Best IVF Clinic in London?

[RaInB]

Hi ladies,
I am 35yrs old and new to Mumsnet.
Please can I ask for any recommendations on best IVF clinics in London.
I have already been to Lister and had 2 failed embryo transfers and lost 2 embryos to the thawing process, so I don't want to go there again.
My next options are ARCG, CRGH and Guys St Thomas (Privately)

Has anyone of you been to any of the above? Please can you tell me your experience and if you would recommend any of these places?

ARGC has the highest success rate, but some say they do a lot of unnecessary tests and charge a lot than what they say, is that true?

You genuine experience and recommendation will be highly appreciated.

Thank you @Simz01. We were with Dr. Grace, she was recommended to us (by friend’s friend who had ivf with her and has now 6m old boy, she was 44), we were struggling to find a clinic which would have experience with women my age using own eggs, many clinics stop at 42. So it was encouraging for us that they do have patients my age. They are all nice there, she is very busy as she runs an nhs clinic as well, but I didn’t feel rushed, but she is straight to the point..with personalised care you can choose a consultant and you have more flexibility re appointments. I liked her confidence, from the minute she saw my test results etc she said she knew exactly what she would put me on. It’s really worth it to go to the open evening. At guys it’s like a group meeting , at Evewell you will get 10min with a consultant and then embryologist, so they can briefly look at your test results and discuss what’s possible. We saw Dr Davis and he was lovely. It took us ages to decide between these two clinics. Main thing for me were the appointments, at Evewell after you start the stims you need to go for scans almost every other day and blood tests, they monitor you closely, which nurse said would require about 6-7 appointments for a short cycle and I would struggle to get the time off for all those appointments as i didn’t tell at work that I’m doing the ivf. At guys I only had a scan when my period started to check the lining, then nothing until day 9, a scan, so kind of was worried and felt a bit cheated after paying so much money that they are not checking, at least once , but it worked. They said that too many scans, blood tests etc can be stressful and people worry more but they do them if required, depends on test/scan results, health issues etc.. Wish you all the best. Good luck.

Thank you so much, really appreciate it. That’s really helpful x

Sorry, one more question as I was filling in the form.

We will be going privately, and saw they have option of self funded and ‘personalised care’ (where it seems you pick your consultant and have access to them ). Just wondered if personalised is worth the extra ££ in your opinion? I was just going to do the self funded x

Hi, we went with the personalised care as I wanted to choose the consultant as wanted that consultant to do my egg collection and egg transfer. Orherwise with self funded it’s kind of like nhs, but if you don’t qualify for free nhs one, you pay and whoever is available will see you. Also you are limited with the timings of the appointments, would be between 8 and 4pm as normal hours I think, with personalised care you have more flexibility which I needed, so I had an early morning appointment before I went to work at 8, few times at lunchtimes during my lunchbreak whilst at work or you can have it after work, they are there till late..I think they also do private appointments on Saturdays..main thing for me was the time and I wanted my consultant to do the EC and ET , not just some random one I’ve never seen before..

Thank you ! That’s helpful. Yes, I have the same currently with current clinic, different doctor each time or calling with last minute changes etc , makes is harder. My husband is keen for the personalised care too, and from your message I think we will opt for that. Thanks so much, you have really helped for our decision x

@Simz01 I had the same consultant throughout (colin davis) and it made it a relatively relaxing experience. He was away for one of my scans and a colleague i hadnt met before did it. I wasnt too keen on that as I find some gynaes are much easier to get on with than others and ot makes a huge difference. Mr Davis was actually abroad on the day my egg collection came about (earlier than expected) so he flew back specifically to fo that for me. I would personally choose a specific doctor, I think you can feel more trusting and like you are certain everyone Is on the same wavelength, i found myself questioning whether the doctors cover was up to scratch on the day she stood in. Having confidence is really important.

Hi, GlamGiraffe,

I agree, and as much as I like Lister, I think I need a change where I have a more personalised approach and research the consultant I pick. Right now it is a different doctor or nurse on each visit and I only speak to the consultant assigned to me after end of a cycle (and with a fee each time). I’ve had transfer with a different doctor each time. Even in between, if any sudden change in direction it was a different consultant available on the day who calls. Makes it a bit harder. It would be great to have some communication with my consultant throughout the cycle.

I have booked a consultation with Guys (personalised care) and with Evewell (I requested Dr Davis), both based on the helpful advice on here. I’m more inclined to Guys as it is a lot more convenient for me from work as I work in Canary Wharf (and working around appointments gets stressful). I believe they accommodate different timings too if we go for this. Saying that, I’m still going to Evewell and of course, if it feels right then can work around.

I really appreciate all the advice for you both x

Hello ladies,
Aware this post is a few months old now but wondering how you found Evewell if you decided to go ahead with them?

Hello, I didn’t go with Evewell in the end. I have started a new cycle with Guys this month (private), big part of decision is that it is close to my work for appointments (CW) x

Hi @Simz01. I am with Guys too, though the NHS. In the TWW from my second embryo transfer and driving myself mad that maybe it hasn’t worked and looking into alternatives - hence looking into Evewell.

Guys is certainly more convenient for your work, Jubilee line is so Fast. Do you get consultant lead care when private at Guys?

Hi justkeeprunning5,

How are you doing in your 2ww? Keeping my fingers crossed for you so that you don’t even need to consider another clinic!

