Choosing a fertility clinic - any experiences or help much appreciated

[worriedmum100]

Hello

Quick back story. Been TTC DC2 for 18 months after no problems conceiving DC1. I am nearly 38 and DP is 43. Had all the tests the NHS provides and nothing seems to be wrong. I ovulate naturally no blocked tubes, fibroids or cysts. DP has a slightly low count but not anything to be concerned about according to consultant. Really good motility etc.

I have recently discovered a cyst on my thyroid which is being investigated but I doubt this is the cause of the unexplained secondary infertility because I don't really have any symptoms to suggest hypothyroidism.

So, we have decided to seriously consider assisted conception which we will have to pay for privately.

I have started to research clinics. I've looked on the HFEA website. I live in the South East and seem to have a wide choice but I don't really know where to start with narrowing it down. Is word of mouth best?

A friend went to the Oxford Fertility Unit and says they were good. Success rates seem about in line with national average. But then I looked at ARGC which seems to have double the success rate for women my age (40% vs 23%). Can this be right?

I don't really know how to choose. Can anyone who has been through this offer any advice. Where did you go? How did you find it? What qualities should I be looking for.

Also I'm finding it hard to estimate a realistic cost. The prices for IVF are listed but I have no idea what will be added on top - blood test, drugs etc. I had a figure of 10k in my head - is that about right?

Many thanks in advance.

Thanks everyone. I feel like I've narrowed it down in my mind to Lister, ARGC,UCH and poss oxford fertility unit or herts and Essex.

The logistics are potentially going to be tricky because of having ds but sure we'll work something out.

I just wish we knew what the problem is. Maybe the thyroid cyst is causing issues. I also keep going back in my kind to dps count (13 million). Consultant said this was the lower end if satisfactory but that the good motility etc made up for it. Also we got pg with ds so quickly I can't understand why this would be a problem now.

Sorry, drivelling on. AF is here so I also go a bit odd for a few days!

Another vote for ARGC here. Personally I didn't find it too intensive and the attention to detail by them when you are cycling is meticulous. All your treatment is tailored to suit you as an individual and they are open 7 days a week 365 dyad a year so if for instance they think that the best day for your embryo transferred is Christmas Day well then that's when they'll do it.

It is however very expensive, our cycle (my first IVF cycle) came to around £18k but we now have beautiful twin daughters. Feel free to PM me if you want to know more about the clinic.

We started at Homerton and had a pretty mixed experience (mainly negative/ verging on dangerously neglectful/ wasted a lot of time!)

Then moved treatment to CRGH and the difference in personal care and attention was just amazing. They were really on the ball with latest research and tailored everything to fit. It wasn't cheap though. Although the basic cost of an IVF there was about 3 to 3.5k, once I'd added the cost of my tests, drugs, pre-cycle d&c, ongoing meds in early pregnancy etc it came to about £9,000. Eeeek!

But we were lucky on our first IVF cycle there. I had to use 3 weeks of annual leave to do the cycle as I normally work fixed inflexible shifts and CRGH wanted me to do daily blood tests to monitor my response to the stims drugs. Then every day the senior drs review progress including latest scans and a nurse would call with my exact dose to inject that day. I think this attention to detail is what gets them such great results.

Whereas when I cycled at Homerton they only checked my bloods a couple of times during the stims phase, scanned every 3-5 days, missed some critical things like my thyroid, and I ended up with OHSS which was very scary. They also still went ahead and still transferred 2 blastocysts which was really dangerous considering I already had OHSS. But I guess any positive pregnancy test would help their stats.

So in short I really do think you get what you pay for.

Best of luck x

I had a great experience at Oxford. Did two cycles through them with satellite care nearer home in Cambridge for monitoring appts. Loved speaking to their embryologists directly in the days after fertilisation and felt they had a caring yet honest approach. The care I received during egg collection and embryo transfer was fantastic. Dd is now 14 weeks old! I had previously had treatment at Bourn Hall in Cambridgeshire, which I would not recommend.

Hello - I am also just in the initial stages of researching IVF options and am veering towards CRGH based on review so far. ARGC looks great but probably a bit too expensive for us to afford and also CRGH is much closer to work (so more convenent from that perspective).

Does CRGH go the 'chicago' /immunity tests? Would those even be relevant if I have had a successful natural pregnancy before?

Hello

Just a quick update. I went to open evening at CRGH last week and also took up their offer of a free 15 minute consult. I really liked them. Not swish or corporate and seem caring. Dr said that in our particular circumstances he wouldn't necessarily recommend IVF straight away but probably IUI with super ovulation. I need to look into that a bit more but pleased that we may have cheaper less invasive options. He also recommended a closer look at dps sperm (Dna fragmentation test?) And a 3d scan of my uterus to check for any adhesions caused by EMCS. CRGH is convenient for work ans railway station we come into so think we will probably look to start with them after Christmas.

