Create Fertility - Experiences (Part 3)

[Sunflower360]

Hi 👋

A thread for anyone who wants to discuss their Create Fertility experiences.

I'm 38, have had 3 egg collections with Create (2x natural modified and 1 x mild) and am about to go through my first FET following embryo banking and after having a Hysteroscopy and discovering I have thyroid antibodies...joys of fertility challenges.

Tagging as follows from previous chat, please tag any others I may have forgot.

New joiners to the thread welcome to share your experiences - it's a never ending learning curve for all!

@Maddie23
@gemso2020
@Doxy21
@Plantymcplant
@Jennaqua
@Hopesandsunshine
@jolly86
@VenusStarr
@muddlingthrou
@junieS
@littlebitsocial

@AlleycatMarie Hey, I hope you're feeling OK. I've been thinking of you.

Don't feel you need to rush into decision about what to do next in these next few days/weeks. Take the time you need to clear your head a bit from this last cycle.

I don't know your exact circumstances, but is it worth asking the doctors about ovulation induction? I think that is a lot less expensive. Xx

Hello, I wonder if I could ask some questions. I've had two failed rounds of IVF on maximum stims (NHS) first round 3 eggs, all fertilised, one day 5 put back but failed. Second 1 egg, fertilized, day 3 transfer failed. And one spontaneous pregnancy and MMC at 10 weeks inbetween. Im 39.

We won't get more funding, and are very close to booking at create for a 3 cycle package because of very low amh, and age. I live in Scotland but will book in London as DP is working there (and there are no clinics where I live).

I'm wondering whether there's much difference between st pauls and wimbledon? Cost/busyness/success rates/general experience. I'm reading reviews where they've run out of hospital gowns and forms and generally things feeling pretty haphazard/disorganised and hard to get in touch with. I really want to feel like I trust the poeple who will be giving me drugs and operating on me. I've read that it's a good choice for a woman in my circumstances, and I don't have huge doubts over that. I'm just hoping I can feel ok about the choice. I really don't want to waste the last chances I have. Any advice?

I’ve found the admin side can be quite frustrating but the medical side of Create has always seemed good. Have to chase quite often for medication, invoices, appointment bookings. Never had an experience with them running out of anything at St Paul’s. I have found they seem to go along with whatever I suggest which is quite unnerving, but I’m not sure that’s a common experience with them.

thanks for your reply @RainbowFluff . thats encouraging that you've felt the medical side to be good. And I feel prepared (and have warned OH) for lots of chasing admin stuff. I clearly have some anxiety on the backburner as I drempt last night that we had our first treatment but they forgot to transfer the embryo. Very rarely do I have ivf dreams! I can imagine their going along with things being unnerving... I definitely like to feel led by experts... like, how far does that flexibility go? is it things like when to put an embryo back, or how many? or the actual treatment plan?

@Nosejug sorry you're feeling that way. I wasnt at either of those clinics but I would agree with @RainbowFluff that admin is not so great at Create clinics, mainly because it is centralised and does not really work all that great in terms of efficiency or accuracy. But if you're willing to chase and cross check then you can overlook that.

Regarding making decisions, I found that I was given options and they asked my opinion/agreement. Generally there were some firm no's such as doing a double embryo transfer in the first FET but by the 3rd FET I was permitted to do a double (which then led to DC in a singleton pregnancy). But generally I have found IVF is still an evolving science therefore there are many variables that can affect outcomes and even the Dr's cannot explain why certain outcomes occur in some situations as each case is so unique. I think on that basis they tend to prefer to get your buy in on decisions. My advice would be to be well informed with your own research so you can have a list of questions to steer decision making.

Oh hi @Sunflower360 it was your kind information that ended up helping me make this decision. Right, that was what was in my mind, that there are many variables that can affect outcomes but that we can only make informed decisions about and not count on efficacy. I suppose it’s pointing out the wish that there was control (and dependable outcomes). I did also wonder about double transfer, I forgot you’d said that. I would definitely push for it after all that’s happened but I am so unlikely to get more than one egg/embryo.

did anyone get male fragmentation tested at create? It’s something I’ve wondered about.

(Thankyou so much for answering my questions) and congrats again on the pregnancy :)

Hi all, I am new to this thread. I joined create fertility in march 2024. Almost one year ago today. I had one chemical pregnancy and two failed transfers. We did back to back cycles in September last year. Due to my low amh I am a low responder and only ever get one or two follicles to grow. Of the three cycles I did, we managed to get a 4ab blastocyst currently in the freezer. I was preparing for a FET with a medicated cycle, however I have been told today my cycle will have to be cancelled as my lining has started to thin 😔. I was wondering if anyone has had an experience of this and what they did differently to prepare the lining?

I’ve found with the medications rather than the transfers, for example when I’ve had consultations with other clinics and then said ‘why aren’t you suggesting X’ they’ve said fine, you can have it as well. For my current cycle I changed the dose of stims and the trigger based on my research about what I thought best. Hopefully they would have said no if they thought it really wouldn’t work! It can seem odd as I thought they’d lead it more but I’m reassuring myself by thinking that perhaps none of these things really matter so they are just going along with it.

