The Fertility Podcast

In this episode of the Fertility Matters at Work episode, we want to focus on the psychological aspects of juggling fertility in the workplace. We all know it’s not easy to do and certainly not a great place to find ourselves in but what really is the impact? To answer this question, we’re delighted to welcome perinatal psychologist Julianne Boutaleb @parenthoodinmind.

Julianne is the Clinical Director and Founder of the Parenthood In Mind practice. She has worked for over 15 years in the NHS and private practice with parents and parents-to-be and their babies (and bumps) who have needed support with a wide variety of issues including anxiety and depression during and after pregnancy, miscarriage, and reproductive loss, attachment issues, re-emergence of childhood issues and couples’ issues.

Parenthood in Mind consists of a specialist team of psychologists and psychotherapists with decades of professional experience between them in perinatal settings, CAMHs, primary and secondary care, and Early Years settings. They are experts in working with individuals, couples, and their babies in the transition to parenthood, and with parents of children up to 5 years of age. Julianne is without a doubt well placed to talk to us about the impact of juggling fertility in the workplace and consults many individuals who are struggling in silence at work.

Today Julianne shared the following on her Instagram account - Help-seeking in the perinatal period.

It's so difficult to reach out. To say out loud I need help.

At no other point in our lives do we need help more, and yet fear asking for it.

The fear of being exposed, of being judged,

Of being misunderstood

Of admitting too much…

 Does this resonate with your experiences in the workplace? It certainly did with us.

Julianne starts off by explaining the impact of infertility and pregnancy loss on our mental health and then talks about the psychological impact of infertility, referring to the work by Alice Domar who likened infertility psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis for example. Julianne also likens it to the death of the story you originally dreamed of and that it is a moment of trauma. 

She explains that in the workplace this trauma can show up as panic attacks, feeling that you can’t get up in the morning, a sense of dread or difficulty over what would have been normal work tasks, individuals feeling as though they’re not in control or trying to ‘front it out’ and not divulging what you’re going through to your employer. She also refers to the interpersonal conflict you might feel and sadly individuals facing grievance due to a negative change in workability. Julianne urges line managers to be aware of sudden changes in workability and behavior and to try to find out why this might be happening. 

Julianne shares some fantastic tips on what she advises people to actively do if they’re struggling such as the importance of Identifying a colleague to discuss this and therefore start creating a little village of support within the workplace. Julianne has seen fantastic examples of where employees set up WhatsApp groups and peer support to facilitate better support within the workplace. She also recommends short sharp wins, such as stepping away from the computer, lunch outside the building rather than leaving your employment altogether, and the isolation, this can bring.

Finally, Julianne shares examples of difficult situations in the workplace she has come across from both an employee and an employer going through fertility issues at the same time and the employer being able to offer support but getting no support back and the frustrations she felt with this. Julianne also refers to a friend of the podcast - Sophie Martin @the.infertile.midwife who, as her Instagram name suggests, works as a midwife and struggled with infertility and very sadly, the stillbirth of her two beautiful boys Cecil and Wilfred.

You can find out more about Julianne and Parenthood in mind here:

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Your Fertility Journey

Welcome to episode 2 in our current series discussing the intricacies of fertility in the workplace. In this week’s episode, we’re joined by 4 teachers to find out just what it’s like to navigate a fertility journey whilst juggling the demands of a teaching job.

We welcome Caroline Biddle who worked as a secondary school drama teacher for 9 years. Caroline is no longer in a teaching role but is committed to changing the way fertility issues in teaching are managed and as a result, set up her organization – Fertility Issues in Teaching. Fertility issues in teaching Fertility Issues in Teaching are the first and only organisation to deliver specialist consultancy and training exclusively for schools to raise awareness around the impact on staff experiencing infertility and pregnancy loss and to support schools to recruit and retain the best staff by becoming inclusive, flexible, and equitable, as they move towards fertility-friendly workplaces. Claire Walker and Nic Jessop are both teachers currently working in education and Claire Stewart-Hall, who, like Caroline is no longer a teacher, is a coach who coaches people around race, adoption, and LGBTQ in the workplace.

