Recommendation for a London Fertility Clinic

[Bella23]

We have decided to go ahead and seek fertility treatment in January privately.
We live in London - can anyone recommend a clinic that they have used / are using.

Madigan - sorry to hear about DH's sperm. Have you tried all the usual stuff like extra vits, no alcohol and smoking etc for your DH? Its so hard all this TTC lark especially when people keeping just saying "it will happen" and you want to scream "well it bloody hasn't!"

Apart from DH's sperm test we haven't had any more tests done as yet. I guess I will be investigated in January when we join a clinic.

I have been going to an acupuncturist for the last 4 months as wanted to make sure my periods recovered after my m/c. I have read that acupuncture really raises the success rate of IVF so maybe think about that and if you want me to recommend my therapist then just let me know.

Madigan - just realised that the Lister clinic has an open evening on the first Monday of each month

Bella

I am very very sorry to hear about your m/c.

Yes, DH is trying vits and healthy living etc, but I don'tthink we are going to hang about now because I will be 34 in January (DH is 35).

I have heard about the Lister open evening, but to be honest I would rather have a private mtg with a consultant, rather than attend an open evening!!! What do you think?

I would love a recommendation for an acupuncturist in London - that would be great.

By the way, why have you decided to go for the IVF route now?

Madigan - I went to an open evening at a clinic with a friend who was interested in the treatment there and I have to say I found it really worthwhile as they explained what each treatment involved and also I really got a feel of the place.
I think we will be trying IUI before we move on to IVF but hey I am just speculating!!
My acupuncturist is called: Daniel Elliot and he works at 3 clinics so if you check out www.londonacupuncture.co.uk you can see which area suits you best. I go the Harley street one because I work near there.

Hi Bella
Thanks for the details of your acupuncturist, I will make an apptmt asap. maybe I will go to the open evening - is it ok to go on my own (i.e without dh - who would hate it?)

Madigan - yes totally fine to go on your own. I agree my DH will also hate that kind of thing!

Hi bella

I've had two cycles of IVF, one at the Lister which resulted in my little boy and an unsuccessful cycle at the ARGC under Mr Taranissi. Obviously the clinics results are crucial but in my experience you should really consider the geography. At the time of my 1st cycle i worked very near the Lister and so the constant round of blood tests and scans was not too unbearable. But once you factor in travel it can really increase the stress. The ARGC do daily blood tests so i was travelling for 2 hours a day - not too easy to fit into your daily routine We've since decided the ARGC are not for us - partly because of travel but also for other reasons (you should be warned they are always manically busy - they are very popular so you can spend a lot of time waiting around there to be seen for scans etc)

Anneofgreengables - love the name by the way, just had a little flashback to my chikldhood!
I must admit I am drawn to the Lister clinic over the ARGC, purely by initial feel. I think I need a slightly softer approach.
Am going to go the open evening for the Lister on the first Monday of December so will let you know what I think.
Sorry to hear your IVF attempt wasn't successful - hope the next time brings you more joy xx

Bella
I think I will go to Lister on that Monday too.

Just thought I'd give another vote for acupuncture and Daniel Elliott in particular. My ICSI cycle in October was BFP and I saw DE regularly including the standard German protocol before and after embryo transfer. Also, anyone harbouring hopes of twins .... Daniel Elliott, along with many other fertility acupuncturists has a very, very low twin rate. Less than 4% cf national average of 25%. Their view, I'm paraphrasing badly, is that twins are an 'abnormality' in that the door should close after the first embryo implants......twins are a sign of the body being unbalanced. Interesting view.

How often did you go for acupuncture?

Portree - glad to hear someone else going to Daniel.
I go every 2 weeks

Good to read about some acupuncture fans! I had about 6 weekly sessions with Daniel and then on the day of transfer I saw him just before and just after embryo transfer. Then, since I had the positive pg test, I have been seeing him every two weeks. This was our best ever cycle in terms of egg quality and embryo quality. We had 80% fertilisation which is extraordinary given our severe male factor - embyologist was really quite stunned. Curiously, I have never been so chilled out and relaxed as I was on the day of the transfer which I do put down to the acupuncture - it was DH who had to be scraped off the ceiling. Here's a reference to the German study and protocol, if you haven't seen it already. IVF and acupuncture

Portree - WOW congrats on the BFP
Which clinic did you go to for your ICSI ?