@RainbowFluff I think I'd end up getting overwhelmed by the variables if I started researching the meds. But maybe that's really stupid of me to not try take some control. Im not sure how equipped I am to decide which data to pay attention to.

We had our first appointment this week, had some genetic bloods done (💰😮) and can get going once they're ready. The nhs had said they would also fund donor egg for us but then just found out that actually I'll be too old by the time an egg is available so they won't put me on the waiting list. Which was disappointing. But just gotta try keep positive...Gonna take them up on implications counselling anyway.

I found the admin side not ideal too.
I felt a bit like cattle being herded or a tick box. I didn't feel they listened to my concerns, they were just brushed over.
I was quite emotional on all the meds and they didn't like that at all. If you're made of stronger stuff than I am, it might be a great fit though!
The nurses and doctors were really nice but communication between all of them wasn't ideal. We didn't find out for several days after the disgard date, if any of our embryos were frozen.
I think if you have a live birth after it, it kind of doesn't seem as important but from our experience it was more stressful than it could have been

Hi, I had a couple of questions about IVF with Create if anyone can help?

I recently found out AMH is 4 ! I’m 29 and had a loss 1 year ago and still in shock about this result. I am booked for my first consultation and scan.

How quickly can they start treatment if they say yes I am a candidate? I’m so anxious about wasting time and want to just start as soon as I can.

I also wanted to ask if they are going to try and investigate why I have low AMH? To be honest right now my priority is saving eggs but doing lots of in-depth testing.

it’s been so helpful reading your stories

Lauren x

@Hopingforrainbow2025 Hi 👋 I had a consultation then started the cycle the following month, it all just depends on if any investigatory tests are suggested (I would advise to do them if advised and not rush treatment, any bit of info from test results beforehand could save time/issues later). You would just need to also ensure all medication and nurse consultation is completed-this all depends on admin organising this... you may have read the admin can be rubbish so be prepared to chase, follow up and cross check; not ideal but ensures things keep moving (or so I found anyway).

Regarding AMH I had a similar level, but was 37 at the time. It is basically the number of eggs you're born with and everyone has a different starting point and they deplete at different rates, the clinic are unlikely to be able to give you a definitive cause for it. Unfortunately it does just vary person to person. You do have age on your side in that your eggs are likely to be good quality and with fertility/conceiving quality certainly matters over quantity (or so I believe). Also remember it only takes 1 egg and you would only ovulate one a month anyway (unless on the odd occasion more were released which is when multiple pregnancies happen). In any case try not to worry about AMH- over 3 ECs with Create I had 14 eggs collected and 8 ended up being embryos frozen and I now have a DC, so it really is quality over quantity. I would focus on diet/nutrition/supplements/exercise to ensure quality is what it can be.

Hope that helps

Thank you. That is really helpful. I guess I was worried they would drag it out or make us wait 3 months to prep etc. Which if they do then that’s fine at least I would know a timeline.

Ive read that sometimes auto immune conditions cause the low number but I feel like I’d rather focus on egg retrieves before going down rhat rabbit hole and discovering something negative. As long as my body can carry which I hope is the case (had 3 month loss) then I am ready to go.

Thank you for all your advice. When I’ve been getting anxious I’m trying to remember that it just takes 1. Hard when it’s not happened naturally as I feel we lose confidence in ourselves a bit. There was an abnormality with the baby I lost so that worries me now about any pregnancies.

fingers crossed consult will go well and I can start very soon x

@Hopingforrainbow2025 I'm so sorry for your loss. My amh was 0.4 (yep you read that right!) at 34. I had various tests done but they weren’t ever able to identify a cause/explanation as to why it was so low. But we did get started in ivf quickly and ultimately (though not quickly or easily as you can read from my previous posts), we’ve ended up with a son, who I’ll be ever grateful for 💙
You definitely have age on your side and I’m a believer in quality over quantity for sure, but I’d recommend taking some time upfront to find out/rule out what you can. I know with the amh news it can feel like a mad panic to crack on, but a month or two really won’t make a difference in the scheme of things, whereas doctors being able to tailor to you could make a huge difference. Ask the questions and do the tests you feel necessary, but don’t panic based on Amh alone. I know how scary it is and wish you the absolute best xx

@Hopingforrainbow2025 so sorry to read about your loss. We had a much earlier loss, I can't imagine how hard 3 months would have been. The consultant said something quite helpful based on the mc. That the fact that your two genetic packages can in fact come together to make an embryo, and that your body can in fact naturally take a pregnancy (you have all the instructions) just means getting the right combination of sperm and egg to succeed. My amh is between 2.6 and 3.8 (it went up upon measuring, as there is a limited variability in concentration of it in your blood). We have each time gotten embryos but I've had two failed transfers, and I'll bet a lot of that is my (our) age. Both now 39. There's loads of hope for you building your family. The first test we were asked to do is a genetic one (kariotype). It's something we never discussed with the nhs, so there is a level of investigativness that we haven't had yet in our journey. Are you applying for some nhs funding? We're in Scotland and it doesn't count here, but in England you can take the funding and choose where to spend it.

