Couples desperate to have children are travelling abroad for cheaper treatment as private prices soar – with Greece hailed as Europe’s new fertility hotspot.
World-class IVF costs there are a fraction of those in Britain as clinics can charge just £2,000 for one cycle compared with up to £15,000 here. Figures show 63% of couples struggling with infertility have to go private and 95% suffer financial worries. And the NHS is accused of running a “postcode lottery” for IVF by insisting women conform to different criteria from area to area. Those who have gone to Greece for treatment say it is not only far cheaper but better than their experiences of going private in the UK.
They told us care is more individually tailored – and some couples even combine it with a holiday in the sun. Katie Brehaut, 30, was refused IVF on the NHS due to a BMI of 40 so she went to Greece to become a mum. She said: “In Athens they don’t have a BMI limit. It is devastating to think that due to the NHS system your weight or family circumstances can prevent you having children, which is the most natural thing in the world.”
Kate Burgess, 38, was eligible for IVF on the NHS in London but moved to Hampshire – where she was barred due to her age and BMI. She said the £8,000 she has spent so far on two rounds of IVF in Greece is far less than in the UK, adding: “The way they individualised my care and made sure I’ve always seen the same doctor is very important.”
Tia Brown, 34, who went through the menopause at 29 and had twins after IVF in Greece, added: “Greece is one of the leading countries for fertility treatment.” Its clinics charge between £2,000 and £3,000 per cycle of IVF, compared with £3,500 to £15,000 in the UK. Here, there can also be additional costs for consultations, scans, blood tests, medication and embryo transfers on top of initial treatment quotes.
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IVF treatment in Greece is cheaper than in the UK (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)Greek IVF clinics normally quote for a complete package. A survey by the charity Fertility Network UK found private patients were on average spending around £14,000 in total, with 10% forking out £30,000 and some even more.
The charity’s Dr Catherine Hill said: “We have a two-tier health system here for those who can afford it and those who can’t. It is wrong. Infertility is a disease as deserving of medical treatment as any other medical condition. People should not be paying for treatment. And the regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, does not have control over pricing.
“If other clinics overseas can provide fertility treatment just as effective and safe at lower prices, surely UK clinics should be able to.” Of 200 people polled by the charity, 49% said the cost-of-living crisis, combined with a lack of NHS-funded help and the high cost of private care, meant they could not proceed with fertility treatment. One in five were pausing it indefinitely, 2% had stopped permanently and 6% could not afford to keep embryos stored.
And 7% were choosing cheaper treatment abroad, with Greece a favourite destination that offers around 40 clinics. David Soffer, of globmed.co.uk, which helps people access healthcare abroad, has seen inquiries double in the past two years. He said: “Places like Greece and Spain have well-established fertility programmes with some of the world’s leading experts. Why wouldn’t people travel there?”
Meanwhile, Dr Hill has heard of patients here pursuing risky practices to cut costs. She said: “Patients are telling us they are going down the egg-sharing route. People are not having monitoring scans, they are not having needed genetic tests to look for inherited genetic conditions.”
Dr Hill added: “In England we have a postcode lottery. It is a total patchwork. The Government hasn’t done anything to address that.” NHS guidelines say under-40s should be offered three rounds of IVF if they have been trying to get pregnant for two years, have no other way of doing it and have not got pregnant after 12 cycles of artificial insemination.
But Integrated Care Boards can insist on other criteria, like not already having kids, not smoking, age or BMI restrictions. The Department of Health said: “We expect local health services to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. NICE is reviewing the guidelines.”
Having a child is what people are born to do
Katie Brehaut knew she faced infertility after being diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome at puberty. And three years ago, after an ectopic pregnancy, she had a fallopian tube removed.
Katie, 30, could not get IVF on the NHS where she and husband Luke, 31, live because of her BMI of 40. So she contacted Your IVF Abroad, which led to Dr George of the Ark Clinic in Athens. “In their opinion, BMI doesn’t impact the IVF process,” she said.
