When considering which clinic to choose for your fertility treatment, you want to know that you will receive exceptional care and access to a team of professionals devoted to your treatment. You will also want to know that the low-cost IVF treatment package you choose includes everything you need for the best chance of success. So, which of the low-cost packages is the best value, and what do you get for your money in addition to a single cycle of IVF?
You may find that a low-cost IVF package may have a very attractive price for a single cycle of IVF, but does it include any additional features that may benefit your chances of success, such as medication, add-ons, FETs, freezing and storage costs? If not, and a you want these as part of your treatment, the final cost could be significantly more than anticipated.
That’s why we’ve worked tirelessly to develop comprehensive treatment packages with everything you need for the highest chance of a successful treatment cycle – including medication, a range of state-of-the-art add-ons, and a frozen embryo transfer – all in one package price. This blog will explain the extras that are a part of our Essential IVF® or ICSI treatment package price.
What is an add-on?
An add-on is an extra feature or service you can have while undergoing fertility treatment to increase your chances of conception and successful treatment. As the name would suggest they are often ‘additional’ to the cost of a single treatment cycle and something that patients can decide if they want.
Our governing body, HFEA or the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority states that for most patients, having routine cycles of proven fertility treatment is effective without using any treatment add-ons.
However, at Essential Fertility, we understand that some of our patients have been waiting a long time for treatment and may want to ensure they give themselves the best possible chances from a given cycle. That’s why we have included many add-ons, as standard, in our fertility treatment packages. The add-ons included in our Essential IVF and ICSI packages primarily help develop and select the best embryos for transfer and include time-lapse imaging and incubation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and EmbryoGlue.
What is a time-lapse imaging?
Time-lapse imaging help embryologists select the embryos most likely to develop into a baby. Our state-of-the-art incubator mimics the physiological conditions of the female body as closely as possible to provide an optimal environment for an embryo to develop. It has the added benefit of being fitted with high-resolution cameras that take images at regular intervals as the embryo grows. After this, a time-lapse video is created – all without removing embryos from the incubator. This footage allows our team in the lab to observe when and how cell division occurs and assess the progression of embryo development at each stage. This footage is then analysed by your embryologist and an AI software called iDAScore. Our embryologists use these specialist incubators as standard for all Essential IVF & Essential ICSI patients, ensuring your best possible embryo can be selected for your treatment.
What is iDAScore?
iDAScore is Artificial Intelligence (AI) software which is used to analyse the time-lapse footage of embryo development. Our embryologists use it as another tool to help them decide which embryo should be used for your treatment, further enhancing your potential success.
“iDAScore is an AI software that automatically assigns a rank to the embryos based on analysis of the time-lapse footage from the EmbryoScope videos."- Senior Embryologist, Keith McEvoy
The iDAScore ranking not only helps embryologists select an embryo for treatment but also determines the embryos that may be suitable for freezing for subsequent IVF treatment cycles.
What is EmbryoGlue®?
Don’t worry; EmbryoGlue® is not glue but is a compound developed to mimic the fluid in the uterus during implantation. Its acts like glue and increases the likelihood of the embryo implanting EmbryoGlue is completely safe and can improve your chances of conception and successful pregnancy; we include it as standard in our Essential IVF & Essential ICSI treatment packages.
Frozen Embryo Transfer
To help patients further, Essential IVF and ICSI packages also include one Frozen Embryo Transfer. Freezing, and storage for one year are also included within the package price. Effectively, this gives you another opportunity to achieve pregnancy without undergoing another cycle of IVF. If and when you want to use your frozen embryo, it will be thawed and transferred into the womb, avoiding stimulating your ovaries and egg collection.
Medication
As an Essential Fertility patient, you will receive all the medication you need during your cycle within your package price.
Accessing Essential IVF and Essential ICSI
At Essential Fertility, we understand the potentially difficult journey patients may have been on to get to this point. Many patients have been subject to long wait times on NHS and want to start treatment as soon as possible. Unlike current wait times for NHS IVF, which exceed one year in some instances, you can begin treatment within a month.
Our packages are designed to be accessible and affordable and give you a good chance of IVF success, should you be eligible for treatment. Essential IVF is £2900, and Essential ICSI is £3900. In addition to a single cycle of IVF, patients will receive everything mentioned in this blog. So, if you are looking at different low-cost IVF packages and want to know which one to choose, Essential Fertility could be perfect.
You can check your eligibility online, call our New Patient Team for a chat on 0345 646 1778 or request a call back via our online form.
