Instituto Bernabeu - experiences?

[Botanica]

Just starting out on exploring this avenue after four failed attempts at IVF. It still feels like a large leap to make as I still had hope that I might be successful with my own eggs but starting to come to terms with this and now looking into alternate options.

My clinic works closely with IB in Spain, and I'd love to hear experiences from anyone who has been through a donor cycle with them. How did you find the whole process? What worked well and not so well? Any advice that you can share?

[lalody]

Sorry I was meant to say that I assume most plans require oestrogen and progesterone

[Carmen100]

Hi everyone, I am new to this process…For those using donor eggs at IB, how long did it take between initial consultation until the first transfer? Many thanks

[Eiremogra]

Hi @Carmen100 i am just going through the process now. Once we had made up our mind to go with IB, a consultation was arranged via zoom within about 2 weeks. We’ve been told that the process can take 6/8 weeks but can vary. We’ve taken time to take a holiday in between so it’ll be a little longer for us. We’re still forwarding test results and filling in admin forms/consents at this stage xx

[ZXCasd1234]

We started 7 months ago and haven't reached to embryo yet. By that time we had all tests done, incl. compatibility genetics which takes probably 3 weeks itself. It took IB roughly 2 months to find a donor. Just in case, my phenotype is pretty standard for Europe. After that we've been told that donor is not available to start immediately, so waited another couple of months. When we finally started, got unexpected health issues from my side, so cancelled mock cycle. Restarted again in a couple of months and then the donor got cancelled in treatment cycle.

[Pickolina]

Hi I guess every case is unique but when it comes to getting all background data I would recommend to do what test you can at IB clinic. Check what they require and that the testdata is datated within required interval. It was a real struggle to find out all data at home and some test not even made at home and the test result takes a long time to find out, especially on the male side. We live in Sweden. Think if you have not any previous IVF from before maybe up to half a year and if you have some background data perhaps 3 months..

[Eiremogra]

We have decide to travel to Spain for any additional testing, to be honest we’ve had so much done already and it’s all still in date ..definitely worth double checking though as IB wanted me to repeat smear and mammogram but when I rechecked they were all still in date. I’ve also been advised my private fertility clinic in the UK that you can sign a disclaimer and not have repeated mammogram done. We’ve also decide to purchase the medications over in Spain whilst there - I’m now stressing about how to take them back on the flight and what documentation we’ll need. Can anyone help/been through this??x

[lalody]

Hi@Eiremogra

We’ve never had issues bringing meds back from Spain. They may not issue needles if required however. They provide a travel document/ prescription certificate in Spanish and English incase they ask for it at the airport. We’ve never been asked to show this either there or in the Uk.

[Eiremogra]

Thanks so much @lalody - that’s such a relief!! Did you put the meds into your carry on baggage? We weren’t going to check a bag in as we will just be there for one night x

[lalody]

@Eiremogra I’ve always carried them in my hand luggage just incase the hold luggage gets lost etc x

[Eiremogra]

Thanks so much - I really appreciate you letting me know! So relieved x

[Itagin]

Hello everyone.
I am a 39 year old Italian woman. I apologize for the incorrect English.
I find this forum really helpful for me.
Next month I will have the skype interview with IB.
I wanted to ask about your experiences with egg donation with a birth guarantee cycle. Is it really the best clinic in Europe? Can you confirm that they have these high success rates, both for homologous and egg donation?
I'm very disheartened because I haven't had good experiences in Italy.
I hope you can help me with your comments. A hug to all and especially to those who will give me useful information.

[Eiremogra]

Hi @Itagin..I really don’t know if it is the best clinic in Europe but looking at the evidence and treatments available, it certainly offers a lot more than other clinics. In particular, the transfer of day 5 blastocyst has been so reassuring for me and DP. We are traveling to Spain this week to complete our investigations and hope to start treatment in august….xx

[Mari0000]

hi there, Italian also, traveled to Madrid in 2021 after a disappointing experience in Italy Cortona, Toscana also with egg donation (IVF in Mestre before that). When we decided to go the donor route I had researched and talked to clinics all over Europe; Czech, Ukraine, Denmark, Spain, IVI based in Rome. We chose IB for a number of reasons; the consultation and assessment we had at the beginning—including feedback from the Dr and the professional follow ups of the admin team (this is very important!!), the reputation of the clinic and success rates, and convenient direct flights to Madrid from Venice (We were on covid lockdown at the time so traveling to most places was restricted, but Spain remained accessible).
We had a successful first transfer—baby girl is now 16 months old —and more embryos frozen. Good luck!

[Itagin]

thanks Eiremogra.
I wish you good luck.
I hope you can keep me updated.
Will you undergo an egg donation or homologous cycle?

[Itagin]

@Mari0000

hi there, Italian also, traveled to Madrid in 2021 after a disappointing experience in Italy Cortona, Toscana also with egg donation (IVF in Mestre before that). When we decided to go the donor route I had researched and talked to clinics all over Europe; Czech, Ukraine, Denmark, Spain, IVI based in Rome. We chose IB for a number of reasons; the consultation and assessment we had at the beginning—including feedback from the Dr and the professional follow ups of the admin team (this is very important!!), the reputation of the clinic and success rates, and convenient direct flights to Madrid from Venice (We were on covid lockdown at the time so traveling to most places was restricted, but Spain remained accessible).
We had a successful first transfer—baby girl is now 16 months old —and more embryos frozen. Good luck!