I went to the ACU at UCH. I'm very blessed to have a nearly 2 year old son from our first cycle. We then had another cycle earlier this year which sadly failed and then October which was our third cycle. Am no spring chicken, am 40 now.

Lister is good, but if you want to go the Self funding route ( slightly cheaper than private and if you are eligible for NHS but dont want to wait, most of the Lister consultants do NHS work at the Chelsea & Westminster. Carole Gilling Smith runs the ACU, but I have seen Sam Abdullah there. It did take me a long time to have DS but my DH had real sperm problems, we did nine attempts at icsi 1st succesful, but had a mc.) We eventually used donor sperm and had DS first attempt at IVF. They are lovely staff and I am currently doing my second IVF attempt at C&W. I agree about Prof Ian Craft and I have heard things about him and Taranassi, which I couldn't repeat here but worrying.

Bella

Just checking up on you. Hope you don't mind. Did you go to the open evening - if I remember right it was the first Monday of the month so that is probably tonight. I am praying that everything will work out well for you and your DH in the New Year.

Hiya Wendy - have seen your posting on the Beanie thread.
The Lister open evening was fully booked even though I phoned 3 weeks in advance!!
Never mind I have now made an appointment with the Harley Street Fertility Centre which was recommended to me by my acupuncturist.
I decided that geography wise it made sense as it is near where I work.
How's it going with you? I see from your thread that you start sniffing on the 21st December. Will be thinking of you and praying that your time is on the horizon.
I hope you realise that once I?ve had my appointment I am going to be hounding you with questions!!

Anyway ? glad to hear you are hanging in there????.surely by the law of probability alone we are due some good fortune in the new year!!!

Hi

I am about to embark on IVF - ICIS in London. There is a 1-2 year waiting list at Guy & St Thomas so I have been advised to go private funds allowing.
I am going to or want to stay on the NHS waiting list though as my funds are not unlimited.
Does this mean I cannot try to use the IVF service at Guys / or Univercity College Hospital ( not NHS funded ) and pay as I am on the NHS waiting list for Guys ? I guess you have to come off the waiting list if you are prepared to pay for treatment especially if its at the same hospital....
Also I am looking at the Lister and this seems to be getting good feedback.
I have had all my exploration tests and have written to my GP to get copies of all the records so don't get charged private rates too for the same tests. The ARGC have some bad press although good results.
Any advice ????

Hi Again
I have just posted a message about IVF clinics in London.
Has anyone had any experience of The London Bridge Fertility Clinic ? This is really handy for mine and my partners office. Not sure this should be the defining factor in the decision but I can't help thinking that the less stress the better.
Thanks

caz20 we had consultations at the Bridge, ARGC & Lister.

Bridge was most convenient for us & we had some investigations there but moved to the ARGC for treatment. Personally I found the Bridge to be a nightmare administratively and we weren't happy with their billing, since we didn't have treatment I can't really comment further but they weren't particularly flexible either.

I went to the Bridge for IUI. No problems there - dd is now 17mo. But I'm not a good test case for you. I don't have problems getting pg - but am single hence need for help. I would say that it's good to go somewhere convenient though. It's all very stressful and minimising stress is good.

The Assisted Conception Unit at Guy's and St Thomas' is wonderful. Prof Braude and his team are really great. We were on the waiting list for IVF but paid for IUI in 2003 while waiting and that worked first time. Funding for IVF was approved for 2004/05 but by then we already had DS1 so didn't need it anymore (and weren't eligable).

Thanks all. So Warmfuzzy are you still allowed to stay on the NHS waiting list at Guys if you also at the same time pay for IVF at Guys ? Does it reder your IVF NHS place invalid do you know ?
Really appreciate the feedback.

Yes. We were on the list and because of the long wait they recommended we try IUI while we waited. I had 'unexplained sub-fertility' so IUI was relatively inexpensive, uninvasive and worked first time. I can't recommend Guy's highly enough!