Having to move schools

Caroline starts off by telling us about her experience of going through fertility treatment in the workplace and how She moved schools between treatment and experienced two very different styles of support. Neither school had a fertility policy in place which left her feeling both vulnerable and frustrated. In one school she had to explain every appointment for the headteacher to approve and this was far from satisfactory. It was then that she started researching fertility awareness in the workplace.

Getting your Union involved

Claire Walker explains her experiences of going through fertility treatment with her partner who was transitioning from female-male and how she was told by her employer that ‘IVF is elective like cosmetic surgery’ without any understanding of her individual circumstance. Claire explains how she has always been, as many teachers are, totally dedicated to her job and this comment felt her feeling undervalued.

Quitting your job

Claire Stewart-Hall shares with us a very harrowing experience where she experienced a missed miscarriage after being punched in the stomach by a pupil. Claire also talks about the difficulties of trying to conceive whilst juggling a busy role as a vice-principal and the taboos she felt being in a same-sex relationship and how ‘hidden’ she found fertility in general.

 In stark contrast, Nic has a positive story to share about the support from her workplace during her recent successful IVF treatment and frozen embryo transfer, where she says her work environment was so supportive with her employers having a good understanding of what’s involved in infertility treatments and a leader who actively tries to understand what her employees are going through. Nic feels that her experience is an example that other schools should aim to follow.

On Caroline’s Instagram feed and her blog, she regularly talks about the need for schools to strive for compassion and thoughtfulness when discussing infertility. She shares examples with us where thoughtless comments have been made such as headteachers demanding that ‘scans are done on a Wednesday or at a specific time’. Leaders said that they ‘will offer paid leave for 1 treatment but not more, and even examples of where people have offered advice when they don’t have any understanding about fertility. 

Claire Stewart-Hall is currently undertaking a doctorate on race and policy in schools and talks about how policy can be interpreted differently by individual schools, and that leaders will often ‘cherry pick’ what they want out of the policy or interpret the policy based on their own individual experience.

Kate talks about the fact that she sees many teachers struggling to conceive in her private practice and asks the group if they feel this is because stress is an issue within education or is it because teachers are natural learners and will seek out information and support? The group felt that long days and stress do impact and that as teachers are hyper-alert for long periods of time that the physiological impact on the body should not be underestimated.

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Male Fertility is something we have talked about on The Fertility Podcast a lot in the past and you can hear more of our conversations here

All too often Men are overlooked when having conversations with healthcare and medical professionals about this topic and as you will hear, they often don't want to speak to anyone about what is going on.

This bonus episode being shared to support National Fertility Awareness Day and its focus on male fertility is called 'MAN UP' - an ethnodrama written from empirical research date from interviews with people experiencing complex fertility journeys by Manchester Metropolitan University.

It has been written and produced by www.jennyberry.co.uk 

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Fertility Network UK

It’s great to be back! We’ve had a bit of a break and we’re back with a new series talking all about Fertility in the workplace. As well as doing the podcast, Natalie’s voiceover work and Kate’s consulting; for the last 18 months or so, both Natalie and Kate have been working with organisations to help put fertility in the workplace firmly on their wellbeing agenda.

How does the landscape at work look?

Kate and Natalie discuss what we've heard from our work and how in light of, how in the last few months, a number of organisations have published fertility and pregnancy loss policies.

Over the coming weeks we will be hearing from different organisations who are speaking out about their work to support employees on their paths to parenthood and this new series of the podcast has been created alongside an exciting launch of a brand new training and policy programme from Fertility Matters at Work which we'll be talking about in the coming weeks too.

