Clinic advise who have people used ?

[MrsLouB]

Hi so after our last 3 I've tries (1 fresh, 2 FET) I'm looking at using another clinic. I don't feel that some issues where looked at no I've had time to re think like my TSH level being 3.2y lining not being quite thick enough etc. So looking on recommendations? I'm in the south-east used TFP Thames Valley Fertility before, a lot of the London ones are doable but then some ask for a lot of appointments which in not sure of. Anyway has anyone got any recommendations? I've looked at Create, CARE, London Womens and ARGC

Thanks in advance

Hi @MrsLouB Could you let us know what your issues are as this might help people give suggestions? I am a poor responder to meds and DH has low sperm count. I did consultations with several clinics and I felt Lister were most proactive at listening to my worries and thinking about how they might deal with them so we went with them and had a really good experience. My consultant really listened, suggested things and approved tests I wanted other clinics had dismissed.

Do be wary of people suggesting their clinic as they got pregnant with them - not necessarily a sign of a good clinic.

I’d try compile a short list of clinics that get good reviews or deal with a specific issue and then arrange consultations with them and then decide who is the best fit based on how they review your case. I know consultations aren’t expensive but it’s a lot cheaper than a wasted round with the wrong clinic.

Sorry consultations are expensive I mean.

Hi, @Dochas1211 thanks for coming back to me. My issues are I have an AMH of 2.5 pmol and other than that I don't know. I've had various early miscarriages but no known cause or not investigated.

I am looking at clinics but the consultants are expensive at £300 each it's not something I would want to go through more than a few times.
On my last failed FET the consultant mentioned egg donor as my age but again not sure if this is the only option.

@MrsLouB have you had any tests for your losses? Either by your clinic or a recurrent miscarriage clinic? My TSH was similar (although would fluctuate) so my rmc prescribed levothyroxine and it's controlled it to (mostly) under 2.

I've only done ivf at Create (not London). But have low amh (5 over a year ago so likely to be less now). I found create to be very clear about expectations and they had fairly low ones for me. I did mild ivf and ended up with 3 top grade embryos.

I have overactive nk cells as the reason for my recurrent losses and I found create to be very open to me doing an immune protocol alongside my ivf and transfers. I have had 2 losses though - so I did get pregnant twice with them. I'm waiting for testing on my last baby before we look at next steps.

Interestingly I asked my doctor about donor eggs and he said he wouldn't push it for me (mainly because my issues are recurrent losses - 4 were natural conceptions but once I was diagnosed with nk cells I couldn't conceive). I think they'll suggest pgs testing for us but we only have one embryo left and I won't test that one. I'm unsure if we're going to do more rounds of ivf or what our next steps are.

I do find them very approachable, open to my thoughts and ideas and easy to make appointments.
Hope that's helps. X

@MrsLouB what age are you? I found Lister open to more different protocols than my previous clinics re low AMH. For example, adding letrozole alongside Stims. As I didn’t get many embryos they recommended embryo banking and they went ahead with a full suite of tests pre transfer which flagged a lot of issues that could then be adjusted for FET rather than repeat transfers which likely would’ve failed m. This was important to me as We created so few embryos. They also were open to doing natural or low stim ivf if I wanted to do this after high dose.

I would definitely be looking for a clinic that investigates your early losses too before any transfers. It sounds like create are proactive too. It’s hard to gauge how they will treat you though and which would be better without the consults.

I know create are a complete rip off for initial consult. Lister and ARGC were around £150 so not as bad.

Hi, @VenusStarr @Dochas1211thanks so much for sharing. My TSH level is up to 4.7 but went down to 1.9 and then up again to 4.6 but Gp won't medicate. I'm a lot more knowledgeable on this now so will ask this time.

I've never had any investigations with my previous miscarriages GP nor fertility Dr seemed to care! This is one of my issues as if it's something else then an egg donor won't help. They have never mentioned any other tests or the PGS testing. Although this is something we want there is only so much money we can spend having already spent 20k.

I will continue looking at clinics and will look at listed and ARCG

X

Oh, and my AMH was 2 but this was two years ago and before the IVF. I am 41 now ~ 42 this year. So not sure what level we will be at now. They didn't know until we started how many eggs we would get but we had 9 eggs all mature, all ISCI and 7 made it and was left with 4 at day 5 - 2 at grade b 1 at c and 1 at d (which we didn't freeze)

We were hopeful and on the 2nd FET we got our strong positive if never had one so stronger, great levels too but sadly stopped at 7 weeks