I wonder if anyone can help me work out decisions around which clinic to go to for IVF?
Some background: I am 40, my partner is 34. We have been TTC for about 18 months. I have fibroids, but my FSH/LH is normal (or was last September) and my AMH was decent (14 pmol/L). We essentially have male factor infertility - his sperm is low on all parameters (OATS). He's had surgery for a large varicocele and we are waiting for a semen analysis next month to find out if that improved it.
I am between operations for fibroids, need one more. It seems likely we need IVF/ICSI, and would do frozen transfers rather than fresh (because of the fibroids - we need to time it for when my uterus is clear) and probably PGT-A is sensible because of my age.
We went originally to the Evewell as my friend recommended them, and had an initial check up. The consultant there suggested my partner go to an andrologist before we tried IVF (and he ended up being treated for the varicocele, so that was helpful). However, I've read some reviews in various places recently that suggests the Evewell has gone downhill a bit lately? Also, the consultant we saw there has moved to their new West London clinic and we'd have to pick someone else as that's a bit far for us.
We're also probably limited to one cycle (for cost reasons), and I'm nervous that some clinics seem to expect you to do several, so they can try you out on different treatment protocols to see what works.
So I started looking into other clinics as well. Two alternatives I have looked into particularly are FertilityPlus (Mr Gudi/MrShah) and ARGC.
FertilityPlus - I can't seem to find anything other than glowing reviews about Mr Gudi/Mr Shah. I'm also attracted by the fact that they seem to focus on FET rather than fresh transfer, which is what we would need anyway. They use LWC lab facilities (not sure if this is good) and it's annoying that they don't give clear success rates (as live birth rates not pregnancy rate). But it sounds like they do a lot of testing and want to get things right the first time. Also, more expensive, but also possibly more tailored than the Evewell, and they have packages that are very clear upfront about how much we would pay for exactly what we need. Another con - I feel very rushed to get started asap, but the first appointment available with them would be in July.
ARGC - another one that people seem very enthusiastic about, but very conflicting accounts. Very expensive because of the extensive testing, and you can't say in advance how much it's all going to cost. Seems somehow both impersonal and extremely tailored - tailored because of the constant testing as you go, but there seems to be a fairly standard/impersonal treatment protocol with things they expect everyone to do? I also don't have any reason to think I need immunotherapy as not had MCs - but then I've never been pregnant, either, so I can't say for sure. I am worried how the costs would mount up with this one. But it also seems to be the 'last resort' place, so maybe we should save time/money by just going straight there?
I feel this huge urgency (because of my age) to do an egg collection ASAP. We have waited and waited, in part hoping to get an NHS referral (which has had huge delays, so I don't think we will get it for ages) and partly so my partner could have treatment first. I am so worried that my decent AMH/AFC means nothing now I'm 40, and every month that goes past means worse egg quality. On the other hand, we can't really afford more than 1 round privately (£20k-£25k ish) so I need to weigh the urgency against going somewhere that will get us the best result the first time.
Any thoughts about the clinics above? Or the trade offs in general?