Life / I'm going through IVF in Poland - Ask Me Anything [14]

Olga - well this is a good question. The short answer is that it costs a small fortune.

You need to have a dozen or so blood tests and ultrasound tests done at a couple of hundred zloty each. You need to have consultations with the IVF doctor, who charged us 150 zl for 10 mins and was usually late. The woman having the baby needs to have 2 procedures at roughly 4000 zloty each. You also need to take a number of hormone treatments at between 100 and 160 zloty a go - maybe 5 a day during the induction cyle (1 month) and 2 a day after that. For the first trimester (three months).

Rough calculation is something like 30000 zloty per cycle. The NFZ covered some of it but not all, and PiS have just cut the funding...

As far as I can tell there are no age restrictions (over the age of consent I guess) but AFAIK funding is preferentially assigned to people in their 30s who are running out of time.

Johnny reb - any woman who cannot conceive can go through the procedure, but I think NFZ funding is assigned based on medical criteria. You have to have been actively ttrying for a baby for something like 2 years before they will consider you.

Life / I'm going through IVF in Poland - Ask Me Anything [14]

Spot on. The last set of funding was back in December or something. At the moment IVF is legal but you have to pay for it yourself.

Life / I'm going through IVF in Poland - Ask Me Anything [14]

Olga - the way things are at the moment, he could start on an IVF program if he has the money to pay for it. The only problem is that he can't get NFZ funding to subsidise the cost. If the current government decides to criminalise the procedure, then of course it'll be impossible.

I would stongly recommend he looks for an clinic in another country if he can. The attitude in this country towards the procedure is pretty poor and unless you have your own support network of friends and family then you're very much on your own. If he'd like any more information then he can send me a message ...

Life / I'm going through IVF in Poland - Ask Me Anything [14]

Terri - I agree. It is a lot of money for a comparatively low chance of success. The main cost is really that of the drugs, which is set by the drugs companies, and the testing, set by the private labs, but the clinics charge way too much for their service. The problem is that the government has overregulated the sector to keep certain groups happy, resulting in a lack of competition - the clinics can charge more or less what they like, and they have no pressure to offer a patient-friendly service. Oh the nonsense we've had to put up with at our clinic....