“It just sounds like even more hassle…”
“Surely the language barrier will make things more complicated?”
“I can’t have that much time off work.”
“British fertility treatment is the best in the world…isn’t it?”
These are the concerns we hear day in, day out from prospective patients and believe it or not, until about six years ago myself and my husband Adam had the same worries and misconceptions about what fertility treatment outside of the UK would be like.
Let us start by saying that we are not here to badmouth or criticise the service provided by British clinics – to the contrary, we have lots of friends who have been lucky enough to have had successful treatment on the NHS and with private fertility centres.
But, if we give you a little detail into how we ended up having (successful!) IVF in the Czech Republic, it may shed some light as to why we feel SO passionately that there are real and tangible advantages to having treatment abroad.
I was 33 when like many of you I heard the words no newly married woman desperate to start a family with her husband, ever wants to hear: “We’re sorry Mrs Haslam but you’re perimenopausal with an inadequate (never good!) ovarian reserve and your BMI is too high for NHS treatment. Oh, and your husband’s sperm count is extremely low and has very poor motility.”
Not so much a double blow, more of a triple sucker punch.
Our limited funds meant we couldn’t afford the average £10,000 for a cycle of IVF with ICSI privately in the UK, particularly when we knew our odds were so poor and that multiple rounds could be on the cards. We were broken.
Desperate Google hunts for alternatives led us to investigate a few clinics in the Czech Republic. Suddenly there was a chink of light – we quickly realised that even with flights, accommodation and medication, any potential treatment would be around 40% to 50% cheaper than those UK clinics. That slashed treatment costs by thousands of pounds.
You can read more about how our story ended here (clue – he’s about 2 ft tall with a penchant for Peppa Pig) but we want to address some of the most commonly asked issues that might help you decide whether you should dust off your passport in your quest to have a family.
1 – It is cheaper - and offers extremely impressive success rates and the very highest standards of care
The old adage that you get what you pay for does absolutely not ring true in this case.
It’s a fact that assisted reproduction in the UK, without help from the NHS, is crucifyingly and eye wateringly expensive. And when you’re already living through the purgatory hell that is infertility, introducing significant financial strain into the situation can really start to tip you over the edge.
On average, and for clinics within the Your IVF abroad portfolio, we know that treatment INCLUDING flights, accommodation and medication, will be around 40% to 50% cheaper, on average, than in the UK.
In fact, our three rounds of IVF, cost the same as ONE in the UK, thanks to low cost treatment and our clinic’s guarantee programme that gave us our final cycle for free. That’s two extra rounds, and the last magic one, that gave us the most precious gift we could ever hope for. To be honest, it still gives me a chill up my spine to think that if we’d thrown all of our money at one round in the UK, and hadn’t looked to treatment abroad, we simply wouldn’t have our baby now.
As with any clinic, of course you need to do your homework. But the good news is, that the EU has done some very solid legal work in regulating European clinics. And bodies such as the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, like the HFEA in the UK, regularly publish guidelines on industry best practice. It also acts as a legal arbitrator of practices across the EU and clarifies the differing laws on IVF in each member state. So, you’re in safe hands.
The idea that British infertility treatment is best really can be a fallacy. At least 32 other European countries provide it, many exceeding UK standards. There are major players, like Spain, Greece and the Czech Republic. I can tell you that our clinic was uber modern, uber clean and a little like visiting a space-age hotel. Everyone spoke fluent English and the level of clinical and pastoral care was simply outstanding.
And bear in mind that compared to the rest of the world, Europe leads the way in assisted reproduction services. Figures from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology show how flourishing European IVF is. Not including Asia, 71 per cent of worldwide fertility cycles were carried out in mainland Europe in 2009 – the last time the research was done.
In setting up Your IVF abroad we conducted three years of intense research (which continues) to establish a bank of world-class clinics that each have their particular speciality – be it treating a woman with low ovarian reserve or with immune issues, or ICSI specialists for a man who has sperm quality issues. Because we are completely independent (in fact we are the only independent IVF ‘arranger’ in the UK that isn’t affiliated to a group of clinics and we don't take any commission from clinics, so we can genuinely match clients to the right clinics – offering up to three after our initial free consultation.
2 – Having a change of scene or soaking up the sun during active treatment could be just what you need
Many of my friends who had UK treatment said they had to skirt around the issue with their boss and feign multiple doctor’s appointments whilst nipping out for scans and the like. On the whole, they found it very stressful trying to maintain some semblance of normality.
Personally, I found it hugely beneficial to my mental health to be out of the country, in a completely new place (Prague is SO beautiful!) and essentially ‘on holiday’ whilst being prodded and poked around with.
I felt I could switch off 100% safe in the knowledge that to everyone back home, my husband and I were just ‘on holiday’. There were no questions, no quizzical looks and we could relax (relatively speaking!) with our little secret. And we all know how important it is not to get overly stressed during stims/retrieval/implantation.
In total we were away, each time, for three days each cycle (we had to have three) and we got to know our favourite places to eat, to walk to and to just generally chill out. It was also great to spend real quality time together, supporting each other one hundred percent rather than dealing with the mundanities of life at home. NEVER underestimate how something as simple as feeling the sun on your skin can really improve your wellbeing during times of great anxiety.
As with UK treatment there are things that need to be organised before your European treatment can begin - such as blood work, tests, flights and accommodation - but therein is the reason we set up Your IVF abroad - to help get all the fiddly bits done so clients can focus on the important baby making part!
3 –Need donor conception? It’s a whole lot quicker!
Due to us both having fertility issues that would make using my own eggs and Adam’s sperm almost impossible, we ended up opting for treatment involving a donor embryo.
In most (not all) European countries, there are strict anonymity laws around donor eggs, sperm and embryos, meaning there are a plentiful supply of donors and places offering cost effective treatment with no waiting lists. There are also options for non anonymous donation too, giving you choice.
A crucial factor for us was speed and cost – treatment with donor embryo’s in the UK is very expensive and the waiting lists can be long.
So for those of you who might be looking at fertility treatment such as IVF with own egg and sperm, or donor eggs, it’s worth knowing that most European clinics do not have the frustrating and unbearably long waiting lists that you’ll find in the UK and you can usually start treatment pretty quickly.
Take Spain for example, which is now widely recognised as Europe’s egg donation epicentre accounting for around a third of all IVF cycles performed and around 50% of all European donation activity and donors are not paid, so do not stand to benefit financially and there are strict donor recruitment and welfare standards in place.
You are matched based on your skin, hair, eye colour, height and blood type. You even get to find out about the donor’s level of education and profession in some countries.
All of this can be a huge plus if you are a same-sex couple, single, over 40 or have low AMH or are menopausal.
So, there you have it – some of our reasons as to why stepping on a plane for your fertility treatment does not need to be as daunting as you think.
As in life, cost seems to be the overarching factor, which is why we are just so passionate (I want to shout it from the ROOFTOPS!) about telling people that European treatment can be MUCH cheaper and the standards are TREMENDOUS.
It’s impossible for us to talk about our IVF experience without becoming a little emotional.
We’ve been there, we understand how torturous it can feel and we wish you all so much luck.
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