Private IVF/ICSI hospitals and clinics

[Fordie1]

Hi,

My husband and I were recently told that due to his low morphology (1%) that we would need to look at IVF with ICSI. Having been to a referral on the NHS at Queen Mary's Sidcup today they have said I need to have a laparoscopy which I am now on a waiting list for. After this, we have to wait until we have been trying 3 years (we've only been trying for just over 2 years currently) to be put on the IVF waiting list, which for our area is quite long. Im starting to look at going private, and was looking at ARGC in London, but I've started to read some negative reviews. Has anyone got any private clinics or hospitals in London and Kent that they would recommend for IVF/ICSI please? Trying not to feel sad but have a feeling this the start of a very long journey :(

We have experience with City Fertility for tests and scans and will probably be using them for IVF in a few months. I really like them. I have never felt they have tried to push any treatment on us, they seem very honest. It is hard picking a clinic, they all seem to have mixed reviews. I would suggest going to open evenings and checking out HFEA website. Also City Fertility is linked to Access Fertility which we'll be using also. Good luck

@lillyLeaf thank you so much. I think we are going to sit and review the HFEA website this weekend and see if we can get to some open evenings in the next month or so. Would be great to hear how you get on with your journey. Everything feels extremely scary at the moment x

Hi

I would recommend Mr Steer at Chelsfield park in the Orpington area. My baby is almost 4 weeks old now. She was our first frozen embryo transfer after a failed fresh cycle.

We went to Mr Steer after a personal recommendation.

Hi @Fordie1 we did our first cycle at ARGC. It's an excellent clinic but it is very intense so not for everyone. They do a lot more monitoring than other clinics so you are there daily and they are much more specific with timings. They do offer the full gamut of extras but personally I like that offer and have faith in them (we didn't do immune work but I know lots of people who have). It is also very expensive because you attend so much more.

If you don't live near ARGC it is worth bearing in mind how often you will need to be there early in the morning. That could end up being very stressful.

I've recently heard good things about City Fertility from someone else. CRGH are also good I believe.

As someone else said HFEA is a good place to start but make sure you did down into the detailed stats rather than looking at the ones they present on the front page of each clinic. That way you can look at the stats most relevant to you.

Good luck

@Ging78 congrats. I remember you from one of the IVF threads. Glad to hear you have your baby now x

@ging78 congratulations! Thank you for the recommendation, did you have access to NHS funded IVF first or did you go straight to private?

@janefx40 I had heard that it is extremely intense at ARGC, but surely the close monitoring is a good thing right? Was your cycle there successful if you don't mind me asking?

I'm thinking of going to some open evenings at ARGC, Lister and Care

We used Zita West. It's a very small, friendly clinic with outstanding results. More monitoring than most but not nearly as intense as ARGC so you don't run up a massive bill.

We didn't waste time with NHS as they take ages with tests and cut corners with procedures due to limited funding. By going to a top, private clinic we had a baby by the time the NHS would have even finished their testing.

PS Probably depends on your age too - if you're young with great reserves, you could as well try the NHS first if you have the patience.

Hi @JoJoSM2 I've only just started to hear about Zita West, are they still quite new? Did you just do the one round there?

I am 31 and my DH is 32, we are male factor, having had a few tests, all seems ok with me so far. Just his morphology thats the issue. I'm happy to wait for the laparoscopy on the NHS to confirm all is good with me, rather than having to pay for that, but the thought of then having to wait to be put on an NHS waiting list for IVF frustrates me so much, we are desperate to be parents but it seems like their are so many mountains to climb to get anywhere near to it! And by the time we get to the point of being on the waiting list, then the tome frame of being on the list I could be nearing 35! X

Hi OP - we had IVF in 2015 also for my DP's sperm count (his was terrible!) - we had NHS treatment at Hammersmith hospital but you can also pay privately:

https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/our-services/fertility-and-reproductive-medicine/ivf

They were very good - our DTs will be three in October

Sending you lots of and hugs though, it can be a very tough time. Please go to all the open evenings you can to get a feel for which places you like (and can get to relatively easily!) as that can help too! Xx

Hi Fordie1

My partner has a son so we had to go private.

