Appointment outcome ...

[LittleDalla]

Good and Bad news unfortunately (I apologise if this gets lengthy)

So we got there and it turned out it was the same woman as last time, and it was the same talk! Seens as on my letter I was down for Gynecology - Reproductive Medicine, I was not expecting it to be the same.

Anyways, questions were asked and answered.
Good News - We can get IVF funding (yeyyyyy)
Bad News - We have to have 6 rounds of Sperm Donation first, but we have to go private for this. Which all in all comes to the grand total of approximately ... £10,000!
We have been put on the waiting list for a sperm donor, there is a waiting time of 6-12 months. I suppose is not bad, gives us time to save if this is the route we are going to take.
The only thing with the donor list here is, donors are not a popular thing so we can't pick and choose. If one comes along when we are at the top, we would have to take it unless we say no we have to then wait again for someone else. If that makes sense.

We had a talk in the car on the way home, trying to work out if it will be more better and cost effective if we pay straight of IVF. But I forgot to ask if we could do this or if we still have to go through the Sperm Donor route first.

We can not get any treatment what so ever until I get my BMI down to 30. So that has been the kick up the bum I need and need to stick in with Slimming World.

 

[phonixgirl]

Ok, so what exactly does the sperm donor route entail? Is that like IUI?

 

[Unicorn]

Hi LittleDalla, I'm sorry that not all of that news is positive! It seems ridiculous to offer you NHS funding for IVF but then put private restrictions in the way, that is totally unfair!
You could definitely choose to have IVF privately if you wanted to, and then they can't tell you what you have to do first as you are paying for the procedure! Also, if you would consider donating some of your eggs you may be able to reduce the cost of your treatment! xx

 

[LittleDalla]

Sorry yeah IUI.
She didn't refer to it as IUI so I have Sperm Donation in my head aha!
Will cost us, £610 to use a donor sperms from the clinic per cycle then another £610 for them to inseminate me per cycle
Failing that after 3 cycles we will pay for another 3 cycles using clomid or injections which will bump it up to about £2000 per cycle

 

[LittleDalla]

To be honest we have no idea why we have been offered IVF but have to pay for IUI before hand.
I came out the appointment feeling like I asked everything I wanted to, but now I am sat here with 101 more things to ask
I have spoke about donating eggs before. It is something I would like to do.

I am going to wait for my letter coming through because last time we were there 2 year ago, she told us loads of things and said that we could go on the waiting list etc. Got the later a week or so later telling us everything she told us was basically a lie.
So I am waiting for the same letter again

 

[fairyprincess]

Glad some positive things came out of the appointment. Perhaps write all your questions down and see if you can phone/email to get them answered x

 

[phonixgirl]

I don't get it either? It just doesn't make sense.

Hopefully you will only need one cycle.

As a fellow PCOS-er, my advice would be to make sure your cycles seem 'normal' compared to everyone else before you start. That way your body will be in the best possible position. For example, normal cycle length, no spotting, regular periods, not too heavy nor too light, not too painful. Trust your instincts too. Supplements (eg chromium and inositol) plus metformin can help lots with this.

When I did IUI, my body wasn't ready. X

 

[LittleDalla]

I honestly thought I would have more chance of getting IUI funded other than IVF. So because its happened the other way round I am confused. But I never thought of asking why?

Yeah I will be trying to make sure my body is in the best condition it can be. We have a few month of waiting for a phone call off the clinic to let us know we are near the top or we are at the top ...
We are still going to be trying at home, I am hoping we won't need to go to the clinic, but only time will tell.

 

[phonixgirl]

And I don't see why you HAVE to have private IUI first. Not everyone can afford that and it might not work! It's crazy xx

 

[RAFMrs]

Have you thought about going abroad for IVF? For £10000 for 6 x iui treatments you could get 2 or 3 IVF (with donor sperm or double donor) for that price and IVF has a higher success rate to IUI plus you can have 2+ blasts put back at a time.
Have a good think about everything. If you had the 6x iui do you have to go private at that clinic or can you choose any clinic?
The NHS is stepping away from funding IUI everywhere and going straight for IVF because of better success rates. But I've never heard of you have to pay private iui first xxx

 

[Phoenix85]

That's so messed up.

Over £600 just for the sperm and then another £600 for the privilege of them squirting it up there. It's ridiculous. No wonder people find a private donor and do it themselves. Which, speaking of which, there was a woman on here recently who bought donor sperm from a sperm bank, think it cost around £600 per sample, but she inseminated it herself.
Though of course if it didn't work I'm not sure if that'd affect the free IVF. It's no good if you would still have to do IUI their way first.

I'd be tempted to either find a private donor, or try a round of IUI through the fertility clinic, but if it didn't work, maybe egg sharing would be better and get free IVF straight away rather than messing around wasting thousands on IUI that might not work
Plus, waiting 6 to 12 months just for a donor and not even getting a say in donor characteristics etc is rough.

 

[LittleDalla]

Honestly from what I have read etc I genuinely thought our CCG was one of the best!
She did mention about getting sperm from European Sperm Bank, she said it might cost us a abit more but we would be able to pick from different characteristics etc. I have had a look on the website, the prices I have seen so far are around £400 mark then plus about another £100 postage.
We have been getting donations from a private donor, which we are still happy to do, but there is the questions of ... How many have died transporting it back home? What is the Mobility of his sperm like? etc etc
We are still going to continue to do what we are doing and see what happens. I think we will 'try' and save from at least one round at the clinic.

 

[Phoenix85]

Yeah, if you are going to do it with a donor it might be best having him provide his deposit at your home or in a hotel room, then leave immediately so you can inseminate straight away so none die. However I think they can live for a few hours as long as they don't dry out? Ha, sorry, not too sure.

Well, whatever you do I hope you get good results without too much waiting and cost, it must be so frustrating.

 

[snowbee]

A couple of weeks ago there was a post from a lady in the ttc section about using sperm from a sperm bank, she posted a link to them and I had a read and it was fascinating all the details of the donors and the quality of their sperm and cost was all laid out. Might be worth searching for the thread and having a look on there yourself, if you bought sperm from them you could have it sent to your clinic without having to wait for a UK donor.