IVF at Create Fertility - process and timeline?

[ohsheglows]

Hello all, I used to post on the conception thread but I think it's time I now moved to the infertility section instead.

I've been trying for over a year now and have decided to go down the IVF route. I have low AMH and low antral follicle count (3) and I'm 32 years old. After so many days of feeling down and crying, I now feel like I need to get into gear and try to be more positive about it!

Is anyone on here currently with Create Fertility for their IVF or have been in the past? Can someone give me an idea of costs, general timeline and the process?

Thank you all 🙏

@birdbybird Do you mind me asking where did you do your immune testing thanks x

@Carry17 I did it at the CRP clinic run by Dr Shehata.

Hi @MrsMary78 I hope you have sent that other clinic a photo of your baby:))
it's really annoying how a lot of clinics only care about their stats and turn you down. Or that NHS doesn't offer funding for women with low AMH or even worse, will not follow through as with #ssoom.
Thanks for the advice again, I will be asking for all the details I can get, no doubt about that. Just booked CD5 scan for next Tuesday :) will be texting with more questions hope you don't mind!!

How are things going with you @birdbybird ??

@Summerishere83 don't mind at all, feel free! I'm happy to help as I have been through the same situation and know how it's like! And yeah, forget about the stats, some are useful to get a general idea but don't think they are vital, as I found out many clinics push women to use donor eggs so they're more successful and boost their rating.
Of course, if the woman is happy to choose that method that's fine, but clinics shouldn't push and should try to do the best to try with own eggs first. The other clinic was really a downer and really upset me, totally careless.

I had very little help from the NHS about my low AMH, I could have started a short ivf instead of wasting years of just doing blood tests and see my level plummeting :-(

Hi everyone, have just found this thread as have been diagnosed with an AMH of 3.9 and 34 years old. Been trying for our second for 2 years and have been advised to start IVF asap because of my plummeting AMH. I also has AFC of 6. Have been looking at create and found really mixed reviews but this thread seems really positive. Can I ask if anyone has been using the St Paul’s clinic in London?
Has anyone have any more successful rounds since December? x

@MrsD7 Hi - I used Create St Paul's last year and had a positive experience.
I did a 3 cycle package at age 36 with AMH of 6 and AFC of 8.
I had previously done an NHS round which resulted in an egg collection of 1 follicle and no egg inside.
Of my 3 cycles at Create my results were:
Cycle 1- 6 eggs which ended in 1 day 3 embryo and 1 day 5 blast frozen
Cycle 2 - 4 eggs with 1 day 3 embryo frozen
Cycle 3 - 2 eggs with 1 day 3 transfered fresh and 1 day 5 blast frozen.
I am currently 26 weeks pregnant with my fresh transfer from Cycle 3.
I found the experience so much less stressful than I did with the NHS. I wss only given a 10% chance of success as I had been a poor responder to the drugs but thankfully it worked.
Wishing you lots of luck xxxx

@Scarlett868 thank you so much for replying and congratulations!
can I ask, did you do mild ivf or natural or natural modified? Do they advise you on what would be best? X

@MrsD7 Thank you so much!
I was advised to do MILD ivf. They actually started me on a low dose and then I would increase it based on how my follicles were looking during the scans.
It was a lot less medicine than I took than with the NHS. I believe they out me on a short protocol. Xx

We used Create last year and had mild IVF - I was 36 and my AFC was 8. I wasn’t eligible on NHS as low BMI and they felt I wouldn’t be able to conceive. I’d recommend Create to anyone, as they really put emphasis on egg quality rather than quantity and emphasised that overall number of eggs isn’t important, you only need one good quality egg. We ended up with three good quality day five blasts, one of which is now 8 weeks old and cuddled up with me 😊 I’d also really recommend taking Impryl - my partner and I took it for six months before our cycle and his sperm count went from very low (less than 3 million) to 21 million! Wishing you all luck with your journeys x

Same here, same clinic, I was given a 10% chance, age 40s with low AMH of 2.3 pmol! I now have a 13 months baby!

