I SPENT £8,000 ON IVF ABROAD AFTER I WAS UNABLE TO ACCESS IT IN THE UK

After being told they only had a 5% chance of getting pregnant, a couple took matters into their own hands and flew abroad to receive IVF treatment.

Emma Haslam, 43 and from North Yorkshire, tried to have IVF through the NHS, but she was told that she was not eligible as her Body Mass Index (BMI) was too high.

Disillusioned, Emma and her husband decided to fly to the Czech Republic to undergo treatment, where she ended up pregnant after years of fertility issues.

She originally went to her GP back in 2015 as she was struggling to conceive naturally, and they later determined that she and her husband had fertility issues. They were then referred to a gynaecologist for further treatment.

The results concluded that the cause of their struggle was the fact that Emma was peri-menopausal – meaning that her body was beginning to make the transition to menopause, which can happen to women at various ages.

Emma’s husband was also told that he had low motility and low concentration, and that between them, they would only be able to conceive through IVF. However, the chances of that working for them were between 3 and 5%, they were told.

However, Emma was disillusioned to find that IVF isn’t always successful – as, not knowing much about it, that it ‘must always work.’

After they were told that they weren’t eligible on the NHS, Emma worked hard to lose weight and lower her BMI so that they could qualify for one round of IVF, even though their chances of getting pregnant were still low.

She managed to lose six stone, but was later told that the limit of her NHS area’s BMI expectancy had changed to 30, not 35.

‘We felt so upset and angry, like our time had been wasted and it was all for nothing as my BMI had nothing to do with my infertility and I was fit and healthy. When you have low AMH and are perimenopausal you don’t have time to waste,’ Emma continued.

‘If we had lived a few miles down the road in another postcode area we would have qualified with the weight I lost. The system is so unfair.’

As per the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) website, treatment with ‘IVF is more effective for women who have a BMI between 19 and 30,’ though it doesn’t explicitly state that women with a BMI higher than 30 shouldn’t qualify.

Still determined to conceive naturally, Emma and her husband decided to move back in with her parents so that they could save for IVF privately. But, after a few consultations in the UK, they realised how expensive it was – and made a plan of action to fly abroad.

‘An average round of IVF in the UK when completed is around £10,000 and can often be upwards of this,’ Emma said, adding that she felt it was a ‘battle’ just to understand the answers to ‘basic questions.’

‘We did think about adoption, and we even started the process, but it was long and wasn’t easy and I really wanted to have the opportunity to carry and have a baby.” just such a huge undertaking and I wanted to carry a baby.’

When researching abroad, the couple noticed that the BMI limit was much more flexible, and so they travelled to the Czech Republic for their treatment, where the price difference was considerable.

‘The average round of own egg IVF abroad starts from depending on where you go, £2,500- £4,000 (excluding travel and medication),’ Emma recalled, describing the clinic as ‘kind and caring.’

‘They did suggest that if we had donor conception, which we did, it would boost our chances from 5% to 60%-70%.

‘We ended up spending around £8,000 GB but this was for three rounds of a donor embryo treatment, including everything, flights and accommodation too.

‘Our treatment also came with a guarantee, so the third round was free, but we did pay for the first two rounds of IVF, including medication, travel, and accommodation and medication for the last round. Totalling £8k.’

Three rounds later, Emma became pregnant with twins, but she sadly lost one of them after 10 weeks. She then gave birth to a healthy baby boy in 2018.

‘If we had spent all our money on one round of IVF in the UK, we would not have our little boy today,’ Emma concluded.

And, since giving birth, Emma has set up her own business that guides others through the process, helping them both practically and emotionally through their IVF treatment. Since 2019, she’s helped hundreds of people across the globe, and even launched her own podcast.

‘I feel so lucky to be a mum to our little boy, but I will never forget what we went through to get him.’

Caters News have contacted the NHS for a right of reply and have received no formal statement, but did refer a NICE link.

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2024-05-04T10:09:27Z dg43tfdfdgfd