[Debbie P.]

Anyone have any experiences of it? What's available, costs etc?

[jubjub]

You can get the same treatments here as in the UK, so thats not a problem.

There is also a public funded system for those that meet the criteria, and a private system, I have heard that the public system is actually nicer cos its not so busy, whereas the private system takes anyone that will pay, and does not meet the criteria. Make of that what you will, its just something a coffee group buddy told me.

http://www.adhb.govt.nz/nwhealthinfo/GynaecologyServices/fertility_plus.htm
http://www.fertilitynz.org.nz/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=64&op=page&SubMenu=

Hopefully those links are some help...

[jubjub]

Oh, and I have heard a figure of $10k quoted, but I am not sure if that was for the use of a "frostie" or a complete cycle..

[Park City Partner]

I have a friend who went through it here and now has a beautiful baby boy. There is an age cut off which I believe is 40...that is you have to be under 40 to be accepted. The IVF process here is slightly different than in the States in that they don't do the big IM progesterone shots here for 10 weeks instead they use vaginal suppositories for 3 months. Egg donation has only been legal here since 2005 I think and egg donors are hard to come by I believe. I have also heard that there is a shortage of sperm donors as well so hopefully you won't need either.

Good luck.

[kiwiroberts]

I have gotten into contact with a couple of ladies at clinics in NZ and it seems like you can get 2 free IVF cycles if you fulfil certain criteria (such as age, non-smoker etc etc) and you can get it even as a permanent resident, without having citizenship yet. In SA it would cost us R26 000 for an IVf cycle!! There is obviously a slight wait but I think it would be roughly 6 months as far as I remember.

If you would like the details, send me a PM with your email address and I will email it to you.

Lids

[Debbie P.]

Thanks guys :nice1 Just thinking ahead in case current treatment doesn't work out.

Lids, I've PMed you.

[Park City Partner]

I have to correct one thing....it is EMBRYO donation that has been legal since 2005 not OVUM donation...sorry.

[wanderingoregonian]

I've heard that sometimes its faster to have your doctor do a referral to the fertility docs and have you pay privately for the initial assessment (rather than wait for a public one). Then if you qualify you can just wait on the public waitlist - which may or may not be much of a wait.

Egg donation is completely altruistic (sp) here (not like states where women are compensated for time/effort). There are pluses and minuses I hear... fewer donors, but more straightfoward system. I think you can have 1-2 cycles covered in the public system. I hear quotes around 10k per cycle (plus or minus a few grand). I know a couple people going through it at the moment, so feel free to pm if you have questions

[mossum]

we are once again ... talking about perhaps , maybe , considering infertility treatment of some sort again ... we are very aware that we are getting older :uhoh , we are both on a health kick - getting weight under control & DH has not smoked for 8 months . Its primary infertility for me but secondary for Paul - Jordy's 16 now !!!

It's the one thing we have struggled with here - in the UK people knew we had issues & did not pass comment - here older mums seem more common & we are always asked when we are starting a family - tempting as it is to say well we started in 2001 ! we usually play the child free card . At least we're not paying for contraception ... one less bill :p

Vic

[Carey]

Just want to say 'Good Luck' because I am convinced there is a lot of luck on this particular roller coaster, having been through many difficult years ourselves and hard as it sounds, trying somehow to keep positive and believe it will happen. For us acupuncture worked after failed IVF, ectopic pregnancy after IVF and 5 miscarriages, many investigations later we conceived naturally, twice!!!!

If you ever need a 'moan', let it all out......thinking of you....

[migratory birds]

Great to hear the health system funds a couple of IVF cycles. I was recently in contact with an adoptive mum in ChCh who told me that the gov't also pays for most fees related to adoption (from Chile, China and Thailand as well as domestic)

Good luck!