Are there any really good IVF expert doctors that anyone knows of out there?

[ScoutFinch]

I have friends who are now at the point where they are paying for IVF and I wondered if anyone had any recommendations?

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You need to be careful with the league tables, though, because some clinics will take on patients whose odds are very slim, and of course this affects their statistics. Its a good idea to have initial consultations at more than one clinic (though you will have to pay for these) and then make your choice.

Scoutfinch, finding an IVF clinic/doctor is, as TheApprentice says, so much more than league tables. They are pretty useless - like school league tables IMO.

When we found out we needed IVF 3 years ago, we first went to the HFEA website and sent off for their book on clinics and researched questions to ask etc. We're lucky in that we live in the SE so have loads of clinics to choose from, including all of the London clinics if we'd so wished. They will want to try and avoid too much travel if they can, but it depends where they live and how much choice they will have locally. There is so much to consider when making your choice.

We decided not to go for London clinics at the time cos of the stress and expense of travelling into London regularly (there are alot of appts involved in IVF). We narrowed our choice down to two clinics - one with a success rate at the time of 45% and the other one with a success rate of 26%. You'd think it would be a no-brainer, but actually we went to visit both and it really made us think. The more successful clinic was packed, so much so we had to sit in the corridor, the doctor I saw was arrogant and rude, and I felt totally unlistened to and dismissed. I also found out that all the treatment would be done by the nurses and I would never see the doctors except for egg collection.

The other clinic, by contrast, was much quieter and the staff were far more friendly. Plus the doctor was female and absolutely adorable. She explained that their success rates were low because they had a v high proportion of women in their 40s, whereas I was only 33 at the time so had a much better chance of success. I would never have considered going anywhere else and have never regretted my decision.

A couple of useful links for you:

www.hfea.gov.uk/

www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?board=139.0

I wish your friends all the best, IVF is a tough, tough road.

Thanks guys.

Splodgesmum they had their one and only nhs chance already no success and have just paid out £5,000 only to be told that they have a 5% chance with that and were asked to stump up another £1,000 to boost their chance to 15%!

It just seems so heartbreaking, and their current doctor sounds quite cold and matter of fact from what they have said.

A lot of the NHS hospitals in the SE do private appointments at the same price as they charge the NHS IYSWIM so it can be cheaper. They will have to reckon on a lot of scans etc so that will make a bit of a difference to where they can go.

Also, NHS hospitals can end up dealing with more complicated cases than the private ones because they are required to treat more people so as splodgesmum says, the league tables themselves have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

scoutfinch, your poor friends . It is heartbreaking and when the doctors just treat you as another case with no kindness or sympathy it makes it so much worse.

I would recommend they go and get another opinion if they can, but they also need to reconsider their options if their odds are so poor. It's such a personal decision as to whether you go through the stress and expense of an IVF cycle with such a low chance of success. Would they consider donor treatment for example?

Their present clinic sound quite unethical I have to say - there are alot of charlatans out there who will take peoples' money even with v little chance of success .

I'd recommend the following clinics, based on my experience and the experience of friends who have undergone IVF: -

The Lister Hospital Assisted Conception Unit - I had my IVF/ICSI cycle here and they were fantastic (I got pregnant with twins on my first cycle who are now 18 months old). They don't just take 'easy' patients but will consider more complicated cases and offer a full range of treatments (assisted hatching, ICSI, etc.). If your friends have extra complications then I would recommend seeing the head guy there (Prof Hossam Abdallah). He's fantastic and it might take slightly longer to get an appointment with him, but he knows his stuff.

St Mary's Hospital - they take private as well as NHS patients and are excellent. Two girlfriends have just both got a blue line/successful cycle from there - both had spent the last five years with failed cycles at other clinics. One had ICSI and one had donor with other medical complications, so not straightforward stuff.

ARGC - Dr. Taranassi is based here and is a bit of a miracle worker in my humble opinion. There was a dreadful, witchhunt Panorama documentary a few years ago accusing him of exploiting patients, etc. all of which has since been proved to be false. He offers cutting edge stuff and has excellent success rates - not least with patients who have had previous multiple failed cycles.

Hope this helps. The HFEA (www.hfea.gov.uk) is a good place to start and it might be worth your friends doing that and then making a shortlist of, say, three clinics and then paying them all a visit. Clinics are happy to do this and lots of them have open days - I think it's really important to see if the 'vibe' feels right. I think you know when you've found the right one for you.

Best of luck to your friends and tell them to look into the possibility of having their drugs supplied on the NHS. Some health authorities will do this (it's a bit of a postcode lottery) so it's worth looking as that can save £1k to £1.5k depending on the drug protocol they're on.

Kx

whereabouts are your friends based?
It's definitely about more than league tables, it's about the bedside manner of the consultant. We swapped clinics because I lost faith in our original one.

