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Forgive a brief interruption to the narrative flow of this memoir once again. I felt that it might be helpful to share some information.

I recently posted on a fertility forum asking if there was anywhere in which IVF was available for less than £3,000. The response indicated that this was practically impossible and that it was more likely I’d be paying more than double that.

I was not ready to give in so easily! Being a single woman (with no NHS funding for IVF) on an average salary and financially prudent, it has become an almost Arthurian quest to find the cheapest way to have IVF.

I knew that at the ripe old age of 37, I could be looking at five or more IVF ‘tries’ to achieve pregnancy. It was possible I could go through all of that and have nothing to show for it but heartache, however I was at least determined to make my hard-earned savings last through as many treatments as possible.

Preliminary tests

You are entitled to have a range of preparatory tests done through the NHS via a referral from your GP to an assisted conception unit at a hospital. These include:

  • blood tests (e.g. HIV, Hepatitis B and C)
  • FSH tests (which measure levels of follicle stimulating hormone and indicate ovarian reserve)
  • ultrasound scan to check your uterus
  • HSG (hysterosalpingogram – a kind of X-ray that uses dye to examine the uterus and fallopian tubes)
  • AMH (anti-mullerian hormone tests, which are more effective measures of ovarian reserve than FSH – I was originally told that these weren’t available on the NHS but I pushed and got one done).

N.B. The wait for NHS appointments can be lengthy. It was a year-and-a-half from the time I walked into my doctor’s office desperate for a baby as soon as possible to the completion of my preliminary tests at two different assisted conception units. Having recently found out I have low ovarian reserve, I’m furious that all that precious time was wasted.

When I’d gone as far as I could through the NHS, I moved to self-funding the rest of the tests at an assisted conception unit that saw both NHS and private patients. £220 bought me:

  • another FSH test
  • a test of estriadol levels (which can interfere with FSH levels)
  • swabs to test for STDs
  • another ultrasound to look at size and number of egg follicles
  • two consultations with doctors, who analysed test results and made recommendations for treatment
  • a counselling session concerning the implications of fertility treatment and donor sperm (compulsory in the UK).

Bear in mind that if you decide to switch clinics, most will insist on you doing the preliminary tests again themselves and charge you for them!

IVF treatment

I spent a lot of time researching prices at UK clinics before ruling them out completely. It was not so much the cost of the IVF itself, but the myriad of infuriating extra hidden costs that kept rearing their ugly heads like moles on a golf course. For example, one UK clinic wanted to charge me an administration fee of £250 plus £200 to store sperm imported from my chosen sperm bank in Denmark (after I’d paid for the shipping and sperm itself!). I felt as though they were trying to wheedle every last penny out of me. Forgive me, but I don’t want my IVF performed with used car salesman mentality!

I started emailing fertility clinics overseas for IVF price lists. Spain, Greece, the Czech Republic and Denmark proved more reasonable, though Spain wasn’t for me as all donors remain anonymous by law and I wanted an open identity donor (who had agreed that the child could contact him at age 18).  I finally selected a reputable clinic in Copenhagen at which the IVF (including all scans) cost 17,500 Danish Krone (approximately £1,971). I decided to begin with one treatment at the facility to see how comfortable I felt there, but some clinics offered packages of two of three IVF sessions, which can knock the cost per session down to under £1,700.

Buying medication  

I’ve found that clinics tend to charge inflated prices for IVF medication. Even the doctor at my own clinic suggested that I buy them elsewhere. It’s possible to purchase the medication yourself from an independent pharmacy (Calea, Healthcare at Home and Central Homecare seem among the most reasonable), using a prescription from your clinic and inject yourself at home. I was terrified at this prospect, being a squeamish needle-phobe, but there are easy-to-follow instructions and the process is not as difficult or painful as one might imagine.

For this, my first IVF treatment, my ovarian stimulation medication wasn’t too extreme (150 iu of Gonal F per day) and I kept the cost to £589.66 (the most expensive item being the Gonal F 900 pen at £282).

Scans and blood tests

I was told I needed a scan and blood test on Day 9 of my cycle to check how my ovaries were responding to medication. Rotten luck – this fell on Boxing Day, and so I decided to fly to Copenhagen a week early and have it done there at the clinic (as part of the treatment cost). On most other days it could have been done by a private clinic in the UK and the results emailed the next day to the Copenhagen. For example The Birth Company will do a follicle tracking scan for £120.

Purchasing the sperm

A helpful sperm bank, based in Denmark, provided extended profiles over the donors, with ampoules of MOT 10 (reasonable motility) sperm each costing 200 Euros plus VAT. Having my IVF treatment in Denmark meant that it only cost 55 Euros to transport the sperm to the clinic. The total cost to have two ampoules of selected donors ready and waiting was approximately £450.

Other costs (if travelling abroad)

Flights (SAS and Easyjet) totalled £170 and budget accommodation (a female dormitory in a hostel) worked out at £21 per night. I borrowed Copenhagen guide books from the library and researched free museums and inexpensive places to eat.

TOTAL COST

  • IVF – £1,971
  • Medication – £586.66
  • Sperm (and delivery) ­– £450
  • Flights – £170 (would have been cheaper outside the Christmas period)
  • Accommodation – £231 (could have stayed fewer nights)

So the total for the IVF (after the preliminary tests) worked out at just under £3,410 plus a little spending money – not quite my aim of under £3,000 and still a considerable chunk out of my life savings, but more feasible than the £5,000 plus I was quoted in the UK.

I fly on Monday!

I share this information in order to empower others. I’d love to hear from ladies or couples who refuse to be extorted for the basic right to have a child and who have also managed to find ways to ‘beat the system’ instead of paying crippling costs for fertility treatment.