I get asked a lot of questions about having fertility treatment like IVF abroad in Europe. Every time someone asks me a question I write it down so I can create content for my social media, blog and podcast to help my audience.
There are certain questions that I get asked a lot and so I thought it would be helpful to cover some of my most frequently asked questions and answer them in this blog post and future ones.
How long do I need to be abroad for fertility treatment?
So these are of course approximates, because it will depend on your circumstances, treatment plan and your clinic. However, as a guide if you are having a frozen embryo transfer you would be away for a couple of days. If you're having a fresh embryo transfer using your own egg, then typically, you might need to be abroad for 10 days. If you're doing a donor egg fresh transfer, then you're likely to be away for about seven days. I hope that’s helpful as some people think they will need to be away for a month. However, the reality for lots of people (depending on where they’re traveling from) is that they begin their medication and monitoring in their home countries, to cut down the time needed to be away from home.
Do the clinics abroad offer a free consultation with a Doctor?
The answer is it depends. If they do charge a fee then it is quite different to say how private IVF consultations are in say America, or Australia or the UK, where you pay quite a handsome amount of money each time you have a consultation. It's typically around 80-150 euros, which is much cheaper than the countries I have just mentioned.
For those clinics that do charge a lot will only charge for the first consultation and the rest will be free of charge, and/or they knock the price of the initial consultation off your treatment if you choose to go ahead with their clinic. So you know, I've worked with clinics where they have charged that initial fee but then literally don’t charge for any other consultations with the doctor for as long as you're under the care of that fertility clinic. I've had other clients who have had free consultations throughout the process including the very first meeting with the fertility Doctor and then other clients who have paid an initial fee for the first consultation and then that has been funded off their treatment and they've not had to pay for any future consultations.
So it's much more manageable and it's also really helpful if you want to review and benchmark two or three clinics against each other.
Is it really cheaper to have fertility treatment abroad?
The answer is yes, absolutely, as long as you choose your destination wisely. You know, there's so many places in Europe that are far cheaper than places like America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, Ireland and even including travel and accommodation you can save a lot of money. I have had clients that have had two rounds of IVF have exactly the same price as one in their home country, including everything. Sometimes three rounds depending on where they live. And there are even bigger savings still to be made by people having egg donation abroad, particularly vs countries like the UK and USA.
If I go abroad do I have an option on using an anonymous or non anonymous egg and/or sperm donor?
Yes there are countries that offer both of these options in Europe.
Love Emma
Emma Haslam, Co-founder Your IVF abroad
PS - If you would like to understand more about the process of having fertility abroad then grab a copy of my free short step by step guide by copying and pasting the link below into your browser.
https://www.yourivfabroad.co.uk/step-by-step-guide-to-having-fertility-treatment-in-europe
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