Ging

Fordie, I don't know the exact history of Zita West. I think she's been running her holistic fertility clinic for decades. The IVF arm is run by dr Ndukwe who's been working in the field for decades but I think he only teamed up with Zita West a few years ago. They also have a couple of other doctors who are very good. The ethos of the clinic is still very much about the holistic approach so as part of IVF they offer nutritional advice and also do things like acupuncture etc. As they're small, you quickly get to know most of the staff and they're very responsive when you contact them and generally a small, friendly bunch.

We did 1 cycle there, I couldn't have a fresh transfer but got lucky on the first frozen transfer. We also have a lot more blastocysts in the freezer so quite hopeful for a sibling soon (I'm quite a few years older than yourself).

Most clinics have info evenings. You need to go to a few to get a feel for which one would be right. For example, the intense approach of ARGC was definitely not for me. We ended up having natural/mild cycles at Create. I have my gripes about it but we got our daughter and I felt like I was treated as an individual and not pumped full of huge amounts of drugs, which was right for me.

Hi @Fordie1 my friend is going to Zita West and loves it. They deliver their IVF via Care Fertility so if you want to look them up on HFEA that is where you'll find their stats. But you still get the Zita West service I believe (and Care are meant to be good anyway).

You asked more about ARGC. Yes I think the monitoring is good but then stress is also a factor (we're all stressed during IVF to some extent but if the intensity of ARGC doesn't suit you it can definitely cause more). Most people who go to ARGC have had multiple failures at IVF previously. I was already aged 41 so wanted to save time in case other places didn't work and go straight there. For my age group they are one of the very very best.

So it's often for people who are ready to try the next stage of treatment. As you are young and so far believe the only issue is male factor, I would think you may not need such an intense approach (any good clinic can do the male factor stuff. ARGC is expert at sorting out the female side - that's really where most clinics focus actually). I also don't think ARGC do open days anyway but you can check. It sounds like I'm being negative about ARGC. I think they are amazing but as I said, they are definitely not for everyone.

Our cycle there ended in a chemical but I don't hold that against them or their treatment. We got a fantastic crop of eggs, discovered something else that was going wrong. And they were very kind to me when it didn't work out.

We had our second cycle at Guy's funded by the NHS which was successful and I'm now 18 weeks pregnant. But actually despite the success, that was a disastrous cycle and I wouldn't recommend Guy's at all.

Incidentally there was no waiting list for NHS treatment in our area. I mean literally none. So worth checking your NHS trust before assuming there will be one (we did a private cycle because we assumed there would be a wait!!!)

X

@Fordie1 sorry I see you have already checked waiting lists in your area. It's awful how it's such a postcode lottery isn't it?! So unfair x

@janefx40 congratulations! That's wonderful news! I do love to hear positive stories, it makes me feel like there nay be a light at the end of the tunnel you know? It really is super unfair, I'm trying not to dwell on it but I could quite happily throw a massive tantrum right now!

@jojoSM2 that sounds like the kind of clinic I may get on well with, I will add to my list and the best of luck for a sibling! Everything crossed for you.

Thank you to everyone who replied, I'm going to get some open evenings booked in I think and go from there. I'm hoping that things may be a little more straight forward as long as my laparoscopy comes out ok and it is just male factor.

@rubyslippers77, thank you, that's very kind of you and wonderful that you have your DTs from this process.

