​When travelling any distance for treatment you need to consider what your travel looks like and how long it will take as that may play a part in where to go for treatment too. As I was reminded by a patient the other day, don’t just look at flight times but look at your journey from home to the airport and the other end as that may add on a chunk of time.
The last two years with the pandemic have been crazy for so many of us for so many reasons. Some of us have lost loved ones (I am so thankful that I did not but know how lucky I am), some of us have lost livelihoods (it has certainly been a hard slog for us over the last two years, but we are still here!) but for others, it is the loss of time on their fertility journey. In some cases, it has been a loss of funding for treatment due to a change in their age or a loss of ovarian function over those two years that might have made the difference between being able to have our own genetic child or not. Not being able to access treatment in home countries and the fear of travelling or the restrictions in travel has been huge. We are thankful that our Australian patients are now able to start planning treatment and we hope to see them and everyone else soon as more and more countries relax travel requirements. We can see more and more people looking to have treatment this year.
Vaccinations for COVID is a requirement for some countries to enter though in most cases either proof of vaccination or recent negative test is both permitted for entry. This is one question I will ask anyone I speak to so that I can ensure that getting to the country is possible as I appreciate that some people are not vaccinated and again, this is a personal choice.
I feel I have become part travel agent over the last two years, knowing the travel requirements for multiple countries with updates on a daily, weekly, or biweekly basis! It isn’t so hard now, but I can see this aspect of my role continuing for some time to come and be assured we do bear changing circumstances in mind at all points of treatment and aim to be able to alter treatment dates as necessary at short notice.