If in Manchester area I'd definitely recommend Care

Kitswins is right with regard to her recommendations. Robert Winston's view is that there are just too many NHS hospitals jumping on the IVF bandwagon and he was keen to develop centres of excellence where they had cutting edge skills as opposed to doing a bit of IVF on the side. I quite agree with him. I went to the Lister. Very crowded and often no place to sit - BUT it is one of the best centres around and they take tricky cases. It is crowded because it is good.

Also my SIL went to the Nuffield Woking and whilst she ended up having to go to the US for donor eggs she found the care very good but they dont take difficult cases and wouldnt support her drug programme given to her by the hospital in the States. The Lister was the only place that helped her do this.

Panorama programme was dreadful. A complete witch hunt against this man.In fact the reporter was very rude to him when he asked her whether she would still take the high ground if she found she wanted a baby at 40 and found she couldnt. She is currently single and in fact I bet she slipped his card into her handbag.....

By concidence I didnt need IVF. I started the drugs and found I was pregnant already! I had a very early pregancy scan and Dr Wren at the Lister (one of the lady consultants) couldnt have been more delighted.

My friends are in Swindon, They are going to a private hospital in Bath don't know which one though. Having said that for a good doctor I am sure they would consider travelling.

personally I wouldn't recommend travelling a great distance if you don't need to. It's quite a time consuming process anyway (not to mention stressful) I imagine that adding long distance travel onto that would not be good.

i just started an ivf cycle. i am looking for people to talk with that have been through it to help me with the new changes in my body. am i in the right place?

I am afraid I really disagree with katierocket - it is worth travelling to get to the best clinic .... it is all completely stressful anyway, you may as well travel to the best clinic to give yourself the best possible chance of success (and hopefully avoid repeat cycles).....
and the best clinic, in my (and lots of others' views) is the ARGC in Upper Wimpole St in London. Their success rates are by far the highest in the country, and that is even when they take on lots of ladies who have had failed IVF cycles elsewhere. I had successful IVF there - 1st go. I c annot recommend it highly enough. It is cutting edge - they monitor you daily, they really go the extra mile .......... but (and it's a big but) it is also much more expensive than other places .........
good luck to your friends xxx

I would recommend the ARGC. The 2 weeks of treatment is very intense - blood tests every day, and twice a day at the end but they get very very good results as very tailored treatment. There is very little handholding but all scans are done by doctors and every result is reviewed daily by Mr Taranissi (the head of the clinic). If they want a more personal relationship and can't get to London easily every day for blood tests then it may be better to go to the Lister. Definitely tell them to check out fertility friends as will get a lot of insight into why people chose a certain clinic and their personal histories. They can expect to pay around £8,000 including drugs at the ARGC. So is probably a third more than elsewhere but their success rates are a third more.

symissy2006 come and join us [[http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/934157-Assisted-Conception-and-the-bits-in-between-Volume-5 ?pg=3 here] the Assisted production thread. I am on my 2ww after IVF and there are lots of other people who are about to start or are part way through.

woops
messed up the link here

I would also recommend the ARGC and the Lister. However, they are expensive. ARGC will cost a minimum of £12,000 and this could quickly escalate if your friend needs immunes treatment.

I would make the ultimate choice based on what their fertility problems actually are. If its immunes and very poor response to the IVF drugs, then ARGC wins hands down. If not, then I would go to the Lister or one of the other top clinics The ARGC is a lot of money, stress and hassle if you don't really need it.

(summary of stats here: www.argc.co.uk/statistics.html ... Note that it is important to only look at Live Birth Rates - a lot of clinics will show you initial success rates which is really deceptive if a high proportion of women then go on to miscarry).

Would not recommend Lister Hospital. Not what was expected. I went to Lister hospital for egg freezing. I had Dr Jaya Parikh who performed the surgery. On the cycle I was due to start, my follicles were low compared to the previous cycle. I was concerned but Dr Parikh seemed very commercial and money driven and persuaded me that l never know if the next cycle is going to be good cycle in terms of higher number of follicles. So l went ahead. She also said there was a polyp in my uterus that needs to be removed. In fact l never had a polyp and Dr Parikh proliferated and the dialator went through my uterus and l had to do an emergency laporoscopy to check for internal bleeding. I also only had 2 eggs retrieved. Very disappointing. I went to private thinking that I will get better service but please be cautious. I was otherwise healthy now l have scars from laporoscopy and a damaged uterus. Be warned of Dr Parikh, she is not good doctor, and she became very defensive, no apology at all from her. I want to write this, so that other patients do not go through what l did. I also asked for refund and they refused to give me back the £5.8k I spent on the egg freezing. My social life has taken a bad turn as a result, it has left me psychologically damaged.