Create Bristol

[Quickdraw23]

Hi there

my partner and I (same sex female couple) are about to start investigating options for TTC. Has anyone had any experience with Create Fertility in Bristol?

there’s so much info out there on donor conception generally, not to mention anecdotal evidence from friends, some of whom have been successful in conceiving with treatment etc, but we have recently moved quite far away from our friend network up north, haven’t met anyone in the area yet and I feel like we’re striking out into the unknown a bit!

All research done so far suggests as I am 33 with no known fertility issues and am a “healthy” BMI, it looks like IUI would be a sensible starting point, assuming nothing shows up on the initial investigations but I’m aware private health care is a profit making enterprise, and a lot of the clinics seem very keen on promoting IVF. Not to mention three cycle packages coming to an end after a successful clinical pregnancy, regardless of whether that actually results in a birth!

I’m feeling fairly anxious as it all feels like such a huge gamble 😳

if anyone has any advice or experience to share, would love to hear from you.

thank you!

Hi OP.

You are right that basically it is a huge gamble, whatever you choose to do.

I'm a similar age to you, healthy, and doing IUI. I've had 4 rounds so far, currenty in the middle of my 5th, so I would say you need to expect it to be a long hall with IUI.

Having said that, I've also had 2 rounds of IVF and wouldn't wish it on anyone. I reacted badly to the drugs (despite being healthy/ no indications that I would), and had a really bad time with it all.

So I would always advocate for IUI in the first instance, despite it having not worked for me yet, because it's just an easier procedure and less invasive.

Just go into it with your eyes open and expect it to take a while. Even if you are totally healthy there is only a 10-15% chance of it working each time, so you shouldn't be surprised if it takes 8-10 rounds. This is what they don't really make clear in the initial appointments, as I was fully expecting to be pregnant in 3! But when you look at the numbers, it makes sense that I wasn't.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

Thanks so much for your reply. We had our initial scan a few days ago and the doctor there was quite upfront regarding IUI being a potentially long hall as you say and if it doesn’t work in the first couple of times actually being deceptively expensive because you need to buy so much sperm which obviously isn’t included in the procedure prices on clinic websites!

having given it some thought mild IVF is looking like an option worth thinking about, but more thinking and reading to do definitely! (And more saving up too 😩) thanks again for sharing your perspective, and best of luck to you!

@Quickdraw23 Thanks!

Yes, it can definitely become expensive. We worked it out and we have spent about £11,000 over the past year on fertility treatments and related things (e.g. counselling, supplements etc) - and our IVF was NHS funded!

The thing is though, IVF doesn't always work either and it is much more expensive (£11,000 might not even cover 2 rounds of IVF if you're using a donor).

My IVF was also mild and I still had a bad time with it (despite being healthy).

Have you ever used hormonal contraceptives? It may be worth thinking about how you respond to those - I always had side effects and had to try about 20 different things before finding something that worked. I feel like that was maybe a good indicator that I wasn't going to do well on the IVF drugs! If you are generally OK with hormones then the medication may not be so bad for you.

If you do choose IVF, just make sure you are informed as it's potentially not an easy ride (and bear in mind private fertility clinics do have an agenda to sell you it as well).

Personally I found it traumatic and I ended up in A&E both times because of OHSS (this is on a relatively low dose of meds which was reduced even more the second time). I really wasn't expecting this to happen to me as I was healthy with no known underlying issues - there was no indication that it would cause any problems.

Also, ever since having IVF (around 1.5 yrs ago), I have had extremely light periods, painful ovulation every month and I have a big cyst on one of my ovaries - there's no proof that any of these things are because of the IVF, but they have all developed since I had it.

So I don't want to dissuade you if it's your decision but honestly, just be prepared for the potential impact on your body and go in with your eyes open. I would always do IUI first even though it is potentially a long haul.

My friends conceived on the third attempt, they didn't go via a British clinic - they ordered the goods from the Netherlands and diy. It wasn't that expensive though this was pre brexit, not sure if that would affect availability

Thanks again for your perspectives! Lots of food for thought.

sadly I think that you can’t order sperm for home insemination anymore - I think it has to be delivered to a clinic.

We’re also in the same boat as you, slightly younger but in Bristol area. We’ve considered BCRM and CRGW. BCRM are more expensive, but were the clinic who found our friend had PCOS and determined IUI wasn’t suitable (after 4 failed IUI attempts with London Women’s Clinic who said IUI would be fine) - they come recommended from friends.

We’re looking into CRGW (IVF lite) after the clinic was recommended to us last year - we’re sticking with them as we don’t have a reason to switch clinics and we’ve already had a fertility MOT with them. So far so good. Only downfall, egg retrieval and transfer take place in their Cardiff centre. All other tests are done in their Bristol clinic.

