Has anyone had IVF abroad? Good experience? Any regrets?
Ivf abroad : Has anyone had IVF abroad... - Fertility Network UK
Ivf abroad
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Hey thanks for posting. I want to explore this as well but was wondering where one starts. Im particularly interested in Prague, Greece or Cyprus. Xx
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Yes I was looking at Prague or Cyprus. We don’t meet NHS funding so husband thinks it might be good for us to get away and relax whilst having treatment since we have to pay anyway.
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Morning, we had IVF in Cyprus as we too don’t meet the NHS criteria. I personally preferred being away as it was really relaxing (We caught the local bus into town and back to our clinic so no extensive travel like in the uk, all blood tests and scans We’re included in the price) and I think the good weather helped with the experience too! 😉 I personally feel as well that you get a better standard of treatment depending on where you go. The clinics obviously want to maintain high success rates and therefore are more invested in you and do all they can to help you. IVF is their own treatment so they have extensive experience. All drs spoke English and it’s cheaper than in the uk. Our clinic also offered embryo scope (The incubator for embryos) as standard in their fee. Depending on your age you can select a clinic which offers or rather specialises. From my research Spain is good for over 40s.
We weren’t successful and it’s now going to be somewhat more challenging to get back to Cyprus for FET but at least we have frozen embryos waiting for us....
Sorry for the essay!
We are doing IVF in Spain. I am really pleased now for choosing to go abroad because many clinics in UK haven’t restarted treatment but in Spain they never actually been closed during pandemic. Prices are much cheaper than in UK which is also a good thing. Of course you will find some disadvantages also - is not like you will jump in your car and you will drive for half an hour to the clinic. Big advantages- holiday and treatment on the same time and booking holiday at work just once ❤️😁
Do you mind me asking - are you due to travel to Spain for treatment soon? Are you based in the U.K.? If so have you been able to get travel insurance? Thank you xx
Yes, we are planing to go in Spain by car on 20th of July and yes we are based in UK. Insurance we haven’t booked yet but we checked on the internet and no insurance will cover Covid because of the travel restrictions. There is another option that we are looking now in regards to insurance - EU is offering a card (travel insurance) that you can apply online and will be valid for all the EU countries for free. I need to dig more into that 🤔
We went to a clinic in the Czech Republic as we did not qualify for NHS funding. We were very impressed with it. The standards seemed so much better than the private care we had paid so much for in the UK. All the Drs spoke fluent English and every step was explained to us brilliantly. Absolutely no regrets whatsoever. We also had an amazing holiday and it all cost less than it would have just for IVF in the UK.
In my area I had no choice but to go private at the same clinic that we couldn’t get NHS funding for. It meant we paid for our treatment but we got absolutely nothing extra for the money. It was awful. No appointments were on time. We saw a different Dr on each visit and at several appointments the Dr we saw clearly hadn’t even read our notes as they told me they would prescribe medication I had already taken for several cycles 6 months before!
Following this too as we are looking at Poland once travel is an option x
Hi 👋🏻
We went to Greece (Thessaloniki) to do ivf and had a fantastic experiance with a wonderful clinic - happy to inbox you the details if you wish.
We now have twin boys 14m old 😁
We found the whole process pretty straight forward and the fact the clinic was near to the airport ment we could fly in and out without to much hassle , the cycle we got pregnant we actually stayed for a week and visited some different sites etc before transfer.
Hi treezuk I would be grateful if you could share the details of the clinic you used please
Congratulations. Could you share details of clinic with me please?
We have just undergone IVF in Dubai. The care here is amazing, same private doctor for each visit and early scans too (earlier than the UK) we already saw the heartbeat last week, we are currently 7wks 🤞🏼🥰
We did IVF in Prague in January and were so happy with everything. Clinic was top quality and staff so nice.
Stayed for a total of 12 days due to slow growing eggs but but accommodation and travel and food and ivf was still less than what we would have paid here. Very first IVF cycle and currently 23 weeks pregnant
Sorry to also ask but would you mind sending me them too please? And huge congratulations! X
Hi I went to Greece in February 2020 a clinic called Embio medical centre just 20 minutes away from Athens airport .
