# IUI abroad, I would like to hear some experiences



## MadickensMommy (Apr 27, 2010)

Hello Ladies 
I am new to this forum, and thought some of you might be able to help me with some questions..

I live in Denmark, and would like to go abroad to get IUI treatment, and possibly IVF.
I have noticed a lot of women on here, have succesfully used Reprofit in Czech Republic.
I also noticed someone on here, advicing not to tell that clinic, that you are single. How have you explained being there alone then ?
I need a clinic that starts out a cycle with ultrasound on the first few days of period, and does hormon treatment, and ovulation induction.. I would stay in the country untill I am pregnant (or broke )
I would also need to be able to get the hormones and medications at the clinic or in the country.
Does this clinic work this way, or do women just show up around the ovulation days to be insemitated ?
How are the docters there, do they speak english, do they explain what they are doing, and make you feel in good hands ?
Last, what does a cycle cost at this clinic ?

I would appreciate if someone who's been treated at Reprofit, would share their experiences with me.. Actually any kind of advice is appreciated
Blessings & Thank You's


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## MadickensMommy (Apr 27, 2010)

Oh, I would also like to know, if anyone knows, if the clinic has weight requirements.. My BMI is a bit on the wrong side of 30, so I need a clinic that will treat overweight women


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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Hi Natasja, 

And welcome  

I'm currently having treatment at Reprofit - I have not had IUI there, only IVF, first with my own eggs and now with donor eggs.
Re being single, the only thing to be careful about is to contact Dr Stepan Machac directly (I can send you his email address) and to say that you are seeing IUI/IVF with donor sperm. In this way you are not specifically saying you are single (after all, some couples use donor sperm too) and Stepan is used to working with us single women from abroad. Technically it is illegal for clinics to treat single women in CZ, but Stepan turns a blind eye to that as long as we don't state anywhere specifically in the paperwork that we are single - however if you feel at all uncomfortable about that, it's prob not the clinic for you...
Once you are actually there, they won't question it at all, afterall lots of women go to these appts alone even when they are in a relationship

Re staying in the country for the whole cycle and being monitored throughout, I am sure they could do that. We in the UK tend to havce our scans/hormone tx here and then just fly over for insemination/egg collection/transfer etc - but that's mostly to make things easier with work and not taking too much time off etc. But Reprofit also treat Czech patients and I'm sure there is no reason why they wouldn't offer you the full service if you were staying over there the whole time

They are able to provide prescriptions for all medication and they have a chemist on site/in the same building

Majority of doctors speak English and you would always be assigned to an english speaking doctor/nurse. They are pretty good at explaining things, especially in person. Not so good on phone/email - but always good in person

Think IUI is very cheap, maybe only €100-200, plus sperm costs around €200 I think. Own egg IVF around €1700 I think, and donor egg IVF €3900
Plus drugs but those are relatively cheap over there, esp for IUI which is only mild stimms. I'm not too clear on all the costs as I'm most familiar with DE IVF, but I'm sure the IUI girls will be along to comment soon

When I first had tx my BMI was around 28-30, although have since lost lots of weight, but they never commented. Don't think weight is an issue for them - although I'm sure you know it's good to try and get as fit and healthy as possible when ttc!!

Hope this has helped, feel free to ask further questions. I would certainly recommend Reprofit, they provide a good service and are excellent value for money

Best of luck,
Suitcase
x


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## MadickensMommy (Apr 27, 2010)

Thanks so much for your reply, Suitcase ! You've cleared up a lot of questions for me  Love your username btw 

I would appreciate if you would send me Dr Stepan Machac's email..

Is the process of IVF longer than IUI ? And do you know, if they will do IVF, without having tried IUI first, or proved in some way that IUI wouldn't be succesfull ?
I am considering IVF, just to higher the chances of succes, and maybe to shorten my stay in CZ..

Do they have a waiting time for donor sperm, or do they start treatment right away ? I would like to travel and start treatment in the end of May..

Thanks so much, I appreciate your help 

Blessings & Babywishes


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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Hi,

It's [email protected] - his name is Stepan Machac, and he tends to be happy with being called Stepan rather than Dr Machac!

