# Treatment for single women at the Lister Clinic



## Jeanette2 (Dec 5, 2007)

Hi - I attended an open evening yesterday at the Lister Clinic, London which I'd been recommended as a Clinic happy to treat single women. However I found all the information they provided very geared towards couples. I'm considering IUI with donor sperm but am still undecided about which Clinic to go to.  As far as I know I have no fertility problems. Just wondered if any other single women had used this Clinic, I'd be interested in any feedback, particularly whether you experienced them as 'single friendly'.  With thanks, Pam


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## dottiep (Nov 20, 2007)

Hi Pam,

Afraid can't comment on The Lister but I've just had my second IUI with donor sperm at LWC.  They are very single lady friendly - there are quite a few of us here that are being treated there.

Good luck with everything!

Dottie
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## daisyg (Jan 7, 2004)

I don't mean to be rude, but I would quickly get over the single vs couples thing and go for the clinic with the best results as that is really all that matters.   You just have to get over the rest, frankly, as it really is not important in comparison to the really important stuff - i.e. actually achieving a live birth.

I have been to both clinics as a single women, and the Lister wins hands down mainly because it has much, much better success rates than LWC.  I had absolutely no issues with being a single woman at the Lister nor any of the other many clinics I went to over the course of my 6 ivfs...  

A lot depends on your age, your diagnosis, your hormone profile etc.  But the overridingly important factor is their live birth stats. based on your age and also the quality of their embryologists and lab if you are having ivf.  However, you may also be swayed finally by the availability of donor sperm....

Best of luck,

Daisy
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## dottiep (Nov 20, 2007)

I have to say I was a little put off originally by my first contact with LWC as it all felt a little 'clinical' (It is a clinic & a business enterrpise after all!).
I saw a consultant called Mrs Gill & she was very helpful - I know other girls on here have had mixed experiences. Throughout all of my visits there the nurses have been lovely.  I have at no time been made to feel awkward about being alone & they are very patient & helpful.

I'm sure there's a thread on here somewhere cover people's experiences of various clinics.......

Hope that helps

Dx


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## daisyg (Jan 7, 2004)

Certainly I found the staff at both clinics to be very friendly and I definitely felt welcome as a single woman at both clinics.

It is some time since I did IUI/IVF so I am not sure about the donor sperm situation.  I believe that LWC has one of the largest DS resources so you may find your choice governed by this.

As you say, at the moment you are at the beginning of the IUI journey so you may not feel that the choice regarding stats. is as critical as ivf.  

I would query your choice of natural iui however and would personally recommend stimulated iui as being a much more (cost) effective way of cycling compared with natural.

However, much depends on your age, hormone profile, results of hsg and whether you have any other issues e.g. autoimmune, thrombophilia, thyroid or uterine issues.  Hopefully these will all be great and you will have success v. soon.

I am sure you will find one that suits you and will support you.

Daisy
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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Hi Pam,

I'm also at LWC....and have found them to be fine. Certainly no issue with being single - come to think of it, I've yet to see a couple there - whenever I go in it's nothing but women on their own in the waiting room etc.  Receptionists and nurses have all been great, really friendly and put you at ease straight away. I saw Dr Venkat for initial consultation and she was OK - I wouldn't say I was super impressed but she told me what I needed to know and that was enough for now. 

For me, clinic choice came down to availability of sperm as much as anything else. Many clinics have quite a long wait, whereas LWC has sperm available immediately. 

I think if you are going for IVF there are much bigger differences in success rates, but for IUI the clinics seem very similar. I researched 4 or 5 of the London ones before starting out and for IUI there was almost no difference in success rates (or it was difficult to judge as many clinics don't do enough IUI for you to compare %)

As Dottie says, there are some reviews on the site - in the review section - again, I did read all these but to be honest for every positive comment there is a negative one. At the end of the day you have to go with where you feel comfortable. I'd suggest having a consultation at LWC as well as Lister and then making your mind up after that. It's an added expense (which we can all do without!) but at least you'd then feel happy that you'd made an informed decision

Good luck  
Laura
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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Good luck Pam!

I'm doing unmedicated IUI at the moment but not really through choice - I'm travelling a lot for work at the moment and haven't been able to time it to fit in the scans needed for medicated. I plan to move to medicated for my March cycle as the success rates are definitely higher (and because I'm impatient and don't want to wait too much longer for my BFP!)

However, it does depend on your age and individual results so I'd recommend you ask the consultant about it - and get them to be very clear about why they would recommend medicated vs unmedicated. That was one of my frustrations with my initial consultation - she seemed very reluctant to make a recommendation but just gave me the success rates and said it was up to me to decide. Fortunately the girls here are a wealth of information and knowledge which helped me with my decision process. But next time I shall be pushing the consultant harder for a recommendation (after all, that's what I'm paying them for...)

Totally know what you mean re convenient location. It takes me 2 hours to get to the LWC (I live and work in Hampshire) - so that's a 5 hour round trip with time for treatment/scans taken into account. Pretty challenging from a work perspective. For the last IUI, I was getting up at 6am, scan at the clinic at 8.30am, in work by about 11am....3 times in one week. Pretty exhausting but it will all be worth it in the end! If you can find a local clinic that you are happy with, it will certainly reduce the stress levels,,

all the best
Laura


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## daisyg (Jan 7, 2004)

I would say from experience, that unmedicated IUIs are not very effective and really you only increase success rates by having iui with injectible meds plus proper scans, monitoring and trigger.  

I understand why you are having the unmedicated IUIs, but agree that moving to medicated asap would increase your chances significantly.  It's not only about the cost, but just that unmedicated iuis are just not v. successful.

Also, from experience, LWC did not offer me an HSG to see whether my tubes were patent.  I had to ask for this myself after 3 iuis (I was v. inexperienced at this time) .  This really upset me as I felt that they had committed me to 3 iuis without knowing whether I had patent tubes.  This is just for general info. and you may want to bear this in mind for your treatment.  (I ended up moving on to ivf at a diff. clinic as I was 43 and time was of the essence for me).

However, one of my friends had twins on her 2nd medicated iui at the LWC at age 40!

Good luck to all,

Daisy
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## suitcase of dreams (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks Daisy

I am actually having scans and trigger - just not the meds at the moment due to my current travel plans. Last month I had 3 scans plus trigger injection. This month I will have at least one scan plus trigger - I can't rely on picking up LH surge myself as this has been very unreliable in the past - hence the scans/trigger....so I'm doing everything I can to get the timing right and from March will also add the meds into the equation to increase the number of eggs/chance of success.

I was offered, and have had, the hycosy to make sure no problems with my tubes - had this before I started the first IUI. This was strongly recommended to me by LWC so perhaps they have changed their view on this since you were there...

It's certainly pretty confusing at times and hard to know if you are doing the right thing. But I have found this site to be a fantastic source of info and without it I wouldn't have been anywhere near as informed as I am now... 

Laura
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## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

I went to the Bridge first off and they were well used to catering for single and gay women.
L x


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