# Best London clinic for IUI for same sex couples?



## RainbowMum

My partner and I are going to TTC within the next year   and I'm responsible for research ;-)

What are the best London clinics that will happily accept lesbian couples for private IUI?

I was considering LWC but have read quite a few bad reviews and also the prices seem to be higher based on the online pricelist. 
I would ideally need a clinic that would be open weekends and late in the evenings as there's no way I can take any time off work for treatment.


----------



## nismat

Guy's and also London Bridge Clinic both seem to have generally favourable reports. Wichever clinic you go to, there will generally be waiting time/delays etc. (both in getting appointments, and when you actually attend for appointments) - you just have to accept that this is standard!!
I've no idea if any of the clinics have the kind of extended opening hours that you are looking for. Many clinics schedule different parts of the day for different functions e.g. mornings for scans, afternoons for IUIs. I think that it's more likely that you would get in for an early scan (e.g. 8am/8.30am depending on their opening time), than for anything in the evening. And only some clinics treat weekend days in the same way as week days for scans etc.; often they'll only do them (or IUIs) as "emergencies".

All London-based clinics must be very used to treating lesbian couples by now; I think that the best way for you to make a choice will be to go for the one that it will be easiest for you to get to in relation to your work. 

Good luck!


----------



## Pinktink

Hi - 

for what it's worth we are at the LWC and we love them - all of the clinics will have some good reviews and some bad reviews depending on your experience and a lot of people seem to blame their clinic for a negative cycle (although I know that is not always why people complain).

I think you would be hard pushed to find a clinic that do everything out of hours - for a start your scans and inseminations will be timed around your cycle so you couldnt plan to have it at weekends for example... the lwc is open at weekends because we had transfer on a sunday and have had saturday scans but I'm not sure if that is only for ongoing treatment if you need it that day...

good luck with your research... It may be worth considering the waiting lists for sperm at these clinics if you are planning to use annonymous donor sperm as some of the clinics have quite long lists... this was one of the things that finally settled us on the LWC because we found they had available sperm and a better choice of donors.


----------



## RainbowMum

Thanks 

I emailed LWC and also London Fertility and seems like LWC is open on weekends even for initial consultations but I was advised that appointments get booked up quickly.

LWC, Guys and Bridge are all 45mins via tube from me, so distance is the same really and guess it just depends on wait lists/costs.
It's all a bit early to think about but I'm a live-in Nanny and talk about pretty much everything with my employers, so they'd probably ask what it was for if I told them I had a doctors appointment and obviously I can't tell them we're getting fertilty treatment as I don't want to jeopardise my job.
But maybe I could ask for a couple of late starts and get the earliest appointments available.

I do like the fact that LWC has their own sperm bank and we might just go along to an open day in the next couple of months


----------



## ♥JJ1♥

I wouldn't recommend the Bridge after 2 disasterous cycles there I moved clinics, but they have a sperm bank, the Lister have good results and are single and gay friendly. The Homerton is gay friendly and cheap too and you can import sperm from ESB or the USA to clinics.
There are still some clinics that won't treat single women (eg: ARGC) not sure about same sex couples though and can say that they don't have sperm available and don't import or have the license to!

I think in terms of opening evenings and weekends for your treatment you will have to think about the cycle and treatment as you probably will have to have some time off work.  Many clinics do open 7 days a week but I have still had to take time off work either the first or last appt of the day for scans.

Good luck


----------



## mc2002

I would really recommend Luca Sabatini at Barts - he's been great with us and is usually fairly flexible with appointment times etc if you're a private patient. Barts have their own sperm donor bank and, unlike lots of the other clinics, they don't seem to have a shortage at all. All of the nurses etc that we've seen have all been great - the only downside is that they never answer the phone! However, as private patients we usually book our appointments direct with our consultant. Good luck!


----------



## Pepstar

Guys do scans and bastings on the weekend - two of our iuis were on a Saturday.  I think the earliest appointment they do is 8.30am although it is very hard to get one of those.


----------



## rosypie

i agree with the others - weigh up the location, opening hours etc and choose the one that fits best. if you're prepared to travel from one side of the capital to the other don't forget to look outside london in the opposite direction too. depending on where you are, it can be quicker and probably cheaper than a "london" one.

we didn't have a great time with LWC. the nursing staff were great, doctors less so and nobody pointed out to me that i'd tested + for strepp B and i only found out when we moved clinics to ttc #2 and requested my notes to be sent through. our first child was 1 by that point, and after a disastrous, infection ridden birth. anyway...

ETA: we didn't do #2 in london, we'd relocated by that point, but we did pick the clinic that was furthest away from us purely for the fact it was 3 miles from the motorway and on one of those soul less business parks with ample parking. you do not want to be fannying about with city parking when you're racing for an appt... there's plenty to consider when choosing a clinic for sure


----------