@HopefulElle Thank you for reply. It does give me some hope hearing people get there in the end and have their babies. I think it is hard because when I researched the number it was saying how alarming it is and after trying for a year I feel like it knocks your confidence that I can actually get pregnant. I am starting to explore tests as we don't yet have a known cause of infertility apart from this low number.

@Nosejug I am sorry to hear of your loss too. I feel that being pregnant before does on one hand give me some hope (as you said it confirms a few things such as fertilisation, implantation, placenta working etc). My loss was chromosomal so they thought it was bad luck essentially. However since I have discovered my AMH is really low I have wondered if this means I have bad eggs and it was caused by me.

My GP is starting referral for NHS IVF however - one of the criteria I have seen is having a AMH above 5.4, which I fail on. I think there may be a work around/allowed if you are diagnosed with diminished reserved but I don't think I have time for NHS waiting and also they only fund 1 round in my County which by look of research into low AMH is going to be a long shot. It appears best would be 3 rounds of lower stims and I would want to try and give myself enough embryos and some chance as again I have anxieties around getting pregnant but having a MMC again and wondering how many embryos it will take :(

@Hopingforrainbow2025 I did an NHS round and now wish I hadn’t, there was such a long wait and it delayed me starting IVF until I was already 40, whereas I could have started much earlier. I have also now ended up having 2 rounds privately anyway so wish I’d got on with it to start with! Annoyingly the postcode we lived in when we started investigations covered 3 cycles, but nobody told me about this so we moved towards the end of the 2 years of investigations and our new postcode only covered one. So I definitely would have gone private first if I’d known that.

@Hopingforrainbow2025 honestly from absolutely everything I've been told and read, amh is not an indicator of egg quality. Age is. Amh tells you only about your ovarian reserve and how strongly you'll respond to ivf meds. I'm certainly no expert, but that's what I've been told by more than one fertility doctor. It's such a complicated thing though, I blame myself for unhealthy choices I made when I was young. A consultant was very firm with me when telling me that I had no control over my amh.

In regards to lower amh and nhs funding, I read that too, but I had lower and I was funded for two rounds until I only made one egg. That's Scotland, but I began the process while still living in London and I'd been referred.

RainbowFluff 's point is well made. If I could know what I know now, I'd have convinced myself to go for paid treatment at 36 rather than the very very long waiting. I do know others though with low amh that got one egg, one embryo and one baby. There's just no knowing.

Just wondering about costings, we’ve chosen the three cycle package with a couple of add ons that make sense, but on top of that is a three cycle “care package”. Is that anything you guys have had on your bill too? It’s about 4K. I keep asking for a price breakdown but I keep getting quite vague responses.

experience has been good so far, our coordinator seems totally on it so that’s good.

@Nosejug Are you sure you don't have a breakdown in the documents they've sent? I'm pretty sure that on mine the care package refers to blood tests and possible the sedation fees for each round. I haven't got it to hand to check though. But I've done cycles with them where blood tests weren't included and they're about £100-£150 depending on what's needed each time and they were every 2 days.. I'm very irregular so on some cycles I've only needed 3 of them and in those days I had to pay as you go. I've also had some cycles where I stimmed for over 10 days and probably had like 10 sets of the tests so it was more cost effective. I'm not sure now if there's an option to pay for them as you go/separately now?

@Nosejugcare package is worth getting I think as it means the blood tests to check hormones etc are all included. The invoice should include a breakdown

Thanks both! I did get the breakdown in the end and it’s an exactly as you both said, thanks very much. Our treatment comes to 21k which is a hellova lot more than we were initially quoted. It’ll be my last treatment with my own eggs that’s for sure. I know I won’t regret trying whatever the outcome. Just a shame finances are so limiting

Hi all, I commented on this thread about a year ago, I was at the start of my IVF journey and was starting my first NHS round of IVF at Create St Paul’s. We actually fell pregnant with our second embryo transfer, however, our daughter arrived when I was 26 weeks pregnant in November and passed away three days later. It’s been a very traumatic time but we’re now talking about next steps to try again. I have no frozen embryos so me and my husband will have to start from scratch. I have been advised to do a multi cycle package and will only be able to transfer any embryos from November (have to wait a year post c-section) but we can get the ball rolling with embryo freezing.
Can anyone advise me on the costing realistically? I have no idea what to expect, we will be doing 3 cycles plus ICSI, no genetic testing, I’m not even sure how much medication would be? Xxx

Hi @tillyxxx

so sorry to hear about your loss, cannot comprehend what that would have been like for you.

It's positive that you have a plan to move forward. Cost wise for multi cycle natural modified ICSI plan (3 ECs, 1 fresh or FET, all meds and blood tests) came to around £17k from my recollection. Mild IVF when we were quote was £19k. Each subsequent FET following the first transfer is around £2.5k for a natural FET

Hi @tillyxxx, so sorry to hear about your loss, absolutely devastating. We did a 3 cycle natural modified package and it was ~£13k. We did then end up spending a bit more on some extra meds and scans due to cancelled cycles etc, probably totalling around another £1-1.5k, but we had a lot of issues.
wishing you all of the luck xx