IVF stands for in vitro fertilisation. It involves removing an egg, or multiple eggs, from the woman's ovaries and fertilising the egg(s) with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, is then returned to the woman's womb to grow and develop.
It can be carried out using your eggs and your partner's sperm, or eggs and sperm from donors.
IVF is thought of as the panacea to getting pregnant, the fail safe method to having that baby you dream of, but it's important you know IVF offers no guarantees.
Let's look at the facts.....
39% of couples conceive after one round of IVF
59% of couples conceive after two rounds of IVF
71% of couples conceive after three rounds of IVF
After six rounds of IVF just over 80% of couples have conceived.
The data clearly shows that several rounds of IVF are often needed to get pregnant. This may take a couple of years or more because the woman's body needs to rest between each cycle to avoid ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, also known as OHSS.
If you're very lucky the NHS will fund up to three rounds of IVF but this is determined by your age and your postcode, hence the term 'the postcode lottery'. For many, the NHS will fund one round and if you're unsuccessful then you'll need to fork out privately to have further rounds of fertility treatment.
The cost of private treatment can vary, but 1 cycle of IVF can cost up £5,000 or more. There may be additional costs for medicines, consultations and tests so make sure you find out exactly what's included in the price. As you can see, the costs of IVF can extend into many thousands of pounds if you have several rounds of treatment. Nowadays most fertility clinics offer discounted price packages for multiple IVF rounds. If you get pregnant in cycle one, horray, but it's unlikely you'll get a refund on the unused IVF cycles. If it takes you several rounds of IVF then you will have saved some money by paying for a package. Deciding whether to pay for one cycle or a few rounds of IVF is a really tricky decision because no one wants to lose money, and we're not talking about a few pennies here!
I can help you when making this all important decision. Feel free to book a 15 minute phone/zoom consultation or book a package with me and I'll guide you through the process. As always, get in touch if you have any questions.