Instituto Bernabeu - experiences?

Thank you for your comments and lovely to hear about your successes. :-)

Hi, I’ve contacted IB to enquire about what DE packages are offered. The guarantee programme will be too expensive for us unfortunately. Although their website is very thorough I can’t find info about packages/costs etc. Can anyone let me know what they have paid for DE treatment here,excluding the guarantee programme? It’s reassuring that they only transfer blasts.Thanks xx

Hi, we did a donor egg cycle last year. I think it was €6k plus the medication cost. There is a charge for freezing of the embryos (circa €200 I think) and then it's €1500 for a FET. Unfortunately our cycle was unsuccessful and we're about to start another. It's slightly discounted so €5k (plus medication). You also need to pay for all the necessary tests (in IB or UK) - we found them cheaper and easier to do in IB. Your age will determine what tests you need. I hope that helps.

IB Madrid. In 2021 we paid 7500€, not including tests, scans, and medication leading up to our donor egg, FET (we did those in Italy, our home base). We were not on the guaranteed program.
Worked on the first try, cutest baby is now 14 months old. Good luck !

I've just checked the price list they sent me....ours was €7,500 (not sure where I got the €6k from!)

Hi all, we have our first consultation this week with IB. I’m feeling nervous but excited to get things started. Does anyone have any advice on what questions I should be asking..I’ve made a huge list but don’t want to waste our time asking daft things. The consultation will only be an hour so I want to get straight to the point and not miss anything. I’m worried tbh xx

Hi, what package or treatment are you considering? Done any IVF previously?

Hi @Pickolina, we had our consultation yesterday and although I was super nervous it actually went ok. It was very informal which was unexpected! I asked a zillion questions. We are now waiting to hear back from the egg donation dept,hoping it doesn’t take long. We will be doing a ‘mock’ cycle first. The consultant was keen to see how I react, I have fibroids so she wants to see if they will cause any issue - I’m hoping not as they are tiny! xx

Hi I had fybroyds only small and a transfer last April and I now have a beautiful baby boy

Wow @An0ther ! What lovely news! And reassuring. Do you know what type/size your fibroids were at the time?x

They were small and positioned at the top, I believe it wasn’t a problem and they prescribed me meds etc for that. I was on the garenteed programme I’m also an older mum at 44!

I’m 43 this month so we’re very similar. Did the clinic themselves prescribe you medication for the fibroids? I’ve been reading that Vitamin D3 might be useful at reducing them in size/preventing growth. Wondering if I should go to my NHS doctor for advice?x

Hi @Eiremogra, we have been in touch with IB Alicante and are thinking about booking an initial consultation with them. Did you to to their clinic for the consultation or do it over zoom? And did you have to have any tests?

We have done three cycles of IVF in the UK but it didn't work so we want to try with donor eggs and their guarantee program... but we are wondering whether to hold off for a couple months as my husband has recently started taking supplements to improve sperm motility - if a semen analysis is done with the first consultation and that's used to assess if we quality for the guarantee program, I thought it might be best to wait a bit.

Hi @Cooclette we had our consultation on Skype. We want to just get things started asap so thought it better to have it online initially and if further tests etc were needed we could go over and get them done over there (all additional tests are included in the price if done in Spain). Luckily they said they don’t need any additional tests at this point. I forwarded them all the test results I had done…I had done a repeat AMH+AFC scan recently in the uk (paid privately) so nothing else needed at this point. They don’t even want an up to date SA. Going forward we will be starting a mock cycle..for this I will need additional scans to review uterine lining and I will have to get those done in the uk and pay for them here..doesn’t make sense to keep flying over to Spain to get those done. Financially it would probably cost the same when I include flights etc. xx

Hi @Eiremogra thanks for getting back to me! I hope your treatment goes well xx

Hello there! We did everything via Skype and when we started the mock cycle we communicated everything via email (scans, blood tests etc). They were very clear and communicated really well. We flew to Madrid only when they said we were ready and spent a week there. Good luck! My 16 month old is right in front of me having her lunch.

Wow @Mari0000 ,congratulations! Can I ask about the mock cycle…did you have any issue getting the meds/prescription in the uk and what did they cost? Was the mock cycle one full month? How soon after your initial consultation did you start the lock cycle? I know we just had our consultation on Friday but I literally am the most inpatient person!! Thanks for sharing your lovely news…xx

@Mari0000 that's amazing, congratulations!

