IVF abroad- experiences???

[RoseBud2015]

Hi,

DH and I are about to start our 3rd cycle of clomid. It will be our 1st cycle at 150mg after 50mg and 100mg had no affect at all. I have severe PCOS and never ov.

DH has 2DDs from a previous relationship and we have been told by our fertility clinic that if this dose fails there is nothing else available to us on the NHS, and the next step for us would be IVF.

We are now seriously considering IVF abroad, due to significantly reduced costs and some great success rates, and would live to hear your experiences- whether positive or negative excuse the pun

More specifically we have taken a particular liking to Reprofit in Czech Republic.

But any shared experiences of IVF abroad would be great!

Hi rose I am currently out in Czech Republic for my second round of icsi at reprofit. I can highly recommend it. I have been having the scans at my local clinic in the UK and I just find them so negative and I just dont have that much confidence in them but it's different at reprofit. All the doctors are very friendly and I ask lots of questions and have confidence that they know what they are talking about. The town itself is lovely and everything is so cheap. The price of treatment is a fraction of what it costs in the UK. I would highly recommend it. We have a thread on fertility friends website specifically for those having treatment at reprofit so why don't you pop over and say hi you will find lots of information on there.

Friends who had had numerous unsuccessful cycles of IVF privately in the UK went to Spain, their cycle their worked (they have twins now!) they say they found the experience better than the three clinics they'd been to in England (South East, outside London) , and said techniques were used to select the most promising embryos to implant.

Hi Lucie,

Thank you so much for sharing. I didn't realise that about ff so I will definitely have a look there!

Can I ask whether you organised your trip through a UK based company like Your IVF Journey? Or whether you did it all yourself? And your experiences of that?

I'm unsure whether we really need the third party involvement.

Also could I ask if you are paying privately at your UK clinic for the tests etc in the run up to flying to Czech? I'm a little unclear about how that bit works! E.g. if you need additional bloods do you go to your NHS doc for this or pay privately? Is it individual choice or there a set 'rule'?

The best of luck for your time in Czech. I will be keeping my fingers and toes firmly crossed for you!

Thanks Duck The more I read into it and hear others experiences, the more it feels likke a no-brainer to go abroad!

Part of me wonders if I'm missing something?! X

We did two rounds of IVF at a clinic in Thessaloniki (Iakentro), recommended by our consultant in the UK. Successful second time. They were great, although the unstable situation in Greece was a bit of a concern both times. I'd say do your research and then go for it. I found it helpful that the clinic were entirely specialised on what they do, as opposed to trying to offer a range of services as in the UK. They couldn't have been nicer or more helpful although there were language and admin barriers.

I have organised it all myself and 99% of the women do. It's so easy there really isn't any need to pay extra money and get a third party involved. In my opinion that would just complicate matters and make communication more drawn out. There are several flight options from the UK depending on where you live so that's really easy to arrange. Most of us book our hotels / apartments via booking.com where you can get free cancellation on most accommodation up to a few days before so very handy if you need to change your dates. When you contact the clinic you will be assigned a coordinator who will make sure that they have all the information they need from you and pass it onto the doctor who will email you to discuss your treatment protocol. From there on any information you need you can email the doctor and they will get back to you pretty quickly. I had most of my tests done by my gp this included fsh,lh and progesterone. I didn't mention going abroad i just said we had been trying to conceive a while and wanted further tests. The only one I couldn't get done by gp was amh. I paid privately for this and think it was around £80. I was glad I did though as I know others who managed to get it on the NHS and waited around a month to get the results back. Mine were ready in about a week privately. You will need 2 follicle scans when you begin treatment which you can either have done free of charge at reprofit if you are happy to spend an extra week there or you can have them done at a UK clinic for around £100 each and forward the results to reprofit. This means you can get away with only spending around a week in Czech. Let me know if you need anymore info.

Lucie thanks for such detailed info! That is great to hear. And thanks for the tip in relation to the GP- I hadn't thought of that but wont mention going abroad, just in case.

I have found the forum on FF that you mentioned earlier , and have registered for the website. I've read all 30 pages and feel really confident now that Reprofit is the right clinic for us. You are all such a lovely bunch too!

Thanks so much for your help. At least now I know that if 150mg clomid doesn't work this cycle, I have Plan B clear in my mind.

I will be looking forward to hearing your updates on FF- Best of luck! x

Aww that's great news rose, pop on and say hi when you feel like it. Everyone on there is so helpful. Hopefully your clomid will work and you won't need to go to reprofit but if you do then it's great place.

Hello! I'd heard wonderful things about Reprofit and we've chosen to move forward with them. It's taken me a couple of weeks but I finally clicked on the 'contact us' link and we're in the process of filling in a very long questionnaire. I don't know if there is any waiting list for treatment but we hope to do our first round in February. Nervous but excited! Good luck!

Hi Laura.

Yes, I took the plunge and clicked the contact us button too! I would like to start in October but I have been told by my UK clinic that I need to do a Hycosy next cycle so I'm not sure I have be able to do that. If not, it will be Feb for us too!
Do you already have all of the results that the questionnaire asks for? I'm trying to work out the best way of getting as many of the results as possible on the NHS before I tell them I'm going abroad!

What is your story? x

two best fertility clinics in Poland- Bocian and Invicta. Poland is generally low cost country with great intertaiment and relax options. Invicta has several clinics, one of them is placed in Gdansk- great city, Baltic sea, very clean with many museums, pubs, concert halls. Success rate is one of the highest in Europe, with great patients service. Additionaly a clinic applies own methodology (in some cases). E.g. cost ifv all inclusive is about 5 000 Euro. Clinics are higly experienced in international patients (Russia, Belarus, Scandinavian countries, Germany, GB), a department dedicated to international patients works effectively. Usually clinics are recommended by girls and placed top in any ranking.

I have had 3 rounds of private IVF in the UK and one at Serum in Athens. None successful but I got better results at Serum and feel the standard of care was much better. The testing was thorough, I felt my treatment plan was really well considered and properly explained to me. We may move to donor due to my age so considering whether to go back to Greece or try Czech Republic (Reprofit or Reprogenesis). I am completely convinced it is better abroad and only wish I had done it earlier as I think Serum could have worked for me when my eggs were younger.

IloveCheese11- never too late. We all wish we had smth. I wish you great luck and keep my fingers crossed.

Thank you for all of your comments! As an update on me- DH and I have decided that Reprofit definitely is the clinic for us so will be proceeding with them as soon as I get my AMH result back from the result in 1-2 weeks time! To be honest, I just feel so relieved that the decision has now been made and we know what we are doing. The hardest thing I have found with infertility (being a control freak) is feeling so out of control!

ILoveCheese There is a wonderful group of ladies on FF under IVF abroad who have a wealth of knowledge and experiences of Reprofit who I have joined. I would strongly recommend joining us over there- they are all so lovely and have amazing advice! There are 2 threads Orange knicker gang, and Reprofit friends past and present- I'm on both, thanks to Lucie's recommendation!