Thanks Mari0000.
I am really very happy for you. This bodes me well.
I'm still undecided whether to submit to egg donation or homologous.
May I ask who is the dr who followed you?
Have you joined the birth guarantee program?
And if you can give me any other useful advice.
A hug for you.

[Itagin]

Hello everyone.
Do some of you have experiences to tell about IB?
Especially for the birth guarantee program.
Thanks in advance.
But choosing the right clinic is really difficult and tiring.

[Cooclette]

We are hoping to get on the birth guarantee program with IB - we had our first consultation over zoom (I'm in the UK) recently and we will do some tests when we go to Alicante in a few weeks, then they will make a decision about if we qualify for the refund program with donor eggs.

[Mari0000]

@Itagin we didn't do the guaranteed program; the issue was clearly with my aging and few eggs otherwise everything else was perfect. In fact, I had a very good and comfortable pregnancy. So we were pretty confident it would work. I was 42 at the time.
We were followed by Dr García-Ajofrín (she was so lovely!!). And the admin team, again, was very helpful and responsive. They'll guide you through the exams and tests, and medication you'll have to take and will quickly respond whenever you have a doubt. If you would like to take my number and give me a call to talk it through, happy to share, just let me know :)

[Starryeyes1984]

@Itagin I used IB Alicante and selected them because of the guarantee programme. In the end I wasn't accepted on it because I had some fibroids. This was really disheartening as I felt they didn't have confidence that I would get pregnant. However I still went on to have 2 successful pregnancies with my 2 transfers so really they saved me a lot of money by saying no! So my experience is that unless everything looks pretty perfect they don't let you onto the programme. It is a very good clinic, thorough and professional with high standards. Best of luck!

[Itagin]

@Starryeyes1984

@Itagin I used IB Alicante and selected them because of the guarantee programme. In the end I wasn't accepted on it because I had some fibroids. This was really disheartening as I felt they didn't have confidence that I would get pregnant. However I still went on to have 2 successful pregnancies with my 2 transfers so really they saved me a lot of money by saying no! So my experience is that unless everything looks pretty perfect they don't let you onto the programme. It is a very good clinic, thorough and professional with high standards. Best of luck!

Thank you Starryeyes1984 for sharing your experience.
Did you have fertilization with donated eggs or homologous fertilization?
How much did you spend?

[Itagin]

@Mari0000

@Itagin we didn't do the guaranteed program; the issue was clearly with my aging and few eggs otherwise everything else was perfect. In fact, I had a very good and comfortable pregnancy. So we were pretty confident it would work. I was 42 at the time.
We were followed by Dr García-Ajofrín (she was so lovely!!). And the admin team, again, was very helpful and responsive. They'll guide you through the exams and tests, and medication you'll have to take and will quickly respond whenever you have a doubt. If you would like to take my number and give me a call to talk it through, happy to share, just let me know :)

Thanks Mari0000.
It would be very helpful to be able to contact you. Maybe I'll try to contact you privately so we can exchange telephone numbers. It would be important for me to have more information.
I'm undecided, in fact I'm also in contact with the IVI clinic, because I want to decide the best.

[Itagin]

Has anyone joined the birth guarantee program and the IB clinic has returned their money? Can you tell your experiences about it?
Thanks in advance. A hug to all of you.

[Starryeyes1984]

@Itagin we used donated eggs. I can't remember exact figures but we paid the standard DE treatment cost plus drugs and for a 3D scan - it was probably around £7500 at the time. Then second time we had frozen embryos so it was much cheaper to just do the transfer, maybe £2000 including drugs. The 3D scan they insist upon if you want to do the guarantee programme. Then obviously there are all the travel costs which were higher the first time around cause we needed to be there longer. Second time is quick as you can just pick the date for the embryo transfer

[Itagin]

@Starryeyes1984

@Itagin we used donated eggs. I can't remember exact figures but we paid the standard DE treatment cost plus drugs and for a 3D scan - it was probably around £7500 at the time. Then second time we had frozen embryos so it was much cheaper to just do the transfer, maybe £2000 including drugs. The 3D scan they insist upon if you want to do the guarantee programme. Then obviously there are all the travel costs which were higher the first time around cause we needed to be there longer. Second time is quick as you can just pick the date for the embryo transfer

Thank you Starryeyes1984.
Yours is a beautiful story. I'm happy for you.
I hope it can be like this for me too.
I also hope that someone else can share their experience.

[Eiremogra]

Hi all, we’ve just been to IB in Palma for additional tests and to buy all our medications - it was so simple and I had very obviously overthought the entire thing. The staff were lovely,we got our tests done for less than half the price we would have paid in the UK and were then given a prescription for all our medications which we could collect from the pharmacy across the road. Simple!! We will be having our DE treatment in Alicante but chose to have testing done in Palma as the flights were better (ie timings and our work
schedules). My prescription was made up of a depot injection, oestrogen tabs and progesterone pessaries. xx