No waiting list for donor sperm that I am aware of (unless you have particularly difficult matching criteria perhaps)

If you want to go straight to IVF I assume they would be happy to do so...success rates much higher for IVF, but price also a lot higher plus more of a toll on your physically with the injections, egg collection etc - so perhaps something for you to discuss with them...

IUI and IVF take about the same time in themselves. ie you start on day 1 of your cycle - either minimal (IUI) or more (IVF) stimming drugs. 

For IUI you would be monitored and insemination would take place when your 1-2 follicles are big enough/ready to ovulate - anywhere from day 12-17 depending on your cycles I think. Then you would do pg test 2 weeks later. 
With IVF you would have eggs collected around day 11-14 of your cycle, put back 3-5 days later and then 14 days later do pg test

With IUI you can keep doing that back to back for as many months as it takes. With IVF, most clinics, Reprofit included I think, like to allow at least 1 if not 2-3 months between cycles to allow your cycle to return to normal and to allow your body some time to recover from the drugs and the egg collection/transfer etc. 

So hard to say which would mean less time in CZ. With IUI the success rates are lower so it could take quite a few months, but you can do it every month. Whereas IVF has higher success rates but if it doesn't work first time you may have to wait a few months before you can try again....

Hope this helps, 
Suitcase
x


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## MadickensMommy (Apr 27, 2010)

Thanks for all your help, suitcase  I have sent him an email now, so Im just waiting for a reply..

Thanks again, and best wishes to you


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## MadickensMommy (Apr 27, 2010)

Suitcase, I see what you mean now, about him not being good on email.. I got a reply from Stepan Machac just now, and he gives very simple yes/no answers, where I might have liked a bit more explanation.. I hope he's better in person.. Did you have any kind of consultation meeting with him, or is it just straight to the treatment ?


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## Fraggles (Jul 3, 2009)

Hi Natasja

I had iui at reprofit. I am a coward with injections so arrived in brno in time for day 10 (as that fitted with cycle and what stepan suggested) as my cycle is short. They gave me my trigger the day after my scan and then i went back for iui. It was all really simple.

IUI was very simple - you can choose to have unmedicated iui or medicated. It is so easy to get meds if you go that way and they will also email prescriptions for you but guess you will have to check if you can get those made up in Denmark, or alternatively purchase when you are in brno or get the reprofit pharmacy to send to you.

Good luck

F x


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## greatgazza (May 27, 2010)

Hi Natasja

I am thinking about getting in touch with Reprofit and I was just curious as to what information you did actually manage to get from Dr Stepan if you don't mind saying?  From their website I can't see the cost of IUI and as I am just starting out and haven't had any treatment before I don't actually know how the whole process works so I don't really know where to start so don't know if anyone else can advise there..  

Thanks

Emma


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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Realised I never replied to this...no, I didn't have an initial consultation as I'd already had treatment in the UK and knew whto at to expect, so I just went straight to it
However, Stepan and team are more than happy to meet you in person for an initial consultation if you want one   

greatgazza - long time since I did IUI so may have some of these details wrong - hopefully someone else will clarify/expand, but basically there are 2 types of IUI: medicated and unmedicated. Most people tend to start unmedicated and move to medicated if not successful. 

With unmedicated you basically test your urine daily from around day 9 or 10 of your cycle to identify your LH surge (you buy ovulation test sticks to do this) and then when you get a positive surge, you arrange for your insemination for the following day. This is pretty tricky to manage when doing IUI abroad as you need to be able to book flights and travel at short notice. You can also do unmedicated but have scans to check follicle growth rather than relying on pee sticks to test for LH surge....but then you have to pay for the scans which can be expensive here in the UK. Unmedicated IUI usually produces one follicle...

With medicated you take either tablets or injections from around day 6 or 7 of your cycle to stimulate follicle growth. You would usually have scans to check growth and would expect 2-3 follicles (too many more and they'll cancel or ask you to switch to IVF as too risky to do IUI with lots of follies). You would have a 'trigger' injection when the follicles are the right size (usually around day 11 or 12) and insemination a day later. 