Yes, it is quick and couple stops on jubilee. Work are supportive and flexible with timings etc, but still have to get work done and fit around meetings etc. So it was one less stress to not have to keep travelling.

I am on the consultant led at Guys. After two failed attempts (ec each time) decided to bite bullet. I struggled with the admin team (got things wrong , like had me down for ICSI instead of ivf ! ), but after that it seems good. I can WhatsApp my consultant and I get a pretty quick reply , so I guess it all helps x

@RaInB I am currently looking at clinics and Evewell has come up, would you mind if I ask how you got on with them?

I recently had one of the free Skype consultations with Evewell and was really really impressed. We "met" with 4 different specialists and each went through our case and history in great detail.

@RaInB

Which clinic did you end up going? how did it go?

Here is a post I posted on CRGH. I hope it will help you making your decision if you are still searching.

Hi all,

I hope you are well and stay safe.

I am a healthy woman, with no fertility issues and healthy egg reserve. (I've done a lot of screening tests) My husband has borderline quality sperm for his last sperm DNA fragmentation test.

We did two cycles at CRGH. Total 25 eggs and only one healthy embryo past PGS.

Put aside the result, I am a bit disappointed with the experience there. I am not sure if it is because of the pandemic, I choose one of their best consultant Dr. Paul Serhal and thought I would be guided and treated by him.

I had a phone consultation with him and started the treatment plan. During the entire process, he has a team of consultants to review my scan and situation. On the egg collection day, despited the fact I requested him to do it for me, he didn't come and his consultant did it for me.

Overall, you don't get a personal touch with the team there. As a matter of fact, you dont even know who is making the decision to adjust the medicines during the process. it is whoever on duty that day. I feel that they are running the clinic like a production line.

IVF is expensive and I did some research choosing this consultant but in the end, I dont think he is involved in all the steps of my treatment. He is more like a CEO in a company, who set an overarching guideline but not doing the actual job.

IVF is a challenging process for us, both physically and mentally, thus, I find CRGH is a bit impersonal. It is extremely difficult to get hold of your consultant. Unusually, you wont get to talk with your consultants but their nurses. The nurse will pass along the message and call you back later. Sometimes they forgot too, so you need to call back.

If you are a bit of medical nerd and thorough person like me, CRGH is definitely not your choice!

I wonder if any one could share their experience with their IVF clinic in London. I am looking for a recommendation. Thanks a lot! Good luck with everyone!

@stayhealthyandpositive I m sorry to hear about the bad experience at CRGH.

I went with Evewell and I highly recommend them. Drs are so lovely and you get their full attention. Dr Colin Davis is amazing but very busy as he is also doing Gynocology. So I went with Dr Dimitri, the best IVF dr I met. I got pregnant twice with them, unfortunately had miscarriage so doing a new cycle again this year.
All the best

@RaInB Thank you very much for sharing.

I will definitely check out Evewell. I am searching for a new clinic at the moment and any personal recommendations are greatly appreciated.

@RaInB I’m in search of a clinic and very much leaning towards Evewell. If you don’t mind me asking, did they explain the reasons behind 2 mc and how they can improve things going forward? The fact that you’re planning to go back speaks highly of them but wondering why they didn’t change their approach the second time around to reduce risk of mc. And only asking as I had multiple mc in the past. Many thanks in advance and all the best of luck and baby dust with your third cycle.

@MummyDiaries they did various new things like immune testing and treatments and new supplements. But they also missed one big thing , which is to check my husbands side. We think the miscarriages were due to High sperm DNA fragmentation which we didn’t know about before doing the egg collection there .
So are going after getting that treated by Mr Ramsay.

I highly recommend them compared to other places around.

@RaInB thanks so much for coming back! I’ll try to book an appointment with them in the next few weeks. Is there a specific Dr you can recommend? Is it difficult to be seen by Dr Davis? Also do patients get seen by the same De throughout their treatments please?

@MummyDiaries you are welcome :)

They also do Zoom open evenings where you can do a free mini private consultation with the Dr. See when the next one is :)

So Mr Davis is the busiest as he also does Gyno. If you go with him he will see you for the initial consultation and then all followup scans are likely to be with a nurse or another Dr.
Where as if you go with Dr Dimitri or Dr Monse they are likely to see you thought it depending on availability .

The doctors are all so lovely . I m going to Dr Dimitri for my next round :)

All the best with yours xx

We are looking at CRGH for IVF. Has anyone had any experience with CRGH? Which consultant would you recommend? We want someone used to treating women in their late 30's with good outcomes. All advice welcome!
x

@RaInB do you know the success rate stats for Evewell? I couldnt find much on this clinic. Do Dr. Dimitri and Dr. Davis good at IVF with women over 38?

Thanks!

Thank you. They charge so much, we just want to make sure that we are getting the best possible care

@MummyAni

I will not recommend CRGH. I posted on this thread about my experience there. Please check and hope you find it helpful. I am currently researching for another clinic, such as Evewell and ARGC. I am a bit scared about the boomcamp style approach of ARGC and not sure if it is going to be worth it...If anyone could share any experience there, itd be helpful! Thanks!

Thank you for your advice. This is really tricky because CRGH's stats are very very good. How do they achieve such good outcomes? Boot camp? Rejecting high risk patients? Better experts?