We just left CRGW and gone back to BCRM. The difference between the two is monumental. I absolutely hated my experience with CRGW, I can’t even drive past that place now it makes me so upset. They couldn’t give a shit about why you can’t get pregnant, they just want to keep selling you more IVF. You may have a different experience, but the two cycles I had with them were a massive waste of money. Just be prepared to go on and on at them and do a lot of chasing and checking. A lot of people get drawn in by their pricing, as did some of my friends, but they’ve now moved their embryos to another clinic as well just to get out of there. BCRM picked up I have autoimmune issues and anaemia, CRGW missed all of it.

Oh wow that’s really interesting to hear! When you say you’ve ‘gone back to BCRM’ - had you been there previously? What are they like with communication, appointment availability etc?

We are at the consent stage so understandably worried about your post. Just want to make sure we’re making the right decision! We are mid-late 20s, nothing picked up on ultrasound, blood work normal etc. we need treatment because we are two women using donor sperm, so not due to infertility, if that makes sense.

I initially lived in Bristol with my ex and qualified for one cycle on the NHS and that was my closest clinic. I got pregnant there, miscarried and then broke up with my ex. I’ve since moved to Wales with new partner and we went to CRGW as it’s a lot closer (and cheaper). I had two cycles there and never felt like they had a clue what was going on. No one ever answers the phone, the initial consult was a joke- 10 mins on a teams call. My first collection was carried out with no sedation which was nothing short of horrific, they were crap at bloods- I had to have blood taken from between my knuckles twice. They put everyone on short protocol yet IVF is far from a one size fits all and long protocol was by far better for me.

We had a new consultation with BCRM in November and we were blown away by how different it was. The Dr spent an hour with us (in person!), she personalised my next cycle in far more detail taking into account the other issues they had unearthed. I had a scan and my partner was shown and explained everything she was looking at. They want me to have another hysteroscopy before my next cycle as I have some issues going on and actually give me the best chance to get pregnant, not just blindly chuck more IVF at me. The final nail in the CRGW coffin was the follow up to my failed cycle and they were chatting away to other staff in the background of the call.

Maybe if you aren’t technically ‘infertile’ it might be different, but treatment aside they just caused me so anxiety I couldn’t bring myself to go near that building again. They’ve taken on way more patients than they can cater for too. Egg collection happens when it suits them better, not when it would be optimum for you. I had to have it done a day early because they aren’t open on a Saturday and it was a disaster. Staff also had their kid in there once behind the desk, very unprofessional in such a sensitive place x

So sorry to hear of your experiences @SquashPenguin i hope very much that you have a better time with your ongoing treatment.

sorry to be a bit daft but can anyone tell me what BCRM and CRGW stand for? I actually live in Gloucester and will have to travel to Bristol for any treatment, so I’m not super familiar with the area or the different providers.

@BF111 do you mind me asking what’s making you look at mild IVF? I’m still really torn - leaning towards mild IVF due to the higher success rate but I have never taken any kind of hormonal contraceptives and have no idea how I would react to the meds - as @TunicFox pointed put up thread there can be side effects etc. Also, out of interest are you entitled to any assistance at all as a same-sex couple in Bristol? There’s no funding in Gloucestershire for same sex couples without 12 failed AI attempted at least 6 must be self funded IUI in a clinic, so we’re very much self funding.

We’ve got a consultation on Tuesday following my scan a few weeks ago which looked fine and awaiting some blood results so suppose the outcome of that will hopefully help us make a further decision.

Wishing everyone well on their ongoing treatments.

@Quickdraw23 BCRM is Bristol centre for reproductive medicine and CRGW is centre for reproductive and gynaecology (Wales) although has a satellite clinic in South Gloucestershire/Bristol.

We’re swaying towards IVF lite due to the higher success rate and cost - we’re thinking worst case scenario and IUI didn’t work first or second time, the cost is roughly the same. We meet criteria for the lite package so its cheaper, less meds than standard IVF etc.

As for NHS funding, we called our GP last year and asked the question - they were basically clueless with NHS criteria (we had to keep explaining we were two women and hadn’t ‘been trying’ to conceive). The GP wasn’t sure what to recommend and told us they would ‘ask colleagues’ and get back to us. Then sent us a list of clinics to look at for private treatment.

From what i can remember when I had a read of referral criteria myself, i think we also would have needed 6 privately funded rounds of IUI before they could refer for NHS treatment.

After that unhelpful experience, we just decided to go private.

thanks @BF111 that is really the same reasoning that we are doing at the moment.

I looked up the policy on the issue via the CCG and once I read it didn’t bother with the GP as I anticipated a similar reaction!

thanks for the reply 👍🏼

@Quickdraw23 I’m in a same sex relationship and we started at Create in Bristol - if you still need info about them, shoot me a message!