Initial consultation with ivf clinic abroad - what was your experience?

[AmberJ]

Hi,

To those of you with conditions/complications that might affect the success of a pregnancy, and who had initial consultations re DE ivf abroad, could you kindly tell me please if your concerns re. your conditions were taken seriously at your first meeting with the doctor? Did they want to do tests? Investigate? etc. And what clinic was it? I'd be grateful to hear your experience.

I'm asking because I've just had a vey disappointing experience at Gest clinic in Prague. The coordinator ran through their program on the phone last month, offered us a skype consultation with the doctor for 140 euros, but said if we go to Prague for a face to face consultation that blood tests, semen analysis and USS of uterus would be included in the price. We doubly confirmed this with her, decided that it was worth the trip and paid up. I then got an email saying we had to pay 250euros for all the tests.

Anyway, at the clinic today the doctor just asked us the same questions that were on the online questionnaire, then tried to do a hard sell. When we finally asