IVF......How to save costs!

LondonDiva

fsdss wrote:

that may be so but i did state that part of my treatment was NHS and part private to reduce the costs, so technically (if it is true that you state) he was not breaking the law as the NHS was agreeing to support my private treatment.

Sorry:o:o:o

I hadn't understood that he and your GP had applied to your PCT and got their agreement to fund the costs. I thought he'd just tried to play the system in a dangerous way.

LondonDiva

kimevans wrote:

That's not right, if she can't be a mother to the children she already has why is she state funded to have more.
Sorry if I sound bitter, but perhaps I am.

The current rules re IVF / treatment for infertility has an obligation to consider the welfare of any existing and future children in an over all context - ie they would ask these type of questions about 'coping' etc before agreeing to pay for anything.

However, many people feel that these questions are intrusive and there are loads of debates on 'who are you to tell me whether or not I'm a fit parent / can't cope with my kids'.

The new proposed regs that the government are looking at are very likely to remove this active obligation:(

Carmina_Piranha_3

kimevans wrote:

That's not right, if she can't be a mother to the children she already has why is she state funded to have more.
Sorry if I sound bitter, but perhaps I am.

that's kind of my opinion too i suppose. i also think that if one child is so much of a handful that she can't keep him in school and it needs 2 of them to be at home at all times then how will they cope with a second child - a second child is more demanding and time-consuming than taking a full time job would be and if between them they can't manage any work at all then surely having a baby is not in the ebst interests in this particular family unit. but when you struggle to get pregnant you do become a bit bitter lol!

Carmina_Piranha_3

if i were in a better mood (hormones, i've got vile PMS since having the mirena coil put in after a miscarriage with endless bleeding - mirena may be great for endometriosis but for pcos and PMS it's not good!) i'd say that well, the break-up of her marriage and them keeping one child each might not be her fault and she may even be upset about it. perhaps she wants to see the other child but her ex won't allow it.

she had a miscarriage around 15 months ago and has been trying for another baby since then with no success. she's on antidepressants and life can't be easy with a 'difficult' child in the house. if i were in her situation maybe i'd think ivf was a good idea - anyone can long for a baby no matter what their circumstances, and miscarriage isn't a barrel of laughs.

but i'm in such a foul mood :rotfl:

i watched the final episode of 'a child against all odds' last night. it was about couples who go through ivf for years and years. pcos wasn't mentioned but both of the women who kept trying had spotty faces. i wonder if either had tried metformin? i cried when one found out she wasn't pregnant. then i think she had another try (8th time?) and got pregnant.

sorry for going off topic. i hope the metformin works!!

Nicki

I wonder whether you would be considered a suitable candidate for egg sharing with PCOS and trouble ovulating? I also had PCOS and had ovarian drilling and clomid which didn't work. We tried one cycle of IVF with a high dose of fertility drugs but even then didn't produce enough eggs to make it worth their while harvesting just for my benefit, never mind to share with others. Happily though we did produce one egg as a result of the drugs, which was naturally fertilised even though they couldn't do the whole IVF thing, and is now my son! Equally happily the whole birth thing seemed to have kickstarted my fertility again, and no further treatment was needed to complete the family.

Js_Other_Half

In this area the waiting list for IVF is 3 years - I'm not aware of a lower age limit, but the upper age limit is 40 I think. My one free go will be in a little under 2 years - but we couldn't take the risk of waiting as I'll be almost 40 by then.
We were lucky we had some equity in the house to fund IVF.

It does gall me that each PCT area has their own rules, and ignores the NICE guidelines. (http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG11/publicinfo/pdf/English - basically if you are between 23 and 39 with a diagnosed reason for infertility or have been trying for over 3 years they recommend 3 free IVF cycles)

LondonDiva

Js_Other_Half wrote:

It does gall me that each PCT area has their own rules, and ignores the NICE guidelines. (http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG11/publicinfo/pdf/English - basically if you are between 23 and 39 with a diagnosed reason for infertility or have been trying for over 3 years they recommend 3 free IVF cycles)

they may reccommend it, but each PCT is also suppossed to plan and budget on local priorities ~ one area can have high mental health problems, while another decides it's more important to spend the money on HIV/AIDS services.

The funds all come from the one pot of money with no hand outs or top ups from the government. If your PCT funded 3 goes of IVF, then they would cut something else and many make the decision about funding IVF v cancer drugs against the overall local population needs.

So the decision a lot have to make is to make their priorities and stick to them and either fund: 3 goes of IVF, OR Heceptin OR District Nursing OR Speech and language therapy OR community mental health services.

Carmina_Piranha_3

wow nicki that was lucky! :T i have heard online of other women whose fertility was kickstarted after having one baby and somebody i know got pregnant naturally after having IVF twins. i even know one woman who just had her own baby after adopting 2 babies, now that's odd, must be a coincidence but a nice one

when i was trying for a baby for 3 years it felt like everyone knew somebody who it happened to if they 'just relaxed' or something like that. drive me mad lol!

good luck with the metformin! how are the side effects?

heavenly_2

Carmina_Piranha wrote:

when i was trying for a baby for 3 years it felt like everyone knew somebody who it happened to if they 'just relaxed' or something like that. drive me mad lol!

good luck with the metformin! how are the side effects?

I have heard the "relax, it will happen", well its not and that "stress" thing is a lie. Unless you are extremely depressed, to a point when your periods stop, you could get pregnant. (unless you have fertility problems)

People do try and say things what they think will help, but most of the time they make you feel worse. And nothing is worse than the "so when are you going to have a baby", usually from your aunt who you haven't seen in ages.

Doesnt help when both my sisters and my husbands sister had babies last year, and now my boss is pregnant, (Im a nanny by the way)!!!

Moan, moan, moan, tis the season to be jolly!!!:xmassmile

As for the metformin, no side effects which is good. Im making sure that I take it with food, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I dont get any side effects from the clomid either, which is also good, but Im not sure if this is because I dont ovulate on it!! Maybe if it works you get the side effects!

Carmina_Piranha_3

my friend had terrible effects on clomid, so much that after 3 tries she gave up :-( and no, it didn't work for her so you not having side effects doesn't necessarily mean it isn't working - fingers crossed!

one thing that might happen if you're not relaxed is perhaps you won't have much of a sex drive, and lack of sex means no pregnancy. also, if you ahem, enjoy it then you are supposedly more likely to concieve. climaxing at the same time or seconds after him means your body hoovers up his little swimmers and sucks them closer to the egg (i read about this because i've got a tilted uterus lol!). but of course that only helps if there's an egg. maybe it works for people whose infertility isn't caused by lack of ovulation. but still, it's unhelpful to be told about all the couples who got pregnant the minute they booked a holiday.

good luck!