# Instituto Bernabeu or IVI Barcelona - Help!



## SAB25

Hi there - I'm new to the site so I hope I'm doing this right.  Over last 12 months I have had 4 cycles of IVF (3 ICSI) with no success.  We have decided to go for egg donatation in Spain.  We have narrowed down our search to two potential clinics: Instituto Bernabeu in Alicante and IVI in Barcelona.  Can anybody help with info on these clinics i.e. experiences, recommendations, etc?

Cheers


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## Ceri.

Sab and welcome to Fertility Friends 

You'll get lots of advice on this, i'll point you in the right direction shortly so you can talk to the ladies who attend these clinics and can give you their opinions 
Please have a good look around the boards, feel free to post in any area, and make yourself at home. Fertility Friends is such a huge support. There are many who are on their TTC journey, and others who have been fortunate to have little ones with assistance. You will soon discover that our members are very encouraging of one another and offering advice or just simple hugs. There's a vast amount of information here for everyone, so start reading, posting and getting to know others. You will make some great friends too (add them to your buddy list in your profile!), lots of members often have meet ups locally too, for chats, coffee, shopping or even nights out! You can share conversations with one another freely, simply because we all understand each other. It's hard when family and friends don't fully comprehend what this journey entails and the emotions that go with it. That's where we come in!

Here are some links which you should find really useful at the moment&#8230;&#8230;

*What Every New Member Needs To Know (includes a list of common abbreviations) ~ *   CLICK HERE

You could use some of these questions to help you if you have a consultation in Spain 
*Questions for your first cycle consultation ~ (use the ones that apply) *CLICK HERE
* Negative Cycle Follow up Questions ~ *CLICK HERE 

*IVF General ~ *CLICK HERE

*ICSI ~ *CLICK HERE

*Donor sperm/eggs ~ *CLICK HERE
While undergoing treatment, you might find it useful to join other ladies having treatment at the same time. The Cycle Buddies threads are just for that. You will fnd a thread, usually with a funny/inspiring name for this year's buddies. Just pop along to the appropriate month and say "Hi" when you are ready to start treatment.

*Cycle buddies ~ *CLICK HERE

*2WW, Ladies in Waiting ~ *CLICK HERE

*In Between Treatment ~ * CLICK HERE

*Treatment Outside The UK ~ *  CLICK HERE
More specifically here are the boards for Spain ... Click here There's loads of useful info there for you, and also you can start a new topic on those boards for any specific questions.

Its not all just serious stuff here, you can also have a bit of fun or just gossip while you are on FF too so check out the general chit chat / jokes / hobbies area:

*Girl & Boy talk - Community & Fun Board ~ *CLICK HERE

You can also chat live in our excellent chat room. We have a newbie day in the chat room every Wednesday where you can meet one of our mods for support, meet other new members and get technical support with navigating the site and using all the functions available here.  CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON NEWBIE CHAT 

You can also "meet" and chat with people in your local area through the *Location boards*. This is especially useful to find people who may be using the same clinic and or in the same PCT area. It's a small world!

Wishing you lots of luck    and 
Keep in touch
Ceri xx


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## Andim

hi

hope my story helps.  I am 39 and have had 5 miscarriages due to a balanced translocation.  We tried PGD at Guys 18 months ago but no eggs survived the process.

18 months later we were ready to go again and went with the Institute Marqueres in Barcelona for egg donation.  We started the process in August for the first appointment and I finally went back to Barcelona 10 days ago for embryo transfer.  Within 4 days I had my pregnancy symptons and did a test this weekend which was positive (I should have waited a full 2 weeks!).  Whilst its very early stages (I will only be 4 weeks pregnant on Thursday) I feel a lot more hopeful as its not my eggs this time.  The whole experience cost us approx £12k including flights and accommodation.  We did question whether to go for the refund programme which is 30,000 euros but given that I get pregnant easily (albeit I miscarried every time) and I had a hysteroscopy to check I had no polyps, cysts or fybroids, we decided to take the risk of paying for the treatment and hope it was a case of first time lucky.  IM are just about to publish results that claim a 65% success rate for egg donation.  From discussions I have had with others it would appear they have one of the highest success rates anywhere in Europe.  Please feel free to ask me any more questions about my experience.  Good luck.


