# Advice on clinics???



## dtw01 (Jan 28, 2007)

Hi everyone,

2008 is the year my donor egg journey will begin, just another chapter in this maze of infertility.

I was wondering if anyone could spare the time to recommend from their own personal experience any clinics abroad which offer donor eggs, my fsh is rising and my eggs are apparantely naff, so this is my next step.

Find it all really confusing knowing where to start, so here seemed as good a place as any.

Also is anyone out there taking DHEA ??

Thanks in advance

H xxxxxxxxxx


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## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

I haven;t been abroad but may also have to consider DE;s and I've been recommended IM Barcelona
maybe some of the girls on the abroadies thread could help you as well.  I think some of the Spainsih clinics do a 3 cycle package for the price of one
L x


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## olivia m (Jun 24, 2004)

Hi H
I absolutely appreciate that you have been TTC for a long time, but as you are still young you might want to consider staying in this country for egg donation.  Despite the many myths to the contrary egg donation is still happening here and the advantages for the child are enormous.  Many clinics offer egg sharing schemes with lists of no longer than 18m waiting time and some clinics do still have some single altruistic donors.  Doctors who immediately send women/couples abroad for egg donation with the message that it is not possible here, do not fully understand the implications for the future child.  It is also possible to recruit your own donor in the UK, either to donate directly to you or to donate to your clinic, thus putting you to the top of the waiting list.  The National Gamete Donation Trust can help with this, www.ngdt.co.uk
Spanish clinics are wonderful in very many ways but their practices do not put the interests of the child first.
Very best of luck
Olivia


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## Harris Tweed (Nov 28, 2007)

Hi there

I am starting to think about ED too!  Its a real maze trying to find out what the options are / where to go.  Olivia you mention some clinic's not having the best possible future for the child in mind - sorry to sound thick (  )  but what exactly do you mean?  I'm sure it would be good to be here in the UK rather than going abroad.

Thanks, Harris!


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## dani666 (Apr 3, 2007)

Hi

Well where do I start........

I have just had my 4th donor egg cycle. 
We have tried 3 different clinics abroad and I can honestly say that the best by far was Serum in Athens. Everything about this hospital was perfect, the staff were lovely, the hospital was gorgeous and most of all the Doctor was more like a friend than a Doctor.  If anyone wants any information at all then please just ask, I am happy to discuss anything at all to help others

Dani x


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## mills4480 (Nov 2, 2005)

I had my treatment at the Lister in Chelsea and they were absolutly wonderful.

I am now 23 weeks pregnant following DE IVF round 1


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## Morvern (May 16, 2005)

Harris

What Olivia means is that Spanish clinics only do anonymous egg donation (which is now outlawed in this country hence the shortage of eggs and sperm). So this means that when your child grows up he or she will not be able to trace the donor or know anything about him or her aside from a few physical details. Whether this is an issue for you depends on whether you intend to tell the child that he or she was conceived using a donor and obviously whether you think it's crucial for your child to know a lot about the donor. 

Your choice depends on your circumstances......the clinic I used (IVI Alicante) had no waiting lists and the treatment was wonderful. The clinic was ultra modern and the staff fantastic. It was a far superior experience to the treatment I've had in the UK. The success rates are much better in Spain (60% on the first cycle) than in the UK too.  I got pregnant with twins on my first cycle. The first time I contacted them by email was at the end of May and I was pregnant by August. I would thoroughly recommmend them. But like I say, your decision depends on your circumstances.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.


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## Birchie (Feb 6, 2007)

Here Here!!!  I'm with you Morvern a 101%.   

Best of luck H, whatever you decide to do x


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## Maz08 (Dec 11, 2007)

Hi Morvern,

Can u give me info on IVI Alicante as I am interested in trying them in the next few months. Can tell me how long it takes from first consultation etc and what to expect? would appreciate very much. Congrats on ur PG 

Maz x


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## Morvern (May 16, 2005)

Hi Maz

As I say, it didn't take that long for us. I first emailed them at the end of May, got a first appointment in June, and went back for transfer in August. The first thing to do would be to email their international department - [email protected] - and Raquel or Lara will get back to you with all the information you need. They are both really nice and have excellent English - they will organise everything for you and will be present throughout your consultations, tests and treatment (although having said that, the consultant we saw had such fabulous English that we didn't need any help with translation). 

So yes, you'll get the information emailed to you and the clinic will offer you an initial appointment to go through your medical notes and have any tests that you need, and your hubbie will have to leave a sample. At this initial appointment I was SO impressed - the consultant spent all afternoon with us going through our notes with a fine tooth comb.....she picked up on my thyroid problem (which my UK clinic never did) and reviewed the results of my immune tests (again which my UK clinic never did). For the first time in my IVF journey I actually really trusted the consultant and felt like she gave a damn....I felt completely safe in her hands and that she was really thinking about our treatment.

Anyway, so yes, you have your initial appointment and then you have to wait for them to match you with a donor. The speed of this depends on your physical characteristics - if you want a blonde blue eyed donor obviously it will take longer than if you want brown hair and brown eyes. Then you take your medication to synchronise your cycles and shortly afterwards they will give you call and tell you to get there within a few days....I think they called us on a Friday morning and told us to get there on the Monday. The day after transfer you can fly back if you want, but we stayed for a week because I wanted to relax and do some sunbathing on the beach.

Oh, and a tip. If you do go to Alicante stay at the hotel Melia - it's fab, right on the beach, and has the best breakfasts I've ever had in my life. Oh and there is a taxi rank opposite where you can get a cab to the clinic (it's only a short ride), and a pharmacy over the road where you can get your medication.

Hope that helps. Go to the IVI thread in the abroady folder - lots of people have been to IVI Alicante and there's been lots of success.
Best of luck.


