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?

Hi, hopefully I’m not too late to join this thread!

Wondering if anyone has done the Pregnancy and Childbrith Guarantee programme? I’m interested (especially in the double ivf + egg donation one for poor ovarian reserve🙄) but can’t find any costs on the website …

also how does it work with going backwards and forwards to Spain? How often do you have to be there and for how long? I’m trying to work out if logistics are too difficult…

grateful for any insight ❤

Hi there, I just wanted to respond and say best of luck! We aren’t doing the guarantee programme but are getting DE treatment in IB in Alicante. We’ve found the clinic to be great so far,lots of communication and reassurance. When I’ve been super worried or anxious about anything they’ve been really quick to step in and advise..no problem can’t be solved! We had a quick trip over to IB in Palma a few weeks ago.We needed some tests done and wanted to pick up the medications needed. It was easier and cheaper for us to fly to Palma and it wasn’t a problem for the Alicante clinic to organise this for us! Our next trip to Spain will be in September for our actual treatment…we’ve given the clinic a 2 week window that suits us best to travel and my mock and real treatment cycle has been timed perfectly to suit our dates. My advice would be to contact the clinic directly - they are so helpful and will answer all your questions. Best of luck xx

@Eiremogra - are you using frozen DE?
I'm asking because with fresh DE there is way more uncertainty in timing. Starting from donor unavailability in the last moment, then poor response to stimulation and even cancellation. Not to mention that the quantity and quality of embryos might also be far from expectation...

I agree that clinic is very friendly and try to do their best. However we are half way through the guarantee program and so far no positive news
@maxandru - you do not need to spend too much time in Spain, but may need to travel last moment, thus keep in mind unpredictable flight cost. Double ivf takes the longest, but I'd estimate up to 5 days in the country for each step (thus 10 days in total). As for DE - max 2 days, unless there is some specific pre-treatment which you can't take in your country.
Cost wise, the program itself was slightly more than 20K EUR then. Plus budget for medication and other tests; we spend around 7K EUR so far and it is not final yet. Travel is certainly not included.

Thanks so much @ZXCasd1234 that’s really helpful.

Have you done the pregnancy and childbirth guarantee programme (double ivf then egg donation)?
regarding the last minute travel, how last minute is it? I’m less worried about the cost of flights (minor in the grand scheme of ivf, haha!) but more worried about work and childcare for my 2 year old, as family aren’t local.

@Eiremogra thanks for your reply. Sorry to be slow but what is DE?
Regarding travel dates, how much were you able to choose these? I was under the impression that it would depend on your body’s menstrual cycle so less predictable ? Mine are v irregular so hard to work out dates in advance .

@maxandru - yes we are in that guarantee program.
Last minute travel is a challenge only in your stimulation cycle. For example, you do echo on Monday morning and in the afternoon they inform you that Wed echo in the morning should already be in Spain.
DE - donor's egg

Ok, understood. So it’s only once really in a cycle that you have to go last minute to Spain without much notice ? How long is that for? Like a week? So we’d just have to have someone on standby for about 10 days go come and look after the toddler I guess. Are you able to do any of the other bits of the cycle/testing in the uk?

Also for the mock cycle do you have to go to Spain ? For how long? And do you get much notice for that?
Sorry for all the questions !

@maxandru - we are in Europe, but not in UK. We could take all tests and buy medication locally. Specific tests, e.g. genetic for donor compatibility, your partner would need to take in Spain, certainly if the first attempt with own eggs unsuccessful.
10 days is reasonable estimation. Just keep in mind that double IVF is stimulation-retrieval-immediately start next stimulation-retrieval. So for stimulation you can be in UK, and travel only a couple of days before each retrieval.
For mock cycle don't need to travel at all. You need to come to Spain only for embryo transfer and that will be also known 2 days prior, as they inform how many eggs fertilized on day 2 and transfer happens on day 5.

Hi I’ve just gone through my 7th miscarriage and have a consultation with IB Alicante in a few weeks. I want to try my own eggs first and just wondering has anyone had success especially after recurrent miscarriages?

We are seriously considering IB Alicante for egg donation cycle and are about to book the first consultation. This thread has been really helpful to me. I read on the website that the patients can choose the doctor they wish to work with. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone, I just spotted this thread and am about to start treatment with IB Alicante. I looked into the clinic because I'm starting to explore the donor egg option but have decided to try with my own eggs first with IB's support. So @Rainbowmum40 sounds similar to you. Have you had a consultation with them?

I'm doing double IVF and have my baseline scan in the UK on Tuesday x

@Serendipity24 we were given a list of doctors and their availability for our first consultation. We didn’t base our choice of doctor on anything more than who was available on the day/time we wanted our first consultation. Overall it has been our personal assistant that we have been in contact with, we rarely communicate with the doctor tbh x

Has anyone had a Hysteroscopy done at IB Alicante - would you please share your experience? I had a HyCoSy done here in the UK when we first started our IVF journey but IB Alicante now want me to have a hysteroscopy done next week and have offered appointments in Alicante next week. xx

Thanks for the response, @Eiremogra . We also got the list and availability. We finally chose Dr Castillo based on the reviews and the fact that he is a specialist for international patients.

