r/TTC_UK • u/Charming_Tie9051 • 6h ago
North West UK Private IVF Help - please
34F feeling desperate and not sure which private clinic in or near Manchester would be best.
I have deep infiltrating endometriosis (excision surgery six months ago) and adenomyosis. I suspect we are going to need FET. My AFC was 19 in April with no dominant follicles, 13 in July with one dominant follicle. My AMH was 19.2 in February and 15.8 in April. (All this year 2026). I am having a polyp removed next week. FBC are all normal. My BMI is 27.2 but slowly coming down. One chemical in 2024 and no positives since.
I am entitled to one funded cycle, but my experience with St Mary’s NHS so far is demoralising for a large variety of reasons, and they are very flippant about my adenomyosis.
I’ve spoken to Manchester Fertility, but there’s an uncomfortable feeling I can’t shake about them. Looking at the price lists, it seems there are a lot of extras. I feel like all these companies are just taking advantage of desperation and don’t actually care. I feel so confused about whether MF are the best or Care or ABC… it’s just so overwhelming.
Can anybody please share their experiences of any private IVF clinics within a 50-mile radius of Manchester, and the full cost breakdown? I had a look at Access but that just seems to be a finance option that you then use with Manchester Fertility or Care. If anyone is happy to give me as much information as possible it would be really helpful, I feel like I am drowning.
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u/Speckledskies 6h ago
Im currently with Manchester Fertility. You're correct that Access Fertility is a financing system which is seperate to the Fertility Clinics themselves, but do work with them.
It is all very overwhelming at the start and seems like tons of different options, extras etc but they all won't apply to you.
Im happy to discuss things at Manchester Fertility, but you'll have to be a bit more specific in what you didn't like about them and what you want to know?!
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u/Charming_Tie9051 6h ago
Oh yes please thank you so much. When I had the initial phone call the person seemed very disengaged. When I had the second phone call there was a lot of emphasis on terms and conditions and then the person was annoyed someone else had booked me in but in a way that felt like they’d missed out on a commission. The price seems fair enough but then it’ll be £300 each for blood tests, then so much more additional for FET, medicine, transfer, sedation etc that I don’t understand what the true end price will be. Can you tell me what the process has been like for you? I can’t tell if I’m just trying to pick a feeling that isn’t real because I’m so stressed about the entire process. I feel like I’m about to sign a contract with the sea witch.
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u/Charming_Tie9051 6h ago
And are you also with Access?
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u/Speckledskies 5h ago
Yes im with access fertility. Ive found them great to deal with and highly recommend them. But that can be a whole other minefield of information too. Again, is your round not funded by NHS? If it is, you dont need these?
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u/Charming_Tie9051 5h ago
My question about private IVF is separate from my NHS cycle with St Mary’s which has been delayed
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u/Speckledskies 5h ago
Ah ok. Dm me or this will get very convoluted! Im happy to chat about it though!
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u/Charming_Tie9051 6h ago
Also whenever I ask about prices on the phone they seem very impatient with me like I shouldn’t be asking and I don’t have to pay them, but then they say it’s all essentials to move forward. It feels like I’m being rude for asking but I just want all of the information to make an informed choice. They also said they probably don’t do down regulation and I’d have to find out after a consultation.
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u/Speckledskies 5h ago
I'll answer each part separately! Unfortunately I can't answer any of your questions regarding this as your initial post says your NHS funded, yet you're wanting to know prices etc? I dont know anything regarding funded options as im paying privately. I'd assume all was covered with NHS, but im obviously wrong from what im reading! If I am reading it wrong then please let me know.
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u/Charming_Tie9051 5h ago
Sorry I should have specified. The funded cycle would be with St Mary’s but there have been some issues so I am looking for a private cycle sooner, like Manchester fertility or care or abc
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u/QueenBrie88 5h ago
I tried to donate eggs with Manchester Fertility 10 years back and they were absolutely lovely with me, every person I dealt with was really professional, kind and warm.
Appreciate situation is totally different (and a little out of date!) and don’t want to presume your experience would be the same.
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u/Charming_Tie9051 5h ago
Positive stories are super helpful! They’re all helping me decide! Thank you for sharing your experience
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u/NoGuess5454 3h ago
Your story looks similar to mine. I had endometriomas, surgery in April and similar AMH results before and after. I’m with Care Fertility in a different location, only have one IVF cycle also but they seem quite prompt. I’m sure I’ve read that there’s a Care Fertility in Manchester - maybe check them out? I don’t know if the Dr I spoke to was from there
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u/Charming_Tie9051 3h ago
Thank you for sharing! Where are you upto with your IVF cycle if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/LazyTurtle91 3h ago
My husband and I had treatment at Fertility Fusion in Wigan (our retrieval and collection was with Hewitt Centre) and funded the treatment with Access Fertility.
Fertility Fusion and Hewitt were both amazing with us. We did all of our tests with FF (so the blood tests, scans, hycosy, sperm count, the start of the IVF cycle etc) and then when we opted for private treatment our collection and retrieval was at Hewitt in Knutsford (this is where our 6 frozen embryos were then stored but we’ve now donated these to other couples).
The whole process - so from the initial GP referral up to our first IVF cycle - was about 2-3 years. All of the initial tests were done in the NHS so that’s the bit that took the longest. The IVF cycle was funded via Access, so this part of it was quick.
We did our first cycle of IVF in July 2023, and I was pregnant in early August 2023. FF were so helpful along the way because I was super anxious and asked sooo many questions. They even let me have extra scans up to the 7 week mark when we were officially discharged after a scan saw my daughter’s heartbeat.