Did you do a fresh transfer or frozen? We went to a seminar with the London egg bank and they said they only use frozen donor eggs as it means the recipient doesn't need to synchronise their cycle with the donor and there's less chance of the cycle being cancelled e.g if the donor has to cancel, is ill etc.

If you did the fresh transfer did you experience any side effects from the medication used to synchronise / stall your cycle? It sounds like it's similar to the contraceptive pill but I had a bad experience with that in the past (the hormones had a bad effect on my metal health).. although I've taken a pill to just delay my cycle in the, before, and that didn't have any side effects!

Sorry for all of the questions - after my three cycles of IVF in the UK (where two cycles were cancelled as we didn't have any embryos) I am nervous about going into this again!

@Eiremogra they're pretty good at knowing what's available in your country. For example, at the time I was doing my mock I was in Dubai. My gyno checked the medicine composition and recommended an alternative, IB was ok with it and gave me the go-ahead. I don't remember the medicines ever being too expensive, definitely easier than with IVF meds. As per my calendar's notes the mock lasted 22 days and 20 days later we flew to Madrid. But that was based on my own cycle so your timings might be a little different.

We started the process if investigating and interviewing different clinics for DE in the summer of 2020, August, when there was still a lot of travel uncertainties due to covid. We then tried a frozen egg transfer in Italy (where we live) through the nhs, but that was not successful. We then gave IB the go-ahead in December and we started the mock immediately after with my cycle in Jan and transferred the embryo early March. All this happened when covid was in full swing; Italy was in lockdown and the UK had strict travel restrictions so I think we were lucky that the clinic was not so busy and we moved so fast.

Hope I answered all your questions, let me know if you have more! We had so much fun the week we were in Madrid, it's been such a journey and it's fun to look back at the details...

@Cooclette hi! Our transfer at IB was fresh and we had success on the first attempt. Months before we had done one in Italy through our nhs with frozen eggs and it was not successful. But I think a lot depends on how good and experienced the doctors in the lab are. I don't think Italy is there yet, as egg donor procedures were legalized only recently. That's what made us pivot to Spain where they are eons advanced vs other countries. Our other option was Czech Republic but we decided on Spain bc we liked the interview and the process IB takes you through.

So I can't say which is better, just that fresh worked for us. But then again, it was at a very experienced clinic and we would've trusted the Dr. if she had recommended differently.

I had zero side effects from the medication. But was on the pill years before and never had any issues either. So that went really smooth for me. Compared to IVF this whole experience was so much easier. Also I was relieved of the added pressure of how my own eggs were going to perform :) :)

Good luck , ask away, I'm happy to answer!

@everyone so happy to hear that people have good experience. Me myself is going into w20 tmrw is a baby in there!! hard to believe. Was second egg from donor in Mallorca. Was great clinic environment and food. Like being on holliday every time. Even if hard emotionally with being away from home expenses, all medication etc. But like now totaly worth everything. Hopes so this last to the finnish line. Before the war I was on my way to Russia would imagine that would been another story especially with covid to. These types of online forums has really helped me a lot at times. Totaly anonym and just spilling my guts out when things have gone bad. Sharing positive news and taking part of otherones happiness.

Best of luck to everyone.

Hi all, just sorting out our budget here. Can anyone give me an estimate cost for medications (including mock cycle). The clinic have said it’s very individual but we need to know as it is likely we will need to get a loan for treatment. Can anyone help?xx

@Eiremogra They are correct, it really depends on the individual and what’s in your treatment plan, plus where you’re getting your meds etc. We get all meds from a private pharmacy in the uk or Spain but prices are more or less the same.
meds:
progesterone £16 per box of 15 (400mg)
Estrogen £4 per box of 12 (2mg)
depot injection £130 ( mock cycle only)
shipping of meds can be expensive from £15- £45 especially if you have injections.

I hope this helps :)

Thanks so much @lalody thats really helpful! I had visions of the meds costing a lot as we haven’t been given a figure and had heard stories of hidden costs so was getting worried. When doing the mock cycle is it just the depot that I would have to take or does this include the progesterone and oestrogen too? I was hoping that we would get our meds in Spain as it is cheaper there but not sure if we’ll be over there before the week of transfer. Our consultation was online. Thanks again x

You’re welcome @Eiremogra
The meds required depend on the individuals needs. The PA will provide a detailed treatment plan thats unique to you and explain which meds you’ll need and when. I assume most plans would require oestrogen.