@MrsD7 I forgot to mention that I did Mild and using my own eggs, if this helps x

Hi 👋 Came across this thread, which was really useful as I'm considering Create. I'm 37, AMH around 6 AMH (could be lower now as that was late 2022), and AFC is around 4-5.

I just had an NHS cycle that failed, unfortunately, on high dose (450 IU) short protocol. Got 4 eggs, but only 2 mature of which there was failed fertilisation, so ICSI has been advised for the next round.

I was just wondering how people have got on from this thread that were going through Create and if there was any advice? I was considering natural modified, but am gauging mild is better in some cases? I have come across on the threads getting of some people getting more than 2 eggs on natural modified, so it would be great to hear more experiences and any suggestions.

Thanks!

@Sunflower360 I posted my results from Create above :)
The reality is with low AMH and low ovarian reserve you won't get a big number of eggs but hopefully you will get some good quality.
They will definitely advise you and you are better monitored than I found I was with NHS.
My little miracle is 4 weeks tomorrow so I am obviously really happy with my treatment from create but one big thing I would say is make sure they are easy to get to and from. They were a short walk from my work so I never had any stress with making appointments or time of work. Not sure if it made a difference but it was again much easier than my round with the NHS.
Really wishing you all the luck in the world xxxx

Thanks @Scarlett868 that is really helpful and congratulations!

I am expecting low numbers so am focussing on quality and taking a high dose of CoQ10, adjusting diet to get healthy foods in etc. Travel wise the clinic is not too far, but my employer is really understanding thankfully so all good to attend appts etc.

Did you take any other supplements at all? I was advised to take DHEA in the follow up with the NHS Consultant but have not done so as I understand Create advise not to.

What type of IVF did you do with Create, was it natural modified or mild?

hi @Sunflower360 I did Mild at Create, I think it's better than Natural Modified, as in my case I had more quality eggs to play with ;-) instead of just 1 which is really risky! I explained my situation in details in the previous comments, I had very low AMH and over 40s, no egg donations. I now have a 18months old baby :-)

Wishing lots of good luck! x

Thanks @MrsMary78 that is really helpful. Did you have multi cycle mild IVF? If so, what were your meds/stims like? We are prepared to go up to 6 cycles with them... but hope it would not take that many. We have 1 x NHS cycle that was max stims so am thinking a different approach may be better

We had one of the eggs abnormally fertilse (embryologist thinks more than 1 sperm went in), so hopefully ICSI would fix that next time.

Also, what is montioring like with Create? Scans, blood tests, other tests during the cycle, etc. Is the care package worth getting that includes tests?

@Sunflower360 I did mild 3 cycle package with them and that definitely worked better for me than the super high dose with nhs. Even tho I only got 4 frozen at the end of that package I am really pleased.

Monitoring I felt was really good. You have scans and bloods every other day which was good and they adjusted meds according to how I was progressing and then they can judge when to pull the trigger.

I thought the drs and nurses were great. Admin was a bit slow on emails but they were always able to sort meds etc on short notice. Xxx

Thanks @Scarlett868 that is really helpful. Where did you get meds from? I understand they csn be expensive from Create directly

@Sunflower360 I think a certain amount of the meds is covered in the package. They use a company called fertility2u which ships to your home. If you need extra you can get from create. I think in the 3 cycle package we ended up paying an extra 1k for meds on top of what we had paid. I think they estimate the cost of meds but if extras are needed it will be added on. Xxx

I had the package of 3 cycles, but I chose one to be Natural Modified (which was useless in my case)! The meds were only for 4/5 days and on lower doses, nothing like traditional IVF where they bombard you for weeks!

Thanks @MrsMary78 that os really helpful. Would you mind if I asked what your AFC/AMH was like during the cycles?

Hi ladies, we are considering going for Create 3 cycle Mild IVF, can I please check if anyone has used the Access Fertility IVF refund programmes for Mild IVF, or are they only for traditional IVF cycles?