health insurance then it covers even more.

It is costing us $9000AUD per stim cycle and we get $5000 of that back on medicare and we don't have health insurance.

It annoys me that some of you girls overseas have to wait so damn long

I don't know what we'd do hun...whats the difference between the public and private doctors? I'd go for whichever dr was better. We get to choose our specialists over here. If it were me and I didn't like the public dr i'd go private, if it was vice versa then i'd consider going public and waiting.

If private offers much better dr's and overall services then IMO you're better off paying the extra $$$.

FJL

Sorry, just wanted to add to clear up that its a LONG time waiting for initial appointments and tests etc to get the go ahead to do IVF.

We start appts/tests back in November 07 and I start BCP last month as the first window into my IVF cycle. So a good 6 months. BUT once all that is out of the way you can start straight away. Like if this cycle didn't work for me and I wanted to change clinics, the new clinic would put me on the first cycle the following month.

akcher

Wanted to wish you Good Luck on getting your spot sooner

maz

Thanks for the input guys.

It's taken us almost a year of blood tests, scans, SA, and an HSG to get to this point. The thing that really pi@@es me off is that the hospital have met the government set waiting list criteria of seeing us within 13 weeks from GP referral to when we went for our initial assessment. There doesn't seem to be any criteria for how long afterwards is an acceptable time to wait for treatment. It just really stinks!!

FJL - the doc that will be carrying out the procedure will be the same either NHS or 'private' - I say 'private' in inverted commas as they are just filling unfunded slots and getting patients to pay the costs incurred by the hospital which is approx £3000. I have a feeling that more government funding has become available for NHS treatments which is why the 'private' list has got longer. We could go totally private in a lovely posh clinic with no connection to the hospital but it would be almost double the cost - and as nicky said - if it doesn't work first time what then? I tried to find a private health insurance provider that would cover fertility treatments but unfortunately I can't find one in the UK. If any of you UK girls have come across one, could you let me know please?

I was considering going abroad for treatment, and discovered that Sweden offer a money back guarantee if the first cycle doesn't work (but its only available to Swedish women). Why do we not have something similar? I wouldn't expect a full refund but even if the next cycle was at a reduced rate.

It's just so very annoying. Just constant waiting. We had a chat amongst a few tears last night, and we're just going to wait the 9 months and hope it happens naturally for us. Also, as they go through the people ahead of us on the list, they might have become pregnant naturally themselves, which could mean us being seen a bit quicker too.

Sorry its so longwinded. Hope it makes sense. Thanks for your thoughts.

akcher

US has programs called Shared Risk. You can get 3 IVF cycles for $25000 enrollment is $4000 for under 35. If it's unseccessful, you get your money back (excluding the enrolment fee).

I read somewhere that someone went to Ireland for IVF cuz it's loads cheaper. But I looked at a couple sites and it seems the same to me.

JASMAK

I would say wait the 9 mths and save some cash. It is only 3 mths longer. In the 9 mths, maybe you could do something to keep you occupied, such as run a half marathon, or do something you have always been wanting to do, but didn't...because you were trying to get pregnant.

Helen

We went privately for the IVF that conceived Charlotte and Thomas but we were able to be on the NHS waiting list for IVF at the same time. The wait for that in our area is 3 years and we are still not at the top. I'm 35 now and was concerned about the odds if we waited that long and also my sanity!

Every month feels like forever when you are waiting to start treatment and nothing is happening but I think you've made the best decision.

Loula

I'm not able to go on the NHS list as I have children already from previous marriage, so we are self funding. There isn't a private waiting list at our clinic ( Aberdeen ) so instead of going private abroad, why not look into other clinics in the UK?

Incidentally, I was looking at a Turkish clinics website last ngiht and it seemed really competitively priced esp when combined with a wee hollibobs! I wouldn't want to go abroad for my first tx but I would consider it for another go.