Serum - your experiences please?

[Hobbes39]

Hi
After 3 fresh & 3 frozen failed IVF cycles here in the uk for unexplained secondary infertility, I'm just about ready to give up. I've had 1 PUL miscarriage before starting ivf, one CP on the first round and 2 MMC on the 3rd round (1 fresh one FET).

My DH and I have discussed it a lot and I think we are swaying towards one last go, but elsewhere, where they are willing to look a bit closer at things rather than just accepting the 'unexplained'.

I contacted Serum last month when my most recent MMC was diagnosed and got a response really quickly from Katie which was really lovely and really detailed. I then left it for a bit as needed to recover from the ERPC and really think more about what we wanted to do and got back in touch with Katie and she was again very helpful. I am due to have a telephone consultation with either Penny or Sofia tomorrow to discuss options.

So far I am really impressed with Katie anyway, and feel like she wants for me to get to the bottom of what our issue might be - she already has highlighted something to do with my DH sperm that may be an issue that has NEVER been highlighted to us before (his count is all v good, but it's v 'viscous' - docs here didn't think it was a problem..)
So looking for your experiences with Serum, the good and the bad, as if we are going to go for it I want to feel confident we are doing the right thing.

Also, how did you manage with the logistics of going out there for treatment?

Thanks x

Hobbes39 I cant comment on actual treatment with Serum, we decided against them pretty quickly after our initial consultations. I know there are some on here who have Serum babies and swear by them.

My advice is for the logistics of having treatment in Greece. We had two options with our clinic, either fly out for scans and then trigger and egg collection or stay in Greece the whole time, we opted for the latter, had an amazing holiday in the sun whilst undergoing our first cycle. We went in May this year.

Try to speak to their other UK previous patients if they give you their details, it helped us a lot when it came to our trip, little pointers saved us a lot of time and hassle

I have a serum baby he was born in Jan after 4 cycles in the UK, I can't fault them, Sofia was my consultant and Penny did my transfer. I cannot rate them enough they were amazing

Ha! @AniSL I saw your thread about ivf abroad and just posed on there! Thanks for replying..!
So were serum the place you ruled out as they said it would be your egg quality?
I need honest feedback - I haven't been in touch with other clinics abroad yet, but maybe I should...
Where did you use?

Hi @Lauren83 - thanks for replying.
What do you think they did better (other than obviously being successful!) what did they do differently? Did they monitor you more, do additional tests? What do you think made the difference? (Sorry for all the questions!) x

Also logistic wise we were using donor eggs so had a lining scan here then serum were updating us on donor stimming, Sofia felt she may be ready after her second scan which she was so we booked a flight and arrived on the Friday afternoon, donors EC was Saturday so we went for DP to do a fresh sample and got an email with egg numbers later that day and fert e-mail the next morning, we then had a lovely few days in Athens before going back for a blast transfer and flew home 2 days after that.

We used Fertility2U for meds whilst we were here and then bought more OTC in Athens (much much cheaper) we had a lovely air BnB called WES Pink in Nea Smirni which was a few tram stops away and a lovely driver Kyriakos over there who did the airport runs and took us to the clinic and back

Ours are Serum twins following six cycles in UK and three MC. Double donation at Serum, Penny did our transfer, Tomos her late husband was the embriologyst at the time (6yrs ago). Amazing clinic and love Penny to bits. I had my tests and a Greek hysto etc a couple of months before then our donor and I downregged at the same time. I timed my next flight over for a blast transfer on day 5. Everything worked like clockwork and I got my longed for BFP.

If I'm being completely honestly not a huge amount was different in regards to monitoring and my protocol (although I had additional VIT C and Antibiotics for DP then I took Serraptese and Antibiotics myself) the rest of the meds I requested myself to mirror a protocol I had in the UK that was BFP but MMC (long down reg, clexane, prontogest, Estrogen, aspirin and steroids etc) They has asked me to do the period blood test and a hysteroscopy with implantation cuts but I declined on the understanding if BFN I would do those things the next time, they weren't pushy about the additional tests but I work in an IVF clinic myself and felt able to be proactive about what I did and didn't want.

It was more the experience of treatment and the standard of egg donor compared to UK that really made a difference to me, it's the first time I have had frozen too from all my cycles, we plan to go back next year for those!

Thanks for your replies. They are useful - I'm still trying to make up my mind if they are the best place for me, they have impressed me so far, but as I said I haven't actually contacted anywhere else yet though.
If there is anyone who used their own eggs that would be useful to hear from as obviously the process is different and more complicated that donor eggs or FET. Thanks x

If you go on Fertility Friends on the regional boards under Greece there's a couple of really useful FAQs threads and info on there written by a user called Agate, I would definitely check those out

Hi @Hobbes39. I did ICSI with Serum with my own eggs. I already have a son via IVF in London.

Here's my story -

DH was put on 3 month sperm protocol last October. Antibiotics and vitamin c and e.

I went out in January and had hysto with implantation cuts.

Started cycle in March. Had to stay out there for 2 weeks.

Got 10 eggs collected and 5 went to blasto.

3 transferred end of March, BFP but HCG levels never rose significantly so miscarried

Went back in June for frozen transfer of the final 2. BFN.

I really loved the team at Serum, they were great.

I did find that I spent a lot - every test, blood test, meds, etc, racked up the cost. And the flights too as I flew from Heathrow. I think I spent a good £10k even tho the cycle itself only costs £3-4K.

We're planning on going to Reprofit in Prague in a few months as they do PGD testing (they don't do this in Greece) which I feel I need at my age - I am 39 and this will be my 4th (and final) cycle. It's cheaper and can fly cheaply from Stansted.

Good luck to you

I went to Serum last July for a hysteroscopy.

I’d been diagnosed with POF by NHS. I had my consultation with Penny and after scanning me she told me I didn’t have POF and wasn’t peri menopausal. Told DH and I to go away and try naturally for six months. If that didn’t work then natural cycle IVF would be our next step.

I didn’t have a period for nearly three months after hysto. Penny then changed her mind and told me I was peri menopausal after all. She then told me to go for egg donation.

I did, but not with Serum as by then I’d lost all faith in them. I went to New Life in Thessaloniki who are amazing. I’m pregnant with twins from first try

IMO Serum are the most famous, but they are not the best. Also Penny is not a medically qualified doctor. A fact I didn’t find out until after I’d been.

I should add they also cheerfully flogged us £300 worth of natural cycle meds during our hysto visit “just in case” We were that desperate for help that we just did as they suggested. Turned out to be a waste of money after Penny did a u turn with my disagnosis!

Hi there, I have a consultation booked with serum at the end of July, just before they close for the summer. I’ve had a natural pregnancy and miscarriage. I believe my issue is high fsh and low amh - hormone imbalance and egg quality. All will depend on how this consultation goes but we are planning to do low stim ivf with my own egg(s) (not sure how many I can produce with my low afc). Just wondering if there are any other clinics you may recommend we look into before we go ahead with serum?
Also - being a teacher it would be great if we could do the whole thing over the summer whilst I am off. Serum closes for August. Would have preferred to time it with my cycle in aug.

Hi. How are you doing? Read your post. Have you gone back to Serum now. Seems I have low reserve too and I intend to go see Penny next month. Please how did yours go?