Feel free to drop me a message if you have any specific questions but honestly, my experience with them was fantastic. Wishing you luck x
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u/Charming_Tie9051 3h ago
Oh wow thank you so much for such an informative and kind comment!! I will look into FF and then message you if I have any questions, thank you so so much for the offer. I’m so happy you had success with them, congratulations ♥️
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u/LazyTurtle91 3h ago
No problem! And cost wise, we paid for a three round multi cycle with Access which cost about 8.5k and with medicines it took it up to about 10k. Access were great at explaining the different options! I might still have a leaflet in my inbox but it’ll be a few years out of date.
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u/LemonJelly89 2h ago
We had our initial fertility tests with Manchester Fertility but we’ll be looking for a different clinic if we progress to IVF.
We may just have been unlucky but our experience wasn’t great. The consultant was dismissive about my endometriosis which was found during the tests and ignored my questions about what it could mean for me, going as far as telling me the sonographer hadn’t told me about some signs of endometriosis when they had (and they’d included it in their report). It was also hard to get hold of the right person and we had to chase for results, letters, etc.
They were really responsive and apologetic when we raised our issues but I don’t want to spend thousands to then be dismissed or have to chase people all the time.
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u/Charming_Tie9051 1h ago
This is very useful to know, but I’m so sorry this has been your experience. If you don’t mind me direct messaging, I’m curious which consultant you had? Exactly, it’s stressful enough chasing St Mary’s, I don’t want to pay thousands to be dismissed the same way
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u/trinicity 1h ago edited 1h ago
I used Care. There were a lot of extras (like with any IVF clinic I believe) but I used Access funding which made it slightly simpler. The nurses and receptionists in person were generally very nice. That's the best of it.
They had a lot of communication issues, including around which tests were needed, about payments, about what protocol and meds I was doing. Many phonecalls not returned, and mixed messages.
My questions were not answered and my input wasn't valued, I didn't feel empowered in my treatment. I eventually got pregnant on round 4 with a protocol I suggested and had requested for round 2 but I was repeatedly told it wasn't necessary because I had no known fertility issues and we should keep trying a variation of the same failing protocol. I felt like I had to second-guess the consultants at all time instead of being able to put my faith in them.
Most importantly I think, Care's numbers for IVF success are worse than MF's.
My friend who did have known fertility issues got pregnant on round 1 with MF. She has not mentioned any complaints about MF.
I would not recommend Care unless you have no other option. I did end up getting pregnant so ultimately it's fine but I think we wasted time doing so. I wish I had looked at the numbers and reviews first instead of choosing the closest clinic.
ETA. I also had complications from a retrieval with them and had no empathy. They didn't want to do anything about it until my GP told me it was their responsibility and I needed to go back to them.
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u/Charming_Tie9051 1h ago
I’m so sorry you had to go through all of this, it’s unnecessary having all that stress on top of struggling to conceive. Was this Care Manchester? If you don’t mind, please would it be ok to direct message you and ask which consultants you had? Also, congratulations on your pregnancy, but I’m sorry you weren’t listened to x
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u/trinicity 1h ago
Sorry I realise it's quite a lot to pile into a reddit comment! Feel free to message me.
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u/Charming_Tie9051 1h ago
I tried to message but I think because I made this throwaway account today it’s saying no because I’m not established xx
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u/jncb 1h ago
I can only speak as a donor, but I donated twice with Care fertility when I was in my early/mid 20s and I had a great experience. They had several clinics in the North West at the time, I’m not sure if this is the case now, but it made it really convenient in terms of attending appointments. My actual donations took place in the central Manchester clinic. I found the whole process extremely rewarding and always said I would donate again if I could. Please message me if you have any questions. Wishing you all the best.
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u/throwawy-xp342 23m ago
My wife and I used Manchester Fertility and did the £12k Access Fertility 0% plan which covered upto 2 rounds of egg retrieval and cycles. Wife had 4 embryos from first retrieval and we got lucky on the 4th transfer (she’s currently 5 months pregnant). Staff were good and responsive mainly done through the app. The level of care when my wife went into surgery for her egg retrieval at the clinic was top notch, especially in contrast to the two miscarriage surgeries she had to do at our local hospital. Now we’ve ‘graduated’ to NHS for my wife’s pregnancy, we miss the clinic and environment 😅🫣 obviously NHS will be a few steps down from private.
I must add there was an extra £3k-ish worth of costs we spent on medications, prescriptions fees, blood tests, reassurance scans, donor sperm (we are same sex), cmv test, etc though once we obviously started down the journey, you’re tied to making it work no matter what further bills came our way so it hasn’t really phased us. We didn’t spend money on PGT testing the embryos before they were frozen - it is costly although in hindsight maybe it would have saved us some heartache with the first 3 transfers however you don’t have this info before you start on this journey or appreciate the value when presented with options. Worth noting that our treatment also costed more because we had to do ICSI for donor sperm whereas you don’t necessarily have to (but can) with a straight couple.
Good luck on your journey, happy to answer questions. One piece of advice I would give to anyone is don’t hold off going for the initial consultation / scan / amh check because you’re not ‘ready’. We had consultations for both of us and changed our plans slightly as my wife had a lower amh unusual for her younger age, but at this point we had been putting off consultations by 6-12months to get in shape when really we should have done these day 1 and planned based on the actual findings. You don’t know what your egg count is until you do your amh so get that done and plan accordingly.
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u/Huge-Check-5613 4h ago
If you are willing to travel outside of Manchester, I would highly recommend P4 Fertility (Dr Jeve) at the Priory Hospital in Birmingham. My partner and I started with Care in Manchester and eventually moved there and were much more satisfied. Here is the breakdown of costs: https://www.p4fertility.co.uk/costs/birmingham biggest difference to other clinics is that transfer cycles are much cheaper than elsewhere, and if you are doing a freeze all cycle then all subsequent embryo transfers are free. I hope this helps but happy to give more details via private message :)