'˜Miracle' baby doctor opens IVF clinic in Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes Fertility will offer free treatment on the NHS or a package of around £6,000 for people paying privately.

With one in seven city couples experiencing problems conceiving, the clinic is expecting a huge response.

Based at the Whaddon Medical Centre in Bletchley, it will be run by Professor Tim Child, who also heads Oxford Fertility.

It has already been welcomed with open arms by Milton Keynes firefighter Lee and his schoolteacher wife Becca, who have two children through Oxford Fertility.

They, like all qualifying couples in MK, were allowed one shot at IVF when doctors agreed they could not conceive naturally.

Like 40 per cent of Professor Child’s mum, Becca fell pregnant at the first attempt and William was born in June 2015.

The couple opted to freeze an embryo harvested from the NHS-funded IVF. They paid to have that transferred - and it resulted in the birth of little Rosie eight weeks ago.

“We didn’t think we would be lucky enough for it to work a second time, but it did,” said Becca, 34.

Though the actual egg transfers will be carried out at the Oxford specialist centre, new MK clinic will deal with all the preparation work and medication.

“It will save people in MK hours of travelling backwards and forwards,” said the professor. “I can’t wait to open here. I still get a buzz out of every single baby that results from our treatment!”

On Saturday April, 21 the clinic will be offering free ten minute fertility consultations, plus an ultrasound examination. To book an appointment at the open day visit: https://www.oxfordfertility.co.uk/blog/new-milton-keynes-satellite-clinic/

Questions and answers:

How much does IVF cost?

If you meet the IVF criteria about age, etc, Milton Keynes CCG allows one round free of charge, funded by the NHS. For people paying privately, the cost is upwards of £6,000, says Professor child (pictured)

Lee and Becca had a frozen embryo transfer after their IVF. What is that and how much does it cost?

If you are lucky enough to have other good quality embryos , these can be frozen and implanted at a later date - still free of charge. For private patients, a single round of Frozen Egg Transfer (FET) costs around £2,000.

Can woman share their eggs and bring the price down?

Egg sharing, where some eggs are donated anonymously to another woman, brings the cost of IVF down to virtually zero.

What other fertility treatments will the clinic offer?

Professor Child can offer In Vitro Maturation (IVM), which is a safer, cheaper alternative to IVF, and also ICSI, which can help with the one in five men who have a low sperm count.