Usually insemination is around day 14 of your cycle, but everyone is different and you'd prob need to have one or two cycles to get an idea of what the timing is like for you - again this is fine if you can take time off and travel at short notice, but tricky if not

Re costs, off the top of my head I think it's €200 for the IUI itself and a further €200 for the donor sperm but someone who has been there more recently for IUI can confirm this
Hope I've helped (and not confused further!)

Suitcase
x

PS if you are single, then do not state this when contacting Reprofit - simply say that you want to do IUI with donor sperm but make no overt reference to your marital status (they treat single women but technically they should not so if you state you are single, you may be turned away)


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## caramac (Mar 21, 2010)

Just to add - IUI at Reprofit is 100 Euros for treatment and 100 Euros for donor sperm - so even cheaper than Suitcase thought!


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## blueytoo (Oct 5, 2003)

IUI at Reprofit is currently 100 euros for the IUI and 100 euros for the donor sperm.

I've only ever done medicated IUI's. Stepan has you start injecting on day 2 of your cycle and your last injection on day 8 usually. He scanned me on days 10 & 12 and then triggered on day 12 with IUI done on day 13. 

You could choose to do a medicated IUI using clomid instead of injections. My first 3 IUI's were with clomid and I suffered with the side effects and that combined with the fact that injectibles give a better success rate, meant I opted for injections instead as there were no side effects.


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## greatgazza (May 27, 2010)

Great thanks for all the info.  

So blueytoo did you stay over there the whole time or do you start injecting over here?  If you were injecting over here how does that work?  Where do you get the drugs from etc..?


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## blueytoo (Oct 5, 2003)

I did the injections here at home, you would fly to Brno after all your medication has already been taken.

Stepan emails you a prescription and there are two pharmacies in the UK that will accept them. You order your meds and they get posted to you. Alternatively you can order your meds from the pharmacy at Reprofit and they are then posted to you.


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## Fraggles (Jul 3, 2009)

Hi Natasja

What did you decide to do in the end? Did you go, are you on a 2 WW?

F x


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## greatgazza (May 27, 2010)

I am just completing the rather short (!) questionnaire sent to me by Dr Stepan and realised I don't know my blood type so trying to sort out finding that out!  Also at the top of the form it asks for the partner's name....I know everyone says on here just don't overtly mention that you're single and you'll be fine so what's the best way forward with this? Put a fictitious name down or put N/A or say that they won't be involved....??

Thanks


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## caramac (Mar 21, 2010)

Hi greatgazza - that form caught me out too...it's supposed to be filled out with the requirements for your sperm donor, not with your own details! I just left the partner bit blank.


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## Bambiboo (Oct 23, 2009)

Hi

Im having DIUI at Stork Clinic in Copenhagen - I know thats not abroad for you!

They are very helpful and so friendly, Ive visited twice now (once for treatment) and felt very relaxed.  Their website has a lot of information.

Hope that helps

Bambiboo x


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## MadickensMommy (Apr 27, 2010)

So sorry, I haven't been on here, to let you guys know, what I've decided 
After a few emails with Stepan, I decided not to go there.. It just didn't feel like the right choice for me..
Atm, I am looking into Crete fertility center, in Greece, and considering going there.. Their doctor seems very kind..

It seems, that no matter what clinic, I look into, there is something that worries me, or a question that I cant get an answer to..



Bambiboo said:


> Hi
> 
> Im having DIUI at Stork Clinic in Copenhagen - I know thats not abroad for you!
> 
> ...


I've only heard great things about the Stork Clinic, and it would be easier for me, since I live in Copenhagen.. Unfortunately, I have had so many bad experiences with all kinds of health care in Denmark, that I wanna avoid using it, as much as i can.. I see, your last treatment result came out negative, Im sorry  Will you be going to Stork again ?

Blessings


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## Bambiboo (Oct 23, 2009)

Hi

Sorry to hear that you have had negative experiences in Denmark before.  Im glad though that you have found a clinic you feel comfortable with.  Thats the most important thing I think.  I wasn't happy with the care I received from a clinic here so like you have gone abroad!!

Im going back to Denmark this month, probably after the weekend, so fingers crossed.  Really its only the second attempt as I don't count my first attempt for various reasons.
Hope it works out for you, good luck x x


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