We’ll be sharing best and worst examples of fertility in the workplace and, as always, sharing your personal experiences, so we want you to get in touch and share yours stories which can you do right here

4 Women

In the first episode of our new series on Fertility Matters at Work we’re absolutely delighted to welcome Channel 4 to the podcast. Navene Alim who is a senior lawyer within the corporate legal team at C4 and Landy Slattery, creative director of All 4, Channel 4’s(CH4) on-demand platform. Both are the co-founders and co-chairs of the 4 Women network, and we’re talking all about CH4’s Pregnancy Loss Policy that was launched in April 2021.

When the pregnancy loss policy was launched, CH 4 stated that “The policy which was believed to be the world’s first is to support both women and men who have been affected: whether it happens directly to them, their partner or their baby’s surrogate mother, regardless of the nature of their loss, and whatever their length of service. It also recognises pregnancy loss as an experience not isolated to women or heterosexual couples.”

Why was the policy developed?

Following the huge momentum and notoriety that came from CH4's menopause policy the 4 Women network wanted to build on this. After surveying employees to find out the most important issues, pregnancy loss was identified as a huge issue for the workforce. They found that people were struggling in silence and making excuses for needing time off. CH4 were due to air a new series – Baby Surgeons delivery miracle babies ( quoted incorrectly in the pod ) and they wanted to get a policy in place to hit with the time the series aired.

CH4 share how they implement the policy they developed and wanted to ensure that training would be available for managers and colleagues to help them, support employees, appropriately. They are actively trying to find the right solutions to provide the correct support. Their policy is the first step in acknowledging that pregnancy loss is part of a woman’s working life. Having the conversations and the educational piece is the first steps in changing organisational culture.

Were people worried about being passed over for promotion?

These issues did feature as a concern from their focus group of 80 employees who helped inform the policy. As the policy is so new, they are yet to have the opportunity to assess how it has landed within the organisation, however they’re finding that other conversations such as childlessness has started to be discussed, which would have never occurred had it not been for the policy.

What about Men?

Landy and Naveen talk about the importance that the policy doesn’t just focus on women, but it is there for men too. Any man at C4, can access the policy and take 2 weeks off without explanation or proof of pregnancy loss.

How else do they support their staff, such as the Line Managers who might find these conversations tricky?

We ask if C4 have plans to support line managers who themselves may find these conversations triggering? The policy includes resources that anyone can access for support as well as a ‘Pregnancy loss champion’ who is available to offer support on a human-to-human basis.

To find out more about CH4's policy click here

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In this episode, as we near the end of this current series of the podcast, we chat with Steph Phillips the founder of World Childless Week.

World Childless Week is a relatively new initiative raising awareness of being childless not by choice. Steph tells us how the interest in this week, but also across the year, has increased dramatically over the last 2 years. We also talked about the differing terminology used to explain living without children and how Steph as learned to own the term ‘Childless’.

The World Childless Week website encourages people to submit blogs and videos to get their voices and stories heard. Steph has noticed in recent weeks that this is gaining more momentum and people are wanting to take ownership of their childlessness.

The COVID pandemic has highlighted the difficulties in the workplace faced by childless people – the discussions on Zoom about children, children seen on Zoom etc. However, the pandemic has also encouraged greater awareness surrounding mental health for example and Steph also sees this as a positive for sharing childless awareness. The sharing the commonality of childlessness has had a profound effect on Steph and others, providing validation and an outlet for grief. We also talked about finding the humour and laughter that can come with sharing stories and that it is possible to come through the dark days.

We discuss the narrative surrounding childlessness and how frequent the insensitive comments are heard, such as ‘Have you thought about adoption’. This needs to change. Steph recommends listening to this webinar - which will help to highlight what not to say to a childless individual.

Did you know that there is more childless men than women?

Men rarely speak out, but they need to be heard more.

Steph talks about the desire many childless individuals have to leave a legacy and why it is important for us not to be forgotten. Steph now tries to leave a legacy in a different way – she may compliment someone on their leggings or let a car out in front of her. This small action can make their day and never hurts to be kind.

Next steps, Steph hopes to make a difference in raising awareness of childlessness in the workplace. Steph welcomes submissions on any topic for the website. See below for more information on how you can do this.