We had our consultation with IB Alicante and it went well. Dr Castillo was nice and answered all our questions. We are at the stage now where we have to decide which package we want to go for if we choose IB Alicante. But I want to wait for my consultation with Barcelona IVF only because apparently Barcelona gives a bit more information on the donor e.g. hobbies, personality, the reason for donating eggs etc while IB provides only age and blood type.

So pleased your consultation went well @Serendipity24 . We went to the clinic last week and met our doctor and personal assistant face to face - we were pretty anxious before the visit but feel very reassured now. All the staff were lovely and it helped to see the clinic and know what to expect next time we visit. Information about the donor is not that important for us tbh,after everything we’ve been through we’re just keen to get started!! I’m very impatient! 😆 Fingers crossed the Barcelona consultation goes well too x

I used IB in Alicante as double donation as a single mum and they were brilliant. Totally kept me in the loop to what was happening and very helpful. I now have a beautiful 17 month boy and embryos still in storage. It wasn’t an easy decision for me as I know in Spain it is anonymous donors, but having researched a lot of UK clinics and the help I had, im glad I chose IB. I tell my boy every day how he came about so he will grow up knowing that and how he was very wanted.

What a lovely story @Sine1 . I agree with you, the communication and care that IB Alicante has give us has been fantastic - a complete contrast to the way we were treated in the UK for our first round of IVF x

Hope you all are doing well.

@Eiremogra We have finally decided to go with IB Alicante having considered all factors. I found the communication with IB much better than with Barcelona. It was difficult to get information on pricing etc. from Barcelona, I had to exchange several emails while IB was really quick and organised. When we compared all costs, IB was a clear winner too.

We are going for a regular donor cycle, not the guarantee program due to the upfront costs involved. When are you starting your mock?

That’s fantastic @Serendipity24 , such a relief to have made the decision. I found that part super stressful at the time,we spent weeks trying to review all the pros and cons! I started my second mock cycle last week..I have a scan on Tuesday and the rest of my mock cycle will depend on that. We’ve had some delays due to a nasty fibriod that I had removed in IB 2 weeks ago. Disappointed with the delay this has caused but know it had to happen to give us the best chance. When do you start?x

Hi @Eiremogra , great that you have already started, shame about the fibroid though. At least it has been sorted out. Are you having two mocks because of the fibroid?

We have just signed the papers etc. and there are some tests pending which we want to perform in Alicante. We are also doing GCT once the donor is found, which takes a month. I don't think the actual cycle will be this year given the Christmas and New Year holidays, perhaps the mock only.

Hi ladies.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I had an initial call with IB Alacante and really liked the doctor (Paula). They seemed very concerned about my overall health. Its the first clinic that has discussed a mamogram with me.

@Sine1, May I ask what was your final deciding factor to go with this clinic? I m in contact with clinics in Prague and they offer a 2 blastocyst guarantee while IB Alicante don't. I m a bit torn. Is the guarantee program a bit of a sales pitch?

Thank you I'm advance and baby dust to you all in 2024.

Hi @Missdel, we did three cycles in the UK last year and have now started working with Institute Bernabeu. We are on the guarantee programme, which includes three cycles of IVF with donor eggs (we had to do a few tests first). I just had an embryo transfer so have to wait for a week or two to find out what the result is.. Regardless, I've had a very good and professional experience with IB so far. Obviously, I'm only comparing it to the UK where I didn't have a great experience with a private clinic - I've never used a clinic in Prague so can't comment on that.

I'm sure you will make the right choice for you 😊 good luck with your journey x

Ladies, I need help!

Currently I am waiting for my period to come so that I can get on with the mock cycle. It is not clear from the instructions sent to me when I should start the medications, is Day 1 of my period also Day 1 of the mock cycle?

Unfortunately, communication from IB over the past few days has been very poor. Everything has been quite rushed and I only received the treatment plan yesterday even though they knew my period is due soon. I didn't get any reply from IB today and now they are closed for Christmas until the 26th.

I am also having problems getting the medications. How did you guys get them? In all three past cycles the prescriptions were sent directly to the pharmacy by the clinics.

IB emailed me the prescription but none of the pharmacies I have been to would accept it. Luckily I have leftover medications from my last failed cycle that I can use to start the mock, but there's one (Prostap injection) that I don't have and need to get it soon, I will be needing it around Day 10/12 of the mock. I have asked IB to send the prescription to the pharmacy directly but now it won't happen until the 26th at least.

I'm feeling really stressed. My period is due to start any moment now and I really would like to start the mock with this bleed, otherwise it just keeps getting delayed😥

@Serendipity24
It may be different for you but I was instructed to email IB once the period starts. In my case, day 1 would be the following day. So if you start today, day 1 would be tomorrow but they have to give you the go ahead.

I found Zen pharmacy really useful and straight forward You can email them the prescription ( copy your coordinator in that email) or upload it on their website.

There is usually an emergency email address, so if you need a quick response, email them using that address.

I hope this helps

@lalody thanks so much for replying, much appreciated

They also asked me to inform them when the period starts but with the holidays I am not sure how it will work out

I will look into Zen pharmacy, thanks so much- already feeling less stressed 🙂