Donor egg ivf in Portugal

[Walkingmum101]

Hello
Please could I ask for any experiences of IVF clinics in Portugal? I’m 48 and trying to conceive a second child, but no luck with my own eggs. We are interested in the idea of a child being able to trace a donor if they wanted to as an adult which is why we are focusing on Portugal (or Uk). I’ve contacted IVI Lisbon and Ferticentro but real life experiences of them or any other clinic would be great! Thanks

Hi,

Wishing you all the best with your journey WalkingMum. I’m also starting to think about egg donation in Portugal but finding it hard to get any information. Wondering if you’ve had any luck with your research?

Hi thanks, I’ve had a consultation now with Ferticentro which seemed ok, but I’m still trying to decide between them and IVI Lisbon. I agree there not a lot of info/reviews from people who have actually used these two clinics!

I've just done two (unsuccessful) rounds at IVI Lisboa. The good - it's the most well known clinic in the country and uses all the same methods and equipment as they do in Spain. It's slightly cheaper than Spain/UK.

The bad - it's like a factory, there is no personal attention and the doctors are overworked, tired and rushed and there are far too many patients. You often get shunted from one doc to another - I didn't feel that anyone cared about whether things were a success or not. Many of the nurses don't speak good English and some don't speak any English at all. No one tried to make me feel cared for, no one explained things properly or in depth, many of my questions and concerns were dismissed. I was just expected to follow the treatment without questioning or understanding. I thought it was because they were speaking English but my Portuguese husband said he felt the same when talking with them in Portuguese.

I don't know whether my treatment there was unsuccessful because they dropped the ball in the lab (I'm 44 so my odds are obviously crap, but I got 19 eggs so at least a couple should have been OK...that's another story).

As I understand it there is a long waiting list for egg donors.

That said, I don't know if any of the other clinics would be better. Portugal is really a third world country in many respects and while the technology and education they have is first world, attitudes to patient care, bureaucracy and customer service is still very much stuck in the past.

Let me know if you need more info!

Hi Kleintje, I’m so sorry to hear about your cycles snd experience at IVI Lisbon. Would it be ok if I private messaged you please?

Hi Kleintje, so sorry to hear what you have been going through. It's awful to go through all of that and to not get the support you deserve. It's such a difficult process that I would really love to finally go to a clinic where patients are treated as individuals and given the time and tailored support they need.

So difficult to figure out what to do. I am going to set up appointments with Ferticentro and IVI Lisboa but would love if there was someone out there who had a positive experience of a clinic who does non-anonymous egg donation to take out some of the guess work and worry.

Best of luck with your journey Kleintje. 19 eggs is fantastic so will be sending lots of good luck your way for future success. Take care and please do continue to share any information that you think might be useful. Thanks a million.

We are going with Ferticentro which is the only clinic we visited. I can report back after our cycle and would be happy to keep in touch

Hi Pade
yes thank you is it ok if I message you please?

Sure!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well. We started the process with Ferticentro but I must say communication seems a challenge. We are still hopeful but so far I am not sure I would feel confident in recommending them. I really liked the doctor we met there though so I hope it’s just a matter of admin and workload.

Hi
I am also thinking of Portugal for egg donor treatment. I have contacted Ava and Ferticentro too.
Pade, so I believe you have had the consultation now and about to start the donor eggs matching phase? Did you have to wait a long time for the consultation? I would be doing video consultation I think and then travel later for treatment. Just wondering what you need to do next now.

Hello there. I am very curious to here some follow ups on people's experience with clinics in Portugal. I am trying to decide between Spain and Portugal and am really attracted to the non-anonymous aspect of Portugal but am not sure the quality of care and clinics. If you are willing, please let me know your experiences and recommendations?

@bsbs @Pade hi, we are considering now Ferticentro and AVA clinics for DE (3 rounds with OE gave 10 embryos but all uneuploid..). How was your experience if you go ahead with them? Do they do a careful match with a donor and how long are waiting times? Thank you 🙏

Hello, when I contacted them they promised they had donors with certain characteristics but in reality that wasn’t true so we could have gone ahead with another clinic. Apart from that they seemed ok

@Pade thank you! Oh that what scares me, promisses but then different reality. I am from eastern Europe but look more like from Portugal, so maybe will be easier to match..

Good luck TT82! To be fair I was hard to match but they were a bit misleading (probably in good faith)

@TT82 I've just been matched with donors at Ferticentro, took less than two weeks from sending criteria to finding donors and doing genetic matching (I'm using double donor). I've had a really positive experience so far.

@Pade @kirstysmbc thank you both!! It is a relief ti read positive experience, also knowing there might be potentially some communication problems. Tbf my current hospital was horrible in communication but really good in treatment. I will try to book an a first consultation.

@kirstysmbc and all the best further in the process xx

@bsbs @Pade @MaddieJ @TT82 @kirstysmbc Hi, I hope you don't mind me messaging. I am 44 and after years of miscarriages and unsuccessful IVF, we have decided to move forward with donor eggs. We are interested in Portugal because they have ID release, are cheaper and it is a lovely place to visit when undergoing treatment. I have read about Ferticentro and Ginemed, and I wondered if you would be able to share more about your choice and experiences? I did look at Spain, but I am not keen on the donor anonymity and lack of information they provide, from what I understand you are only given the age and blood type of the donor, and only on the day of transfer. What scares me about that is that you are so reliant on the 'clinic matching service' and effectively the decision they make for you. I am not clear on how much of a human element there is to the matching in Portugal, or if the match is made just using a computer system that scans your photos and finds the nearest match on their 'books'? What I would like is to find a country/clinic where I feel confident in the matching process and that I can be involved in it? Please can you share your experience, thank you xx

@onewishplease hi, after more losses we decided to move to DE this year. We went with Greek clinin and frozen egg bank they work with - then it is open ID at 18yr. You have more control over your choice as you select the donor. Greece now allows both. Fresh donors were anonymous though. But we wanted frozen route, as uncertainty and stress with fresh was too much. We are successful first transfer and now I am pregnant. PM me if you are interested in more details.

Hello TT82, and congratulations on your pregnancy.
Could you please share the name of the clinic you chose in Greece? I’ve just had my third transfer, which unfortunately resulted in another miscarriage, and I’m considering changing clinics. I was just interested in Portugal because of the open ID and did not know that Greece accept open ID.
Thank you so much.

Hi, New Life IVF Greece in Tessaloniki
Good luck!🍀