My daughter and her husband had a bad experience with an NHS fertility clinic in London close to where they lived and worked. Not the medical side of it, but the poor quality of support staff, who mixed up appointment times, failed to send off blood samples etc. all adding to their stress. The whole extended family then chipped in so that they could afford to go to the clinic in Harley Street which had at that time the highest success rate ( 60%).The staff were 100% efficient, discovered the cause of the problem, which the NHS had not, and could not have been kinder and more supportive. As a result, we now have a lovely,healthy 6 year old GC.
The new family moved to Southampton soon afterwards for work reasons. They/we could not afford to go private again in order to try for a second child, and the NHS IVF treatment they had there was unsuccessful (fewer viable eggs three years on did not help, though this not the only problem). They have decided to make the most of what they have and come to terms with this, rather than desperately keep trying for a larger family with ever decreasing chances of success. I have no other grandchildren or expectation of same, and we are all so very grateful for this child's existence.
I do think your comments are a little harsh, Fflaurie. We are, I know, very lucky in Britain to have had this option at all. But, presumably you would not be on Gransnet if you or someone close to you did not have a grandchild ??