Did all the tests there and started the treatment . Timed it well and went few days before periods started . I am now 17 weeks pregnant and having a baby boy .
Definitely would recommend abroad . We wasted Two years on nhs with tests was so ridiculous they lost my husbands spent anaylsis results twice wasn’t even funny .
Would not even bother with Uk private because the attention the drs and nurses and ivf coordinater gives you abroad is unmatchable. Every day a scan and blood tests to monitor progress and literally was in Greece for 23 days from start to finish and a free holiday too
Good luck x
Hi, we did two (unsuccessful) rounds of IVF, through the NHS, but with a private clinic in London.
After that, we decided to use donor eggs and went to a clinic in Brno, Czech Republic. We miscarried with the first round but are going back again in a few weeks. I have actually had a much more positive experience there than the London clinic and it's a lot cheaper.
I did it as last effort and succeeded in greece! My regret is i lost years and tears before i find out that abroad is totally different from uk! A breath of fresh air after total manufactured ivf from uk clinics and nhs . My advice is run to greece search the review and forums. Facebook secret forum called Serum Athens IVF Support Group helped me alot!
Will PM you regarding our positive experience of a clinic in Spain
Hello, I would be interested in this too. If anyone could share details of the clinic they had a good experience in Prague or Greece or Spain that would be fantastic. I am turning 36 next month and getting frustrated that NHS IVF cycle for us has not moved forward and maybe several months still. I think it is about time we started seriously exploring other options......
I went to Cyprus and it was fantastic. I had success and became a mummy again at 41! Xx
Which clinic did you go to
Dr Firdevs north Cyprus. Nicosia xx
Why didn't you consider turkey also what are your experiences with this clinic ?
Because I liked the fact it was an all female team and the success rates were amazing. The communication was amazing and if I cagoules time the clock back I would have never had 2 goes in the UK, I would have gone straight to them
What was the prices and was your procedure successful?
DR Berk In Kyrenia North Cyprus
I went t Greece after one failed ICSI and FET in London. successful pregnancy. Went back in March for baby 2 and waiting to go back for a FET
Hi yes had 3 cycles in Greece. Positive experience. Happy to send details..
I went to w clinic in Greece for DE IVF - couldn’t fault the personal care and treatment - and now 29weeks pregnant! Pm me if you want more details. X
I went abroad to Greece too. To be honest by the time you pay for all the travel side it didn’t work out any cheaper. Ladies on here warned me off that but I though a few days in the sun had got to be good to relax before hand. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for me. During treatment, I start to get a bit of anxiety, perhaps related to the hormones I was taking, I don’t know. Adding travelling to this didn’t help. And it was so hot! After transfer the advice is to avoid the sun so don’t book to stay there much longer than the required number of days, your clinic will advise. In fact I was advised to stay indoors until after 7 when it was cooler for the first 2 days post transfer. You won’t be able to swim post transfer. My clinic even advised against sitting on the sand in my swim gear as it’s dirty. The other thing I didn’t consider was bugs, for example mosquitoes which can carry West Nile Virus in Greece. In hindsight i wished we stayed in the UK. Make sure which ever clinic you go with you have got good recommendations.
I also wasn’t that impressed with our clinic, I think they were super over worked & cracks began to appear. However saying that I have had a positive pregnancy test & currently 5 weeks.
I know it can feel overwhelming choosing a clinic. My advise would be don’t rush it and make sure you are 100% comfortable with your choice before proceeding.
Best of luck Xx
Some useful guidance on picking clinic on the HFEA website: hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/
Also when we were looking we went to the fertility show, it was a bit overwhelming but you get to meet lots of clinics very quickly! fertilityshow.co.uk/london
Hey, I went to Ukraine. Strange that nobody has yet written anything about this country, it's quite popular to have treatments there nowadays. Well, I have only started stimulation, but so far everything (organization & communication) was good enough even at the time of corona to recommend this place. I can pm you the clinic's name in case you're interested