I don't know about you all, but the emotional side seems a lot harder to get my head around right now, logically I now understand the IVF with ICSI process, its just having to deal with the sad/scary/life is unfair side. Not helped with MIL demanding to know when we will be giving her grandchildren of course.
X

We are now trying for our second with City Fertility having had successful IVF/ICSI for sperm rubbish in every category. I, too, have had very positive experiences with them. Their front of house staff are particularly good. I've heard negative things about our doctor, Dr Martin. It is true that he is very dour, but I have found him fantastic and like this about him (I don't do brilliantly with touchy feely how're you doing type stuff).I mention that particularly because I think it can be very much horses for courses. Good luck.

Hi OP. We recently used the Lister hospital under the care of Alison Taylor who was absolutely amazing throughout the whole process. Both my partner and I had issues, we saw her immediately after I had recovered from a laparoscopy and began right away.

We had a very high number of eggs retrieved, then ICSI before freezing on day 2. Four months later (I felt like I needed a break) we had a FET frozen egg transfer, all 5 we defrosted we're very high quality. We transferred one and fell pregnant on a natural cycle (drug free) first time.

I can't recommend enough the personal level of care we've had from the clinic. We saw Alison from her clinic at the Shard but you can also see her at the Chelsea clinic. I always felt like I was well informed and looked after. We were both referred to other specialists throughout the process including rheumatology, CIN concerns that arose during initial investigations but I don't feel like this slowed down the process in any way. All Drs involved communicated well.

We are now 6 weeks away from baby number one arriving and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Alison Taylor and the Lister to anyone. She is caring, understanding, highly competent, responsive (which is so important, replying to emails personally) and a pleasure to deal with.

Try not to feel sad, I honestly found the whole experience very positive once I was under their care, which seems odd to say but it couldn't be more true :)

Hi @thirtyplusone Lister has been mentioned to me a few times now, its great to see that the customer care side has such great reviews , which seems to be what a couple of the others lack having been doing some reading up on them all. I'm going to try and get to one of their open evenings, although they seem to get booked up quite far in advance. Did you have to wait long for your consultation?

That's wonderful news that it worked and huge congratulations!

Thank you! Can't wait to get it over with now ;) We didn't go to an open evening as Alison was recommended directly by my surgeon so we just booked an appointment to see her for an initial consultation. Open evenings didn't appeal to me as I assumed they would be more sales like rather than discussing your needs one to one? I remember we saw her really quickly after calling, can't have been more than a week, 2 max. If you get treated at the Shard instead of Chelsea you'll see the same nurse each time too (she's brilliant). Though even at Chelsea hospital you can request the same one but might not always get them.

Egg retrival is done at the chelsea hospital as is transfer. We had a lovely little walk around battersea park after. Having all the appointments at the shard was quite fun. Not in the least clinical, very calming atmosphere. Feel free to ask me any questions at all.

I know I mentioned it already, but being able to email consultant and nurse directly at any time was really reassuring if I was ever worried about anything or freaked out about injections :)

Hi I went to city fertility for tests and was happy with them.
I decided to go abroad for my IVF/ICSI though (but immunes in London at another clinic). Really rated my IVF clinic but realise you’re looking closer to home. Decided there for reasons nothing to do with city fertility, so don’t let that put you off!

Hello, I went to City Fertility for initial tests. We really liked Dr Abramov and were thinking about having our treatment there. The other clinic we were considering was CRGH, though. In the end we went for CRGH because they have very good success rates and their location was really convenient for us. We've just finished our first cycle of ICSI and I've been really happy with them. It's pretty expensive (even post-BFP which was a surprise to me as they keep you on loads of drugs for pregnancy support and the pregnancy scans are pricey) but I've found them to be brilliant. It's a busy clinic - there are always loads of patients around but they're generally pretty efficient. Would recommend them for certain.

I would totally recommend the Lister. We were under Dr Wren and she was brilliant, even phoned me one day to discuss things mid cycle. The clinic I was at previously was horribly impersonal, whereas the Lister was great. Same sonographer for all scans. I got pregnant on our fresh cycle but sadly miscarried, Dr Wren was so nice at our follow up, she even hugged me. I got pregnant again with a frozen embryo who is now 19 months old and fantastic!