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## Trisky

Hi andimarie
I have just started looking into the ED programme at IM. It sounds very good (if a bit pricey according to your figures?). I am completely new to the spanish thing having just had my 3rd failed IVF in this country. We now feel ED is probably the way forward or maybe embryo donation. IM seem to do both and be highly thought of. I would love to hear more about your experience of the clinic/ matching process/ flights/ hotels etc if you dont mind.
Thanks so much
Trisky


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## Andim

Hi Trisky

We had an initial appointment in July and they spent 3 hours talking us through the process and answering all our concerns.  Their english is excellent so no communication difficulties.  The clinic is a real step up from what we've been used to in the UK.  Whilst there they took us to the hospital next door where they do the egg donation and did a dummy run of whats involved.    We also bought our drugs at the time and brought them back to the UK with us.  Patches and pessaries so fairly non invasive.  We thought about the refund programme (which is 3 fresh attempts and up to 6 frozen attempts) for 30,000 euros.  IM insisted that I had a hysteroscopy if they were to consider me for the refund programme.  I managed to have one on the NHS in the UK.  It delayed us for 8 weeks so if you are in the early stages I would suggest you try and get your doc to refer you for one now.  IM charged about 800 euros plus you have to factor in flights and accommodation.  Private in the UK its about £2500.  After going through this, a a good friend helped me step back and question whether I actually felt I could go through so many attempts.  She has also been successful with egg donation so I valued her advice.  We decided that we would pay for each attempt and have fresh egg cycles each time as the success drops quite dramatically for frozen cycles (IM are currently quoting 65% for fresh cycles at first attempt but approx 40% for frozen).

I had my hysteroscopy in early October and my period came 2 weeks later and straight away I started on the patches.  I had my lining check scan 8 days later at Ultrasound Now in Stockport (£110).  I liaised with IM after the scan and they called me with 4 days later and told me my transfer would be 2 days later.    We flew to spain from liverpool on an easyjet early morning flight the next day and found a lovely quiet hotel 5 mins in a cab from the hospital.  The transfer took place the next morning and we spent 2 hours in the clinic of which only 20 mins was with our doc who told us the characteristics of the donor and the grades of the embryos.  The transfer itself took 5 mins and then we took a cab straight back to the hotel and I spent the next 18 hours having complete bed rest so room service was a definite bonus!

The test is due 2 weeks later but I took it 9 days later got a BFP.  I've done a test every 5 days or so since as I have had a couple of instances of light bleeding (mainly old blood).  The doc called after I emailed them but seemed relatively relaxed and said the pessaries can cause this and not to worry too much.  

Our scan is booked privately at Ultrasound now this Thursday (£85) as I would rather have good/bad news in a more private setting rather than go through the NHS experience at this stage.  I hope this helps you understand the process a little and gives you some comfort on what to expect once you get started.  Let me know if I can answer anything else.  Good luck! x


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## Andim

Hi Trisky

forgot to mention the most important thing - matching!

They took photos of both myself and my husband and noted our heights, weights, eye colour, skin tone and blood groups.    I am dark haired, hazel eyes, pale skins and hubbie virtually the same.  They say they try and match levels of attractiveness also but not sure how much of this is flattery!  Looking at the young spanish girls that were walking through to consulting rooms (presumably the donors) they all looked young, fit and healthy and relatively attractive.

When we had our 20 minute consultation on the day of donation they told us our donor had dark blond hair, hazel eyes, was someone in between my height and my husbands which was fine, was the same blood group as me, skin tone was pale and she was 20 lbs lighter which is fine given she was 27 and I was 20 lbs lighter at that age also!  My donor produced 7 embryos and they selected the best two - a grade 9 and a 7 which I understand is pretty good.

IM gave me comfort in that they had a back-up donor should the one they had selected first not manage to produce the required amount of eggs.  At least then my drug regime would not have been wasted.

They didn't give us the option of taking the embryos to a 5 day blast -  mine were 3 days although in fairness, I have seen arguments for and against both options with the arguments for both determined by whether you got a BFP or not.  I think its a decision only you can make.  Hope this helps.


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## Trisky

Dear Andi
Thank you so much for your wonderfully comprehensive replies. I am so sorry it has takn me so long to find them (Im still struggling to get around the website, guess I dont have time to use it enough!!). We are about to book an ED cycle in Madrid for the end of april with a pre-visit at the beginning of march to freeze sperm and check the place out. Your info has been invaluable and I am so delighted to see your wonderful news too. All the best in the next few months.
Trisky xxx


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## Andim

thanks Trisky.  Had a scan last Thursday and according to their dates I am a few days ahead making me 10 weeks today so all progressing well and I am still pinching myself that we were first time lucky and especially so to get twins. 

I   that you get a good result when you go to Madrid.  One tip a friend gave me and it could be an old wives tail is keep your legs crossed for as long as you can manage after egg transfer as your full bladder presses on where it needs to and supposedly gives a better chance of implantation occuring.  I kept my legs crossed for a good 90 minutes and spent the rest of the day ordering room service in the comfort of my hotel room to give myself the best chance.  When you have been through so much mentally, emotionally and financially, you'll try anything!

Good luck and I hope I see you back on the board with good news some time soon.  x


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