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Releasing Our Grief through the Power of Words (good to help people find the confidence to start exploring the cathartic power of writing):

Legacy - Making Today Count

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Kate

Other episodes we mentioned:

Jessica Hepburn

Kate Kaufmann

Lesley Pyne

Yvonne John

Kelly Da Silva

Jody Day

Today we’re talking all about what happens after fertility – parenting after IVF. What is it like to be pregnant and then parenting after you’ve gone through a fertility journey? Is it different if you’ve not experienced this rollercoaster journey and you’ve managed to conceive naturally? To find out, we’re giving a big welcome to a previous guest and friend of the podcast – Cat Strawbridge otherwise known as @tryingyears.

Cat, after 7 years of trying to conceive and multiple rounds of IVF, finally became a mum to beautiful Wren, who has recently celebrated her 2nd birthday. Cat works tirelessly to break the silence surrounding infertility, has her own podcast The Finally Pregnant Podcast, consults within the fertility industry, host events and to top it all is now (at time of writing) embarking on fertility treatments to try for a sibling for Wren.

We’re delighted to chat to Cat again and wanted to ask her what are the most common fears for women who have conceived following fertility treatments? Cat didn’t hesitate in answering – the anxiety. The anxiety of pregnancy, ‘scanxiety’ and once parenting the fear of being an overbearing and anxious parent.

You may not have heard the term ‘scanxiety’ before but we suspect you’ve felt it. It’s that anxiety you get every time before and during a scan. Whether it be a fertility or pregnancy scan, that fear never leaves you. Cat talked about her pregnancy with Wren and her need to have regular reassurance by having a scan. Particularly as sadly, Cat lost Wren’s twin sister in early pregnancy. Cat talks about how ‘scanxiety’ starts from the moment she’s booked the scan until she’s had the reassurance that everything is OK. We talked about Cat’s experiences of how the scanning professionals dealt with her anxiety, which luckily was generally positive, however we all know that sometimes bad news isn’t delivered in the best way and many professionals seem to lack empathy. A recent guest Amber Isso termed this ‘empathy fatigue’.

Kate recently had the pleasure of listening to a webinar Cat did for ESHRE week on hope and how professionals can help patients maintain hope by treating them respectfully and honestly and acknowledging that it is the patient’s fertility journey. Whilst health professionals are becoming more informed on how to speak to patients, she feels that there is still a long way to go.

Cat then spoke about her decision to try for another baby with her remaining embryo and how this has been a difficult decision to make, especially as this is her last shot. She is feeling overwhelmed, excited and petrified but hopes that this time around she has more knowledge and the resilience to cope better. Kate talked about how the emphasis on a second attempt at IVF after having success is so different. The first time it’s on your having a baby, the second its on having a sibling for your child, so the pressure is totally different. 

We also discuss Cat’s feelings on the COVID-19 vaccine and how she has had one but plans to delay the second one for now.

Since recording Cat has shared that her FET didn’t work and has spoken about it on her socials. We send Cat all our love and thank her for talking to us. 

Other episodes mentioned: 

Katie Eaves who is working to support midwives understand how to talk to pregnant women who have been through infertility

We also spoke in a previous episode with Julianne Boutelab about the fears we have on becoming parents. 

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As we head towards the end of this series, we really want to make sure you know about all the other episodes we have, which you can listen to via www.thefertilitypodcast.com 

We’re having a break at the end of the month and will be back in November but will be reminding you through all of our channels of other episodes so you’ll still have plenty to listen to. 

This week we catch up with Not a Fictional Mum (NFM) who we actually spoke to in December 2020 and then didn’t get to publish the chat until now. If you follow her on insta you will know she has had an incredible year and is doing so much to change the narrative about Adoption especially in retail. 

We start off by chatting about her decision to start her Insta, which was after her friends told her to use social media in a positive way and she threw herself into it and she has aced it. She wanted to make people stop and read to get her messages across. She has decided to stay fictional and not share photos. She spoke about the heartbreak of finding out their family wasn’t going to be created as they’d expected and how she has made a point of not sharing who had the infertility issue. 

