# Should I try somewhere else?!



## Yorkshire123 (May 27, 2016)

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone can offer me any advice? 

I went to a first appointment at a European clinic this week. I won't name it here because I want to check out if I'm being reasonable! 

Our situation is that my DH has obstructive azoospermia. We've done 3 unsuccessful rounds of donor iui on the uk and I've decided to bite the bullet and go for IVF/icsi. 

I had a lots of emails with the clinic beforehand and they advised that it would be okay to go for just one day this week, tests in the morning and then doc in the afternoon when results were back. A few things about the day wound me up a bit and I'd like to know whether I'm being silly or should keep going and look for a diff clinic. The things I wasn't sure about were:

- when we arrived in the morning I was hoping we'd meet our co-or donator so we could understand what lay in store
- at different times in the day we were variously given 12 thick documents (3 copies of some by different people), some in the native language and some in English. We were asked to sign lots of different things relating to treatment and consent but didn't actually have a conversation all day about how the treatment would work.
- when we eventually saw the doc she immediately said I needed to return the following week for more tests as they hadn't done them in the morning. She didn't explain why, just said she didn't know what she needed until she saw us (so why not see us first and then order tests)
- they had my date of birth wrong and telephone number despite us writing them down
- she launched straight into saying we might need Pgd testing thereby more than doubling the price without asking if we would proceed/be interested in it - I've not heard of and never had miscarriages or even been pregnant. 
- when I queried going back the following week and why they hadn't suggested I stay two days to do any follow up tests she said 'what did you think? That you'd go home pregnant today?'
- the doc never asked why we were there, what treatment and investigations we'd had previously, what we wanted. 
- we asked questions about how donor sperm worked in that country but were blanked and just told 'it's anonymous'.
- I went expecting at least a conversation about IVF and how it would work there, particularly with international patients, but she basically said come for another test next week, and then come back again in three weeks and we'll plan your treatment then. I went prepared to return again before treatment but was hoping to at least have a conversation or be able to ask a question or two.

Although I've decided not to return to that clinic (which isn't one of the most popular ones on here) I am still interested in treatment abroad so wanted to test out whether all of this seemed normal and something I should expect?

Really hope this doesn't sound like I'm really awkward!

Ta,


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## MrsGorilla (Dec 12, 2013)

Hiya Yorkshire,

It sounds like you haven't had a particularly positive experience, I'm sorry it didn't go well. It seems the clinic you visited were a little disorganised! 

Before we went to our clinic (Zlin in Czech Republic) we had a lot of contact by email and phone. This was a lot to do with us shipping DHs sperm over to them (it was surgically retrieved in the UK because DH has obstructive azoospermia and it was cheaper to ship it over than for him to have the procedure done again) so we had covered a lot of what treatment would involve (we used donor eggs), tests required etc before we had even booked our flights. We made two trips to the clinic, one for one day to have tests, and then the results were emailed to us along with the doctors advice a few days later, and the second for transfer!  I know you're not asking for advice on specific clinics, more advice on what to expect with treatment abroad, but we only went to Zlin so I can only let you know about them! They were slick, professional, we met our coordinator on the first visit who knew all about our case even though she was looking after lots of couples, she really looked after us, always checking we understood and were happy with what was happening, the doctors/embryologist were very caring even though the clinic was busy and we were never given multiple copies of paperwork.

I hope this helps a bit. It's tough enough choosing a clinic in the first place, never mind having to decide if you're willing to continue with them.

Good luck!


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## Coolish (Jul 10, 2012)

Oh Yorkshire that doesn't sound like a very good experience to me - that's based on my experience of 3 different clinics in different countries.

Each of the 3 clinics have involved emails, telephone or Skype calls before even flying over there. Some have been better at comms than others  But they have each asked us to fill out quite detailed questionaires and been very clear on how often we'd need to visit and what tests we'd need - including some that we could have done in the UK before flying over. 

One clinic preferred a consultation day, for any tests and they did a very detailed explanation of what their DE IVF involved. Then we went back for 8 days for the actual treatment - DH had to be there at EC for his bit.

