Choosing a clinic

[Joso_8283]

Hi ladies,

First post and feeling quite confused about how to choose a clinic?

We had one round on the nhs and it failed miserably. 3 eggs collected, 1 very late fertilization which didnt make it to transfer. I'm 37, low amh 5.6 and poor quality eggs 😔 We were sent to cheshire (care fertility/countess) even though we live in Lancashire, near blackpool by consultant in preston .

We now have 1 shot at this privately as we dont have the money to keep trying and I dont know how to decide if we're doing the right thing in staying at the same clinic.

I guess were thinking they know us now, know what problems we had etc but I cant help thinking we're settling and there could be a much better clinic.

When paying privately, did you stick with where you went on nhs? Or how did you choose a clinic?

Thanks ladies x

[Dolly8]

Hi, we went where we had NHS funding. Mind you we had been successful through the NHS funding so that gave me confidence. We were at Guys in London and whilst the admin side of the department was infuriatingly poor I had a feeling the scientists and medics were world class. I also considered the convince of its location as it was a very simple train ride and could be there in 20 mins. Given the amount of appointments that’s involved this was a big consideration for. I never felt like they tried to sell me anything I didn’t need either.

Best of luck. X

[Joso_8283 in reply to Dolly8]

Thanks, it sounds like you had a good clinic there

The admin side is pretty poor here too. Trying to get hold of them is very frustrating and the travel is a pain for us as it's a 3hr round trip! But weve done it before and can do it for this round if it's worth it. That's the biggy though.

I sometimes wonder if I'm too fussy and expect too much?! Maybe because I do get frustrated with the admin it puts doubt in my mind about the competency. It's such a big decision x

[Dolly8 in reply to Joso_8283]

Perhaps scope others and go and speak with them so you will at least have a better feeling of what to do. Wishing you all the luck in the world xx

[BroodySingle]

I’m sorry it hasn’t worked for you yet. However, you’ll get some useful information through the HFEA (regulating body) website which could help you determine which clinic is best for you.

hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/

I wish you luck on this journey 🍍🤞🏼🍀🍍🤞🏼🍀 xxx

[Joso_8283 in reply to BroodySingle]

Thank you. I've had a look on here and although it's got good info regarding the rates etc and locations, for some reason care chester doesn't have any figures at all for birth rates so I'm unable to compare.

I think I'll have another look on the hfea website and also enquire as to why the dont provide that data x

[Mmmpudding]

Hi I am going through something similar at the moment. I had one round of failed ivf locally (90 minutes away from home, not nhs though) but I was not very happy with their laid back standardised approach and am now in the process of choosing another clinic for my next round.

I think apart from success rates for your age group, you should also consider what sort of approach you are looking for with your new clinic. For instance more aggressive and tailored with lots of meds or more gentle but holistic? And the travelling distance you are will to do. Also do you want a clinic that offers other services such as immunology therapy, Pgs Pgd testing?

Prices vary massively too but the most expensive treatment is a failed cycle. So for me, I would look at other factors before the cost.

I am going for one of the London clinics this time even though they are 3 hours away from home, they seem to offer a lot more with much higher success rates.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. Xx

[Italy300618]

Hi Joso, sorry to hear about your failed cycle 😔

We picked 3 clinics nearish to us and went to their open evenings to get a feel of what they were like. We are so glad we did, as it really does make a different stepping into the clinic, how you feel, meeting the staff, some even do mini consultations and for us there was a clear choice. So would definitely recommend doing your research. We didnt want to stay with our nhs clinic either. Good luck xxx

[ttcemmie]

This is a really difficult one! I initially chose a clinic purely based on the fact they did egg sharing (which I wanted to do) plus their strong history and their success rates, even though they're an hour and a half drive away! Whilst I had no problem with our NHS clinic, and it was convenient, if it wasn't one that I would have gone to pre-NHS, then I have basically discounted it. I find word-of-mouth really important, too, so there's a few in London that would probably have been my second choice to look in to if we weren't happy with the clinic we did egg-sharing at. xx

[haileyp85]

I live in preston . I researched clinics with 100 miles and I chose reproductive health group in Daresbury, Warrington. I used an egg donor . The are brilliant I’m 31 weeks now x

[Florencenightingale]

We were under NHS for investigations but weren't eligible for funding. We stayed with the same clinic for the reasons you said, as they knew us etc. Goood luck in finding a new clinic xx