What happened after getting the diagnosis of infertility 

They had a free cycle of treatment on the NHS which was all consuming and tough. They did numerous rounds, experienced a miscarriage, spent £25,000 on treatment and it was really taking its toll on their mental health. Once they were told it wouldn’t happen naturally they were already talking about Adoption. However they wanted to try everything so they didn’t have any regrets and Kate talks about talking with clients about trying everything before you ‘close the door’

Making the decision to Adopt

The weight was lifted once they decided that this was going to be their route, although it had taken a long time to grieve what wasn’t to be. Every decision she had made previously was all around the treatment, she felt like a robot. Once the decision was made to stop, she felt she had a sense of herself back. 

Adopting a child will not replace the loss of a biological child. These children are their own people with their own background story and their rights to know that. 

How much needs to be done about how we talk about Adoption? 

So much. NFM talks about how it needs to be talked about it early years at school during sex education, all the routes to parenthood should be discussed, so her little boy grows up knowing its just another route. 

People are curious / nosey about an adopted child and the more we talk about it the more it will be normalised. People whisper the word to you, you can hear it in their tone of voice. 

There seems to be a stigma about it which is sad. We need to understand it on a wider scale. 

Obscene questions asked about Adoption

• Who is it with the problem, you or him? 
• People are obsessed with his background - his real Mum, his real parents
• What are you going to do when he grows up, if he wants to go and live with his real parents? 
• Do you think you love him as much as you would if he was your biological child? 

Thousands of cups of tea with a social worker and the matching process

Time is so precious when you’ve spent so many years trying. 

NFM talks about how she never felt she wasn’t being asked anything necessary or obtrusive. You can find out a lot about yourself and your partner if you open yourself up to it. 

Matching was the most difficult - stage 1 and 2 there is a lot of onhold support as you have to fill in a lot of...

This week we are discussing Surrogacy, both in the UK and abroad. Our first guest is Anna Buxton, mum of three children through two different surrogates. Anna talks us through her decision of how they reached surrogacy after a long and painful gynecological history and was told Surrogacy was her only hope as she would never carry.

Not carrying your child and grieving for that loss

Anna voices the fear of so many people considering surrogacy, 

They were able to create embryos yet still it was v.difficult. Feels like you are giving up on the hope of ever carrying a child, your husband seeing you pregnant, you feel lost. 

Ripple effect… you think you are going to get pregnant, then you realize it's not going to happen as you thought. She couldn’t find anyone to talk to about surrogacy. 

Started in the UK - charities, and agencies but all had really long waiting lists and they’d already spent 5 years trying to get pregnant, and couldn’t deal with another wait of 3 years. She found a few couples to talk to but didn’t have access to the Insta community that exists today. 

Anna talks about how she now realizes that Surrogacy was the light at the end of the tunnel for them and how incredible the women are who do it. She describes how Surrogacy is so complex of the process was something she buried herself in which helped her almost deal with the grief of not being able to carry.

Surrogacy in India

India had the longest reputation of surrogacy but had been shrouded in bad press and was halted for a while. They visited 10 clinics and found a Dr and clinic they loved who were running a lovely program all centered around the wellness of the surrogate. They started the IVF process in the UK and then had egg collection and embryos fertilized in India and then were found a surrogate. She still had nobody to talk to about this. 

Complications of Surrogacy Abroad 

The first step is to find a lawyer who is really experienced. 

The pregnancy was difficult - people weren’t talking about it, so Anna didn’t tell hardly anyone until about 24 weeks. 

It felt hard to believe

She worried that people thought she was undeserved of being pregnant because she wasn’t carrying the bump. Anna describes skulking around John lewis looking at prams, terrified someone would ask her why she was there and she was asked who she was buying the pram for and she said she mumbled ‘it’s complicated’ and walked off as she wasn’t ready to tell a stranger. 

Anna explained how you never know if someone is going to say ‘congrats’ or if they will ask complicated questions. She walked away and ordered everything online. 

