Private Abortion

For a fast and convenient appointment you can contact an abortion clinic directly and choose to pay for private care. You will be given an initial consultation and offered professional counselling. Some women choose to pay for abortion care as it can be quicker to get an appointment and they may feel more comfortable contacting the clinic directly rather than seeing their GP and waiting for NHS referral.

The main abortion providers offering private care as well as NHS treatment are The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Marie Stopes International. Often your local NHS will pay for you to have an abortion at these clinics and so they offer both private and NHS abortions.

At your initial consultation you will be offered counselling. You will also take a pregnancy test and have an ultrasound scan which will indicate how many weeks pregnant you are and what procedures are available to you.

Benefits & Costs of Private Abortions

Private clinics can often offer you an abortion much quicker than the NHS. You can usually expect to have your initial consultation and the procedure carried out within a week or sometime on the same day. You can choose an appointment to suit you, even at a weekend.

Private clinics charge different prices and these costs can depend on the number of weeks you are pregnant. Prices range from £400 - £2000. The earlier you are in the pregnancy the less expensive the private abortion will be.

Usually there will be an initial consultation for which you will be charged a small fee of around £60-£80. If you decide to continue to have treatment after the consultation the procedure is then booked and you will be required to pay this in full prior to treatment being started.

Some places do, however offer a payment schedule where you can pay in set instalments.

Finding Private Abortion Facilities

If you have decided to go to a private clinic for an abortion but you may not be sure where to find one. Initially you can search on the Internet but this may be too impersonal as you may want a recommendation to make sure it is a good clinic. All private clinics have to be licensed and are monitored to make sure they remain up to standard.

Weekend Private Abortions

When you attend a private clinic you may be able to arrange for the procedure to be carried out over a weekend. At some clinics (not all), you would be expected to pay an additional small fee of around £50 on top of the abortion costs for a weekend service.