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## drownedgirl (Nov 12, 2006)

I was very lucky to have a friend offer me her eggs, so we did our treatment here (now pg with twins) and I can be open with the babies, my existing DS and my wider family and Hobbesy can be known to everybody (and vice versa)


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## Maz08 (Dec 11, 2007)

Hi Morvern,

Thanks very much for all ur information on IVI Alicante its very useful indeed. I hope i am as successful as u and all goes well. If I think of anything else i will def send another message! Thanks again

Maz x


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## TWEETY29 (Jan 23, 2008)

hi maz,


I noticed that you are from glasgow . There is a private hospital in glasgow called the gcrm have you heard of it?. They do egg donation.

Maybe you could go there?



tweety


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## Maz08 (Dec 11, 2007)

Hi Tweety,

I have been been onto them too!! thanks for the info. Are u from Glasgow too?

Maz


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## dtw01 (Jan 28, 2007)

THANKYOU SO MUCH !!!!!!!

To all of you lovely ladies who have taken the time to reply to my message.

I will look into the clinic in Alicante right now, however i am a bit worried as my sister is getting married in the Dom Rep in November and i am bridesmaid, so now i have to decide - do i wait till next year, or do i plough ahead with treatment now.

I want a baby so badly, but would never forgive myself if i let my litle sis down !!!

H xxx


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## Shellyj (Mar 25, 2007)

♥JJ1♥ said:


> I haven;t been abroad but may also have to consider DE;s and I've been recommended IM Barcelona
> maybe some of the girls on the abroadies thread could help you as well. I think some of the Spainsih clinics do a 3 cycle package for the price of one
> L x


 Hi, Ive never heard of three cycles for the price of one, and would be very interested. Can you elaborate? Or are you thinking of the refund scheme at IM in Barcelona, where you pay aroung 30k for three cycles, and if you dont have success, you gget 70% back? Many thanks Shellyjxx


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## Shellyj (Mar 25, 2007)

olivia m said:


> Hi H
> I absolutely appreciate that you have been TTC for a long time, but as you are still young you might want to consider staying in this country for egg donation. Despite the many myths to the contrary egg donation is still happening here and the advantages for the child are enormous. Many clinics offer egg sharing schemes with lists of no longer than 18m waiting time and some clinics do still have some single altruistic donors. Doctors who immediately send women/couples abroad for egg donation with the message that it is not possible here, do not fully understand the implications for the future child. It is also possible to recruit your own donor in the UK, either to donate directly to you or to donate to your clinic, thus putting you to the top of the waiting list. The National Gamete Donation Trust can help with this, www.ngdt.co.uk
> Spanish clinics are wonderful in very many ways but their practices do not put the interests of the child first.
> Very best of luck
> Olivia


 Hi, I just wanted to say that the majority of people who have been told they need to use Donor eggs, have probably spent the last 3 or 4 years on waiting lists... only to be told their egg supply has ran out. To suggest to these people to wait another 18 months to egg share in the uk is in my opinion ,ridiculous. They can travel abroad and have an ivf cycle with donor eggs without having to share, for less money than a lot of clinics in the uk. Also, as far as trying to recruit you own Donor is concerned, unless it is a friend or family member, most people run a mile when they find out what is involved, leading to more misery.
The Spanish and other foreign clinics are operating a professional service, and this is why many , many british people are using them.
Good luck to all in choosing the right clinic, ask lots of questions before you go out there is my advice. Love Shellyj


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## olivia m (Jun 24, 2004)

Hi
I absolutely acknowledge that Spanish clinics offer a wonderful professional service.  They cannot be faulted in this way and I totally understand why it feels so tempting to use them instead of continuing to wait in the UK.  But it is important that the differences between being treated here and abroad are acknowledged so that intending parents can take pride in and have confidence about decisions made - in the full light of the long-term implications and potential consequences of making such a decision.  The differences are more than just the waiting time, the level of service and the pregnancy rates.  Anonymity of donors and the lack of information about them means that children conceived in Spain and elsewhere (other than US and South Africa where more info is available) will be in a very different position to children conceived in the UK.  We have no idea as yet what this will mean for children...and this will almost certainly vary depending on many individual and family factors, but it feels important that would-be parents take into account that they MAY need to manage children's feelings about this later in life.  
I write this not because I am 'against' donor conception abroad - I totally understand why these decisions are being made - but because going abroad does have different implications to using a donor in the UK and if these are not fully taken into account early on, then parents may be taken unawares later by issues that arise for their children.  DC Network's national meeting in March will be focusing on this complex and controversial topic.
Olivia


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## Harris Tweed (Nov 28, 2007)

Hi Morvern - thanks so much for your reply and it explaining it to me - it sounds very obvious now that I know!  I am very interested to read about your IVI Alicante experience. Congratulations on your gorgeous sounding twins!!  
I'm looking at IVI and IM.

Best wishes, Harris


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## odette (Nov 3, 2006)

It has been very interesting to read the posts

Personally I feel that given the choice I would opt for doner aboard because some of us ladies don't really have much time to wait.  And there is more uncertainly in the uk of when you can get a doner.

Regarding the issues of anonymity - I think that any doner child would rather have been concieved from aboard than not been at all.  What is important is the doner child (whether told its doner conceived or not) feels that they are being brought up with love and support.  At the end of the day they will still be genetically linked to one parent and  born of the other.    

I think that taking into account the levels of service of going with ED aboard or in the uk, there just is no competition, we just don't look after ed's here in this country and don't pay them enough for their worth hence the shortage.  I have just returned form a Spanish Clinic which have high success rates and second to none facilities.

I'm choosing this clinic which I think will give us both best possible outcome for my child and I - a birth.

odette 

Odette


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