October's guest blog is by Dr Caroline Phillips, a former senior embryologist and founder of Fertility Clinics Abroad, which is a free information portal for people who are considering travelling abroad for fertility treatment.
Making
the right choices when planning your IVF trip abroad
Dr
Caroline Phillips, Fertility
Clinics Abroad
Last
year we teamed up with Fertility Network UK to look at the main
drivers behind fertility tourism from the UK. We have some of the
best health care in the world, both privately and through the NHS and
yet many couples are turning their backs on the UK when it comes to
having IVF.
We
asked 250 couples who had undergone or were undergoing treatment to
share their experiences. What they said painted a worrying picture of
the state of affairs. 76%
of respondents were leaving the UK because of the high cost of
private fertility treatment, with three quarters saying it was twice
as expensive as they were able to pay. People were generally willing
to pay between £1000 and £5000 for IVF using their own eggs, yet
this treatment is often in excess of £10k in the UK when additional
expenses are taken into account.
We
also found many people were disappointed at the standard of care
provided by some NHS funded fertility clinics. The majority felt
standards were either passable or substandard, with 44% believing it
was average and 25% saying it was poor. Only
3% of respondents felt it was excellent. Most people were aggrieved
that access to NHS fertility treatment was a postcode lottery, with
35% saying
waiting lists were too long.
What
is abundantly clear from our research, is fertility tourism is a
trend that is on the rise and probably here to stay – for those of
you who are considering going abroad for treatment, we’ve put
together some top tips to help you make the right choices before
taking the plunge.
Do
your homework
Like
anything in life, careful preparation is key to success and this is
especially the case when planning your IVF trip abroad. Always
consult with your GP and/or fertility specialist in the first
instance and seek out advice from recognised bodies such as Fertility
Network UK
when you can. Desktop research is also an easy and affordable way of
gathering useful information. Check out the forums on Mums.net
or Fertility
Friends or
ask someone you know who has been abroad for IVF. What were their
experiences?
Which
country?
The
country you choose could be down to something as simple as personal
preference or as critical as IVF age legislation. One of the more
common considerations is anonymity. In the UK, the identity of egg
and sperm donors is not protected by law, which can have far reaching
consequences in the future. If this is a concern to you, you should
look at countries where egg donations are anonymous, such as Spain,
the Czech Republic and Greece.
Other
considerations may include the cost of living, expense of travel or
accommodation costs. Different countries also have different age
limits for IVF treatment, or there may be specific laws on the number
of embryos that can be transferred. These could be a deal breakers
before you even step on the plane, so make sure you do your research.
Choosing
the right clinic
Choosing
a clinic can be a daunting prospect, so having ‘must have’ check
list can be a useful tool. Jot down your must haves and use these to
help you make your choice – if the clinic isn’t ticking the
right boxes, then you can discount it from your list.
Some
useful starting questions include:
- How long is their waiting list?
- How flexible is the clinic to your specific needs?
- Do they offer help with translation and travel?
- Are they accessible?
- Do they offer complementary therapies?
- Do they offer guarantees or shared risk plans?
- Will they pay for travel between the airport, clinic and hotel?
We
offer a useful search
service which
will help you find the right clinic.
What
does success mean?
Success
rates are often the major determining factor for people choosing a
clinic, but be warned – you need to be careful when interpreting
what success actually means. For example, some clinics base their
success rates on transferring more than one embryo into the womb.
This can not only result in multiple pregnancies, it presents a
higher risk to the patient. Always ask for a clinic’s ‘success
rate per embryo transferred’ to give you a more accurate picture.
If in any doubt, always seek advice from a professional before
setting your heart on a clinic that promises the world.
Keeping
a lid on costs
Treatment costs tend to be fairly
transparent but watch out for any “hidden” extras. For example,
is the first consultation deductible from the final treatment cost?
Is sedation included in the price for egg collection? Is sperm or
embryo freezing included? Are there any guarantees e.g. pay for two
cycles and get third free. We have developed a useful new calculator
tool to help
you determine the full cost of your treatment.
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