“Dr George was amazing, he was so compassionate. I knew it was my best shot.” Hospital admin assistant Katie gave birth to baby Teddy in April this year. She said: “We would not have Teddy if it wasn’t for Ark and Dr George.”
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In total, they spent £7,000, including scans, medication, travel, accommodation and treatment – half the cost they faced here. And they have 10 embryos frozen in Greece for £180 per year, about half the UK cost. Katie says: “I understand the NHS is under pressure but I wasn’t trying to get cosmetic surgery. Having a child is what we are born to do. There should be more help.”
Katie and Luke Brehaut with baby Teddy, who was conceived via IVF in Greece
Midwife Kate Burgess and her husband Thomas (INSTAGRAM /)We treated our trip to Athens like a holiday
Kate Burgess and husband Thomas, both 38, were offered IVF on the NHS in London – but moved to Hampshire and were told her age and BMI meant that they were not eligible. After being quoted around £1,000 for initial consultations at three UK clinics, midwife Kate looked at options in Greece.
She said: “Everything was included, whereas in the UK you have to pay for every extra scan, test, medication. If you’re quoted £10,500 for the IVF here, with all the extras, you’re looking at £15,000 for one round of IVF.”
So Kate and Thomas, who runs a digital marketing company, decided to catch a plane to Athens. Katie explained: “We treated it as a holiday as well as having treatment. On one trip we were there for nearly two-and-a-half weeks.
“So far, we’ve had two full rounds of IVF for around £8,000, which is much less than in the UK. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked yet, but I wouldn’t go anywhere else and we are going to go with an egg donor for our next treatment. All my treatment has been with one doctor, too, whereas I have friends in the UK who had IVF without ever meeting their named consultant.”
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An early menopause just two-and-a-half years after getting married left Tia Brown, 34, facing the prospect of never becoming a mum. Unable to get IVF on the NHS, she and her pharmacy technician husband Lee, 37, began an exhausting crusade to have a family – spending £30,000 on fertility treatment, split between two UK clinics.
They tried again at a Greek clinic in Thessaloniki, where they had donor eggs fertilised using Lee’s sperm. The treatment cost £7,000 and they were blessed with twins Mayliah and Kawhi, born in January 2022 at 37 weeks, weighing 6lb 8oz and 5Ib 12oz at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol.
Her ordeal was not over as she suffered deadly condition placenta accreta, where the placenta grows through the wall of the womb. And during a Caesarian she had a haemorrhage, losing five pints of blood.
Lee and Tia with their twinsBut skin therapist Tia cannot praise her treatment in Greece enough. She said: “We were just treated like a number in the UK. It was very upsetting.
“In contrast, the whole team in Greece were compassionate, caring, knowledgeable and took the time to get to know us. They had a very personal approach which we loved. And we were blessed with twins from our first egg transfer.
“Our children are worth everything we had to go through to get them. They really are our double miracles.”
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Emma Haslam started mentoring service Your IVF Abroad to support couples seeking treatment overseas after her own experiences. She went to the Czech Republic with husband Adam six years ago to conceive son Albie due to UK costs.
Emma, 43, started trying for a baby when she was 34 but was told she was too old for NHS treatment in her area. She explains: “I went abroad six or seven years ago, it wasn’t a commonly done thing and it was purely about cost for us.
Emma Haslam, husband Adam and son Albie“Also, we weren’t so impressed with the clinics we had spoken to in the UK in terms of customer service and we found it very difficult to get transparent costings from them. The costing on their websites, or what they initially gave to us, didn’t include all the added extras.
“It is all about knowing the questions to ask – and back then we didn’t. Will you need embryos storing? Will you have to pay for sperm freezing? How many consultations will you need?” Emma, of Skipton, North Yorks, added: “Most clinics want to use ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) – where they select certain sperm to inject into the egg, so it helps the sperm meet the egg. But a lot quote for it separately, so that can be £1,500 on top of your initial IVF quote. You have to make sure that the price you have been quoted includes everything.”
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