@chocolate336 I have had two cycles at Belfast Fertility. I'm 39 and my husband is 38. We have been trying for a baby for three years and I got pregnant naturally once, but unfortunately miscarried at 5 weeks. Our first cycle in February resulted in total fertilisation failure with 9 eggs retrieved but only six were mature. They couldn't give us an explanation to why none of the eggs fertilised but recommended ICSI in the following cycle.
Our second cycle in June resulted in two grade A blastocysts from six eggs collected, of which three were mature. I developed two large cysts during this cycle, which probably impacted on the number and quality of eggs, but fortunately all three were fertilised with ICSI and two developed well into blasts. I had a fresh transfer and am currently 9 weeks pregnant. Our little embaby is developing a bit slowly (fetal pole and heartbeat only visible at 7 weeks), so we have had three scans with the clinic so far.
My opinion of Belfast Fertility is that they do the best with what's available to them and HFEA regulations. Because they don't do ICSI as standard practice or genetic testing of embryos, their success rates per cycle are lower than clinics abroad. I had an online consultation with an IVF clinic in Spain and were amazed by the amount of testing that they do before offering any further treatment to patients. It includes genetic screening of the couple, a hysterosalpingography, sperm DNA fragmentation, among others. None of that was offered or suggested by Belfast Fertility and I believe it would have been useful to have those done, especially after our total fertilisation failure in the first cycle. Of course it makes sense to recommend ICSI in a following cycle, but it doesn't explain why fertilisation wasn't possible and it could be due to a genetic issue with either eggs or sperm, but would still affect the development of embryos later on. I believe that's what's happening to the little embaby that was transferred and is struggling to develop - it's just heartbreaking.
For us it's a closed chapter on Belfast Fertility as we have decided to do our third and last cycle abroad. We have a frozen embryo stored with them but it makes me anxious that it's untested and may result in another slow growing embryo and possible miscarriage. I would like to have another egg collection before I reach 40 years old and hopefully transfer an euploid embryo with higher chances of success. Spanish clinics also allow for the transfer of multiple embryos, which isn't allowed in the UK if the patient is 40.
If I were younger and had NHS funding for my cycles, I would probably try a subsequent cycle with Belfast Fertility, but unfortunately I'm not getting any younger, have spent over £13,000 with two cycles and meds, and have more questions than answers regarding our still 'unexplained infertility'.
Good luck with your treatment and please consider all the options before you commit to a specific clinic. A local option might look like the most appropriate one but might offer very little in terms of treatment.