Telling Work

Anna explained how they talked to close friends who were really supportive but she was worried about work as she was the first person who had done it, was concerned about her position. She told them at 24 weeks, however, they had no policy for anyone doing surrogacy. 

How they talk to their children

They’ve talked about how children are bought into the world. They have pictures and memorabilia of India all around. They talk about how Mummy’s tummy is broken and another mummy helped to grow her. They celebrated Divali, making sure to normalize her culture and how she was bought into the world. Isla - 5 Always say thank you to Sheparla her surrogate and India. They don’t have a relationship with her as she didn’t want to and also doesn’t speak English. Anna writes a letter every year to her clinic with a picture of Isla both to Sherparla and her children. It’s different with the twins as they are in touch with Holly, her surrogate in San Diago, and has pictures of her in their nursery. They are still in contact with her. Surrogacy is an everyday... 

Our second guest is Mike Ellis - one half of Two Dads UK, with his partner Wes and founder of My Surrogacy Journey, a membership for Intended Parents to get legal advice, clinical advice, medical support, counseling all the way through to birth and support with doula support, midwife, nutritional plans and that is what they’ve created. Its UK, US, and Canadian surrogacy support. Mike and Wes are also running the Modern Family Show on18th Sept.

What fertility tests are needed?

We discuss fertility tests and how there is an arrogance within the gay community that they are fertile and we sadly know that Infertility doesn’t discriminate. Mike talks about men going to the clinic for tests and being totally infertile due to abuse of anabolic steroids or a party lifestyle. Intended fathers maybe felt immune to infertility and for this reason, they work with Exseed to make sure the men have access to their membership. 

The Legalities

Mike and Wes feel you should be informed by a legal expert before embarking on a Surrogacy journey, all members get 2-3 legal consultations included so they understand the current situation in the UK. They have 7 law firms in their directory, which they have handpicked the best experience to support people. 

What they wish they’d learned

They didn’t fertilize all their eggs in one go as the clinic said their donor would resonate her eggs for a sibling, but she sadly didn’t. They wished they’d created the embryos from both their genetic material from the start. So this meant that they lost the genetic connection in their family - it was out of their control and they can understand people grieving a genetic loss. 

They have learned that surrogacy is something you really take your time with as they only had implications for counseling but Mike talked about how his mental health spiraled very quickly when Duke was born and there not being a genetic link. He felt all sorts of confusion but found he was overcompensating to the detriment of his mental health. 

He wasn’t talking with Wes and they had serious chats about whether they would stay together and he wishes someone had talked with them about being a solid unit and how much of an impact it would have and Mike talked about in hindsight how important self-care is. 

Hear more of Mike and Wes’s story about their own story and their Modern Family Show 18th Sept 

https://www.thefertilitypodcast.com/twodaddies/

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In this episode, we’re talking about donor sperm and treatment abroad. We have discussed donor conception on the podcast before and refer throughout the episode to previous chats we’re had as we’ve spoken to egg donors, as well as organizations that help match you with donors both in the UK and abroad and we’ve heard your stories about having treatment abroad with a donor egg or sperm, for a multitude of reasons. 

The idea of using a donor to make your baby can take a lot of time to get your head around and it's so important to get support and there are brilliant organizations to guide you. We’ve chatted with the Donor Conception Network who have been around for a long time, working on the narrative about how we talk about this with our loved ones. 

More recently, the brilliant Becky Kearns who is @defiingmum on Instagram has launched her Paths to Parents hub which is to support people looking at donor conception and Becky is working tirelessly to provide webinars and an amazing support network to help answer the many questions that come with donor conception. 

Our first guest is JR Silver who has created a wonderful children's book called Sharing Seeds.

