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Pregnancy
: Are there any really good IVF expert doctors that anyone knows of out there?
(12 messages)
They hospital at the top of the list has been in the news, I know doubt was cast over something to do with one of their Drs, but I think he was found to be ok in the end, this is him I think: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7087019.stm
Hopefully someone with personal experience will be able to help soon.
You need to be careful with the league tables, though, because some clinics will take on patients whose odds are very slim, and of course this affects their statistics. Its a good idea to have initial consultations at more than one clinic (though you will have to pay for these) and then make your choice.
Scoutfinch, finding an IVF clinic/doctor is, as TheApprentice says, so much more than league tables. They are pretty useless - like school league tables IMO.
When we found out we needed IVF 3 years ago, we first went to the HFEA website and sent off for their book on clinics and researched questions to ask etc. We're lucky in that we live in the SE so have loads of clinics to choose from, including all of the London clinics if we'd so wished. They will want to try and avoid too much travel if they can, but it depends where they live and how much choice they will have locally. There is so much to consider when making your choice.
We decided not to go for London clinics at the time cos of the stress and expense of travelling into London regularly (there are alot of appts involved in IVF). We narrowed our choice down to two clinics - one with a success rate at the time of 45% and the other one with a success rate of 26%. You'd think it would be a no-brainer, but actually we went to visit both and it really made us think. The more successful clinic was packed, so much so we had to sit in the corridor, the doctor I saw was arrogant and rude, and I felt totally unlistened to and dismissed. I also found out that all the treatment would be done by the nurses and I would never see the doctors except for egg collection.
The other clinic, by contrast, was much quieter and the staff were far more friendly. Plus the doctor was female and absolutely adorable. She explained that their success rates were low because they had a v high proportion of women in their 40s, whereas I was only 33 at the time so had a much better chance of success. I would never have considered going anywhere else and have never regretted my decision.
Splodgesmum they had their one and only nhs chance already no success and have just paid out £5,000 only to be told that they have a 5% chance with that and were asked to stump up another £1,000 to boost their chance to 15%!
It just seems so heartbreaking, and their current doctor sounds quite cold and matter of fact from what they have said.
A lot of the NHS hospitals in the SE do private appointments at the same price as they charge the NHS IYSWIM so it can be cheaper. They will have to reckon on a lot of scans etc so that will make a bit of a difference to where they can go.
Also, NHS hospitals can end up dealing with more complicated cases than the private ones because they are required to treat more people so as splodgesmum says, the league tables themselves have to be taken with a pinch of salt.
scoutfinch, your poor friends . It is heartbreaking and when the doctors just treat you as another case with no kindness or sympathy it makes it so much worse.
I would recommend they go and get another opinion if they can, but they also need to reconsider their options if their odds are so poor. It's such a personal decision as to whether you go through the stress and expense of an IVF cycle with such a low chance of success. Would they consider donor treatment for example?
Their present clinic sound quite unethical I have to say - there are alot of charlatans out there who will take peoples' money even with v little chance of success .
I'd recommend the following clinics, based on my experience and the experience of friends who have undergone IVF: -
The Lister Hospital Assisted Conception Unit - I had my IVF/ICSI cycle here and they were fantastic (I got pregnant with twins on my first cycle who are now 18 months old). They don't just take 'easy' patients but will consider more complicated cases and offer a full range of treatments (assisted hatching, ICSI, etc.). If your friends have extra complications then I would recommend seeing the head guy there (Prof Hossam Abdallah). He's fantastic and it might take slightly longer to get an appointment with him, but he knows his stuff.
St Mary's Hospital - they take private as well as NHS patients and are excellent. Two girlfriends have just both got a blue line/successful cycle from there - both had spent the last five years with failed cycles at other clinics. One had ICSI and one had donor with other medical complications, so not straightforward stuff.
ARGC - Dr. Taranassi is based here and is a bit of a miracle worker in my humble opinion. There was a dreadful, witchhunt Panorama documentary a few years ago accusing him of exploiting patients, etc. all of which has since been proved to be false. He offers cutting edge stuff and has excellent success rates - not least with patients who have had previous multiple failed cycles.
Hope this helps. The HFEA (www.hfea.gov.uk) is a good place to start and it might be worth your friends doing that and then making a shortlist of, say, three clinics and then paying them all a visit. Clinics are happy to do this and lots of them have open days - I think it's really important to see if the 'vibe' feels right. I think you know when you've found the right one for you.
Best of luck to your friends and tell them to look into the possibility of having their drugs supplied on the NHS. Some health authorities will do this (it's a bit of a postcode lottery) so it's worth looking as that can save £1k to £1.5k depending on the drug protocol they're on.
whereabouts are your friends based? It's definitely about more than league tables, it's about the bedside manner of the consultant. We swapped clinics because I lost faith in our original one.
If in Manchester area I'd definitely recommend Care
Kitswins is right with regard to her recommendations. Robert Winston's view is that there are just too many NHS hospitals jumping on the IVF bandwagon and he was keen to develop centres of excellence where they had cutting edge skills as opposed to doing a bit of IVF on the side. I quite agree with him. I went to the Lister. Very crowded and often no place to sit - BUT it is one of the best centres around and they take tricky cases. It is crowded because it is good.
Also my SIL went to the Nuffield Woking and whilst she ended up having to go to the US for donor eggs she found the care very good but they dont take difficult cases and wouldnt support her drug programme given to her by the hospital in the States. The Lister was the only place that helped her do this.
Panorama programme was dreadful. A complete witch hunt against this man.In fact the reporter was very rude to him when he asked her whether she would still take the high ground if she found she wanted a baby at 40 and found she couldnt. She is currently single and in fact I bet she slipped his card into her handbag.....
By concidence I didnt need IVF. I started the drugs and found I was pregnant already! I had a very early pregancy scan and Dr Wren at the Lister (one of the lady consultants) couldnt have been more delighted.
My friends are in Swindon, They are going to a private hospital in Bath don't know which one though. Having said that for a good doctor I am sure they would consider travelling.
personally I wouldn't recommend travelling a great distance if you don't need to. It's quite a time consuming process anyway (not to mention stressful) I imagine that adding long distance travel onto that would not be good.
. It is heartbreaking and when the doctors just treat you as another case with no kindness or sympathy it makes it so much worse.
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