Budget fertility treatment / IVF

Mummawannabe

Hi All, I am a single 37 year old looking to have a child through either sperm donation or IVF. Not knowing how many attempts this might take I am eager to keep to a tight budget. Does anyone have experience of overseas clinics and what sort of prices have you paid? It is unlikely in my PCT that I will be able to have treatment on the NHS without waiting so long my chances diminish significantly. Thanks in advance

Calien27

Hi I hope you don't mind if I ask a couple of questions about this..

I looked into sperm donation prior to meeting my partner and now expecting our first child (biological clock was ticking like crazy lol and had been single for ages!)

There were always a couple of stumbling blocks for me when it came down to it.

What would I say when the child started asking about their father? Who are they? What are they like? etc

What do I tell people I know? Do I tell the truth or lie and say I know who the father is (i.e I met them)

How good is my support network? Being a single parent isn't easy, if I need help, will it be there for me?

You have to cover every avenue when thinking of sperm donation.

Other than that, if you are 100% sure that you want to go ahead with it, now would be the ideal time to start things like tracking your ovulation (if you aren't already) so you know the prime days in advance. There are mobile apps that are really handy for this, also start taking folic acid, it's good for you anyway but taking it before becoming pregnant is better than starting once you are.

Good luck

Mummawannabe

Thanks for the advice, I have certainly thought about these things. What will i tell the child - the truth, that they were thought about, planned and wanted. I have an excellent support system and 3 sisters who have all become mothers in different ways. One is a single foster parent to 3 beautiful children, another had a baby on her own after a relationship breakdown and is now raising her child, a stepchild and a new baby with her partner of the last few years and the youngest married with 2 kids. They have all taken different paths and are all inspiring mothers who will no doubt be an amazing support along with my parents. There are also a number of male role models within my family who will be there for my child. I do agree that its essential to think about these things along with my own personal fitness for the pregnancy and thank you for raising these points but I really am after assistance with the financial realities at the moment to assist with my planning.
All advice is however, appreciated.

Nicki

I have no experience of overseas clinics I am afraid but know a bit about IVF here having had one cycle. My input:

1. I'd be more influenced by the success rate of the clinic than the cost. They vary greatly and even with all other things being equal and no other fertility issues in play you only have a 1 in 3 chance of success in a cycle. Given how costly the whole enterprise is you'd be mad to lessen those chances more.

2 you need a lot of scans in the first 2-3 weeks of an IVF cycle followed by egg collection and then transfer 3-5 days later. So you'd need to factor in loss of earnings and accommodation costs for that period in too or about 10 return flights if you were going to travel back and forth.

3 there are risks with IVF drugs such as OHSS so you do need to be monitored sometimes even when a cycle has had to be abandoned pre egg collection.

4 if there isn't a medical reason at your end would you not consider IUI? Much less invasive and much cheaper. Costs about £1k privately in the UK.

5 another issue to bear in mind if you are using donor sperm is the law in that country about preserving anonymity (ie whether you want this or not) as it varies from country to country and can change.

Mummawannabe

Thanks Nikki, great things to think about

fluffnutter

Budget about 7 grand per cycle for IVF. Spain's good. If your only criterion is the price, then think again. There are some things that are worth paying out for - getting impregnated is one of them.

If you're prepared to source your own donor, then it will cost you nothing more than a turkey baster.

willow29

Hi, you may get more advice, particularly about treatment overseas on fertilityfriends.co.uk, there are boards there specific to overseas IVF. And good luck with whatever you decide.

Bluemeanie_2

Personally, if you don't have any known fertility issues, I would just use a sperm donor. It costs a hotel room and baster kit. Maybe a train ticket/fuel costs for the donor. You can arrange it privately using a website.
Me and Hubby used one (wasn't successful) before I got pregnant by him naturally. Much less evasive and expensive than IVF.

Calien27

If you do go down the private donation route, be 100% sure that site(s) you sign up for are AI only there are a couple where it is against the site rules to suggest anything other than AI and anyone suggesting natural conception will be banned from there. On other sites you will get members who use it as a place to basically get free sex.

Once again, good luck

Mummawannabe

Thanks all, I agree with Calien27. I did register on one site saying only interested in AI and was contacted by what can only be described as a "load of pervs"! I did complain and the site apologised that this was my reason for leaving them. I am not sure i would even feel safe meeting someone of a site like that.

How was your experience with the donor Bluemeanie? And would you mind sharing which site you used?

I have no known issues, just thought at my age i might have a better shot with IVF and didnt want to leave it much longer but i am very much at the beginning of my quest for information and may be a bit ignorant to available choices. I feel like i have spent months researching and still know nothing! But i will get there Thanks again

tea_lover

For 'standard' IVF (as opposed to ICSI) I've been quoted anywhere from £3125 to £5500, excluding drugs. It's harder to give a price for drugs as obviously not everyone needs the same things, but I think you'd need to budget at least another £1k. My last cycle was funded but I needed about twice the amount of drugs they thought initially so that would have been a huge extra outlay.

I definitely agree that this is one area where cost just isn't the main issue. It's a tough thing to go through, mentally and physically, and if it doesn't work you need to be able to tell yourself you did whatever you could. That doesn't mean remortgaging and getting yourself into debt - but I wouldn't advise making decisions based purely on cost.

Best of luck with whatever you decide. There's a great support network on the Trying to Conceive 12months+ thread, if you ever fancy a natter about any aspect of this.

Pruflo wrote: »

I have done 4 IVFs and have paid NO WHERE NEAR 7k per cycle !!, it quite annoys me that the media increase the costs.

I don't think the media are increasing the costs, we're all just sharing our experiences.