JR was diagnosed with the BRCA1 and sadly lost his sister to breast cancer 9 months later. The family had realized there was a line of females that had passed away young

Sister died 9 months later. It was when he went to find out about PGD testing to see whether they could take sperm and have it analyzed to see if they would only put forward healthy sperm

What is Non‐obstructive azoospermia (NOA)

Ended up having fertility tests - he found out that he had zero sperm which is defined as Non‐obstructive azoospermia (NOA) Definition - no sperm in the ejaculate due to failure of spermatogenesis and is the most severe form of male infertility. The etiology of NOA is either intrinsic testicular impairment or inadequate gonadotropin production.

JR went on to have more tests to confirm the condition and then went on to see a Urologist and had two operations to try and retrieve sperm over the coming year. He and his wife had a strong support network and also gained more support and also funding from the Jewish infertility charity Chana  

Chana is close to my heart as they also supported me in the early stages of our decision to donate our frozen embryo You can learn more about them

What’s it like choosing a sperm donor for a guy and what advice do you have for other men? 

JR explained how he was on a light dose of anti-depressants felt that might have taken the edge off the choosing a sperm donor. Once the pair had got their head around it, they found it quite good fun. 

JR talked about how his wife didn’t want to see pictures, but it was one of his requirements. The pair are fair in the background and they wanted someone close to his aesthetic and he said that enabled them to pick the donors based on the pictures available. The donor was from Canada and the US from Xytex

JR says to be wary of all the advice offered and encourages Men to work with their partner and look at if they can deal with the setbacks of how it feels, see it as a joint project.

How do you talk about using a sperm donor - with your friends and family? 

This is such an important conversation and once we’ve also discussed on the podcast with Jana Rupnow... 

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In this episode, Natalie and Kate are working with Access Fertility to explain what is involved when it comes to self-funding your fertility treatment. Speaking with Professor Scott Nelson who is Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of Glasgow, consultant for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as the visiting Professor at the University of Bristol, Scott is the Scientific Director of The Fertility Partnership and Medical Director of Access Fertility

How do Multi-Cycle and Refund packages work for IVF? 

There are several different ways to pay for private fertility, designed to make it more affordable and accessible for those who need it. The two most popular ways to self-fund are multi-cycle and refund programmes, which help families avoid escalating costs if more than one cycle is needed or get some money back if the treatment is unsuccessful.

A multi-cycle programme is where a patient pays a fixed price for multiple cycles, and the cost is the same whichever cycle is successful, or if none of them is. Once the patient has had the cycles, there are no refunds. And if the first cycle is successful, the patient can’t access any further treatment under the programme.

Up until now, these programmes have been provided independent from the medical clinics that carry out treatment, so there is a natural separation of medical and financial decisions. This means women and baby’s health is the only priority.

A refund programme allows patients to recoup up to 100% of their money if their treatment is unsuccessful. Refunds aren’t offered if the patient is successful before the end of a full programme.

How has the Pandemic impacted fertility treatment?

It has been a huge impact in the UK and after the initial chaos, what is now left is the residual waiting for appointments and treatment. Many people have found their treatment has been delayed, or are worried that their fertility has declined, while others may have been "aged out" of being eligible for NHS or other treatments. This means that some may feel they need to rush their treatment or must access more aggressive treatment. Have a listen to our previous episode about the Postcode Lottery

There has been a lot of concern about people making quick and ill-informed decisions and both Kate and Natalie were ambassadors for the Safe Campaign,

highlighting the importance of ensuring patients were making informed decisions when it comes to treatment options, despite being tempted to push their physical or mental health to the limit to get pregnant. 

What we discussed:

• The options for accessing fertility treatment 
• The ways of paying for private fertility treatment including multi-cycle and refund programmes and the safest ways of accessing these programmes
• The importance of not rushing your decisions and making informed choices 
• How much of an impact has the closure of clinics at the start of the pandemic had on patients' decisions to self-fund rather than wait for NHS funding?
• How does it work when you are self-funding for fertility treatment? 
• Why would you opt for a multi-cycle and refund package? 
• How much money patients using Access Fertility programmes can expect to save
• Whether people are aware of the risks of aggressive treatment?

Scott mentioned the OPIS IVF model

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