Would not recommend Lister Hospital. Not what was expected. I went to Lister hospital for egg freezing. I had Dr Jaya Parikh who performed the surgery. On the cycle I was due to start, my follicles were low compared to the previous cycle. I was concerned but Dr Parikh seemed very commercial and money driven and persuaded me that l never know if the next cycle is going to be good cycle in terms of higher number of follicles. So l went ahead. She also said there was a polyp in my uterus that needs to be removed. In fact l never had a polyp and Dr Parikh proliferated and the dialator went through my uterus and l had to do an emergency laporoscopy to check for internal bleeding. I also only had 2 eggs retrieved. Very disappointing. I went to private thinking that I will get better service but please be cautious. I was otherwise healthy now l have scars from laporoscopy and a damaged uterus. Be warned of Dr Parikh, she is not good doctor, and she became very defensive, no apology at all from her. I want to write this, so that other patients do not go through what l did. I also asked for refund and they refused to give me back the £5.8k I spent on the egg freezing. My social life has taken a bad turn as a result, it has left me psychologically damaged.

Hi Ladies,

This is my first time writing on this (or any) pregnancy/fertility forum. During my research on these subjects I went onto many but never joined one.
Now that I reach the end of my struggle I thought I´d share with any of you starting your search what clinics you should absolutely avoid.

Nr. 1 - Sellmer Klinik Copenhagen
The whole staff is female and the website has a very homey look to it giving you the feeling that this place was created for you.
To have a chat on Skype which they call first consultation you pay 90 Euros. I think that is a rip off considering that it is mainly chit chat and very little useful information and that other clinics do this for free. They do not run any exams, tests or ask for any previously taken. They literally inseminate you with no understanding of whether your body is "hormone-wise" and otherwise ready for it or not. So it is pretty blind and they do not use any stimulation drugs. The only procedure they do is IUI (intraurine insemination) with either donor or "own" sperm.

Nr. 2 - Vitanova Copenhagen
Lovely and friendly as they are, there is absolutely no testing of your reproductive system - no HSG, no AMH, nothing.

Although they knew that I was coming from the other side of the hemisphere they bummed up my appointment with the accupuncturist who happened to be on her day off that day. The only plus side in comparison with the clinic above is that they use stimulation, i.e. at least give you some drugs to get your follicles as mature as possible. Again, no blood tests or anything remotely in line of checking your fertility status.

Nr. 3 - Aagaard Klinik Aarhus
I thought the Danes were nice and friendly until I entered this state of the art building in Aarhus. My goal here was only to run some tests and understand how realistic my fertility journey really was likely to be. The whole physical exam with Dr. Morten Hedegaard and the nurse I thought was very friendly prior to my visit was run in Danish. When I asked what they were discussing (in that very dignified position of legs spread out) they told me I`d have the translation of it all later on. Needless to say I didn´t.
Dr. Hedegaard then proceeded to tell me that his biggest concern was my "huge" fibroid (5x6).
I was told that the exam was finished and that I was free to go. When I probed him and the nurse separately on what their prognosis was they told me (eyes rolling in their heads) that due to the fibroid they couldn´t really see what my tubes looked like - that was the very exam that cost the insignificance of 600 Euros I went there to do. I asked then when I´d get my blood tests results and was told in a week´s time.
After a week I emailed nurse Olsen and she simply ignored my questions. It was over 14 days when I contacted the clinic to find out who was in charge - I still didn´t have my blood tests results and no further communication from the clinic. Just the arrogant and frankly insensitive emails from nurse Olsen. Still trying to get some value for the money I paid to the test with no results, I asked if any of the liquid inserted for the HSG test had gone full circle (potentially a sign in assessing whether my tubes were blocked or not - no answer).
When I contacted the office manager who apparently is in charge of customer feedback she patronisingly said that customer satisfaction was important to them and an email would be sent to me asap. No interest in what triggered my complaint. Then again, taking from his emails not even the owner, Dr. Aagaard, seemed too bothered to deliver a good service.

Summary:
With all these clinics I was flabbergasted with the existence of a common theme: absolute insensivity towards a very delicate subject. I thought the entire staff involved in such private (possibly the most private) matter would either be trained or naturally sensitive to this side of peoples´ lives. Especially because it is thanks to these "problems" that they make their money.

I´ve just had my last appointment on this subject at Invicta Clinic in Gdansk - Poland. Although the news wasn´t easy to stomach, I am both grateful to the honesty of the doctor and sad that no one at the other clinics had the guts/kindness/professionalism/competency to tell me what he did.
I understand that these clinics are in it for the money. I too am a business person and understand the financial motivation of any business. HOWEVER, they are dealing with a very personal matter of people´s lives - why not use a good portion of honesty and compassion?
I`m sure the young doctor at Invicta also wants to make money but he informed me and my partner in the most understandable and honest terms of the pitfalls of IVF in our case. The main issue is my age and my egg reserve. I have a AMH of 0,5 which apparently is borderline infertility. Statistically 85% of the eggs left at the age of 41 going on 42 are of very low quality either resulting in no pregnancy or miscarriage.
Difficult news to digest no doubt, my only regret being not having gone to Invicta Clinic earlier. It´d saved me a lot of money, time and agony.
Having said that, wonderful, competent and compassionate as the doctor was, on his email to inform the doc of our position, my partner had to make him aware that some training to the staff, front desk and otherwise was needed. Even though we expected the Eastern European "directness" we were very shocked at the unfriendly bordering on rude maners of the staff.
Good luck to all of you on realising your motherhood dream!

If you really want a clinic to avoid: biotexcom in the Ukraine. They're so bad and unethical they get multiple trolls to post on here pretending to be patients to advertise their services. If the to go to those lengths to deceive people and recruit them as patients, I really hate to think how badly their patients are treated.