The second clinic liked a 1-2 consultation in case you needed any extra tests or something like a hysto. DH would also do his bit at that stage. Then you just had to fly back a few days after EC for 2 days. 

My third clinic didn't need an additional consultation, we just flew over for 10 days for the whole thing. 

Although each clinic had a slightly different approach, they were all very clear about what it was and coordinators were the first people that you met at the clinic. Two of the clinics were actually much smaller than one (one was big and slick) but that didn't make them chaotic or unaware of our background. 

I hope you find the right clinic for you x


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## Yorkshire123 (May 27, 2016)

Thanks on MrsGorilla and cooljules. I do really appreciate you taking the time to reply. This is a complicated world sometimes! 

MrsGorilla - could I ask how faffy (and expensive?) it was to ship your swimmers abroad? When we had our iui's we didn't have any of my husbands sperm but since then we have a failed unblocking op (obstructive azoospermia) and have some stored in London. In a funny way it makes everything more complicated?

I've been left bit confused after this week and am kicking myself a bit. I chose the clinic because the flights were regular and cheap from my local airport, thinking I would go and check it out and see what I thought. Now I release I should have chosen one of the clinics people talk about more frequently but have started to think maybe I should just stick with the U.K. Clinics. Grrrr!

I'm going to have another go at another one and see how I go.
Thanks so much
Xx


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## Loulou4- (Sep 18, 2014)

Yorkshire don't be put off going abroad by the experience you've had. I'm not surprised that you feel dissapointed and confused by your experience.  I don't think its a reflection of what else is out there and the level of treatment you can receive. 

It is such a big decision to choose a clinic and I wish I'd given it more thought initially. You can tell a lot by how initial communication goes before you decide to fly out, and most offer free skype consults which allow you to ask all the q's you want and get a feel for clinic and staff from comfort of your own home. 

Best of luck 
Xx


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## apples2014 (Aug 15, 2014)

Yorkshire you poor thing. This is really bad in my opinion. 

I just mirror what the other lovely ladies have said. I've cycled in Athens and Prague and have friends that have cycled at other European destinations for IVF. 

I don't think you have been treated very well at all here. 
It's common practice for you to send your details and then have a skype consultant or pop over in person for a consult. But you are supposed to be met and walked through the procedures. 

The clinics abroad I have used wanted to be sent my previous blood test results, sperm reports anything from previous cycle and they gather all that information before they meet you. Of course a lot of these tests such as FSH or thyroid etc need repeating if it's been some time but quite often ( not always some people do not have kind GP's due to the pressure of the practice) but most will repeat these for you so again this is info you can gather at the request of the clinic before you meet them. 

I can really see why choosing a clinic that is easy to get to from local airport or frequent flights etc was a reason to go for it as that's a important factor in keeping costs and stress down when cycling abroad, but it sounds like you have been subjected to some kind of sausage factory where you are just waiting to be fed in! 

If you have a few other clinics in mind have a little search on here maybe and pop onto the thread of the clinic and ask any questions you might want advice on about that particular clinic. People seem to do that all the time and I've found everyone to be helpful. But if you feel shy and don't want to pop onto a thread maybe have a good read back over the pages as you can get a sense of a clinic that way too. Or send someone a personal message on here. 
I hope my waffle helps. I just read your post and was struck by how un great your experience was and I wanted to reassure you that's not necessarily typical of other clinics in Europe. I was so happy at the one in Athens no regrets and I am super happy at the one we are using now in Prague too. 

Wishing you heaps of luck. 

Apples x


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## MrsGorilla (Dec 12, 2013)

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=337514.msg6122333#msg6122333

Hi all,

Yorkshire, that's a link above to an old post of mine about shipping, hope it helps! My DH had a vasectomy reversal which worked initially but then blocked with scar tissue so we had to have PESA. If only we'd known about my crappy eggs beforehand we could've avoided the vasectomy reversal 

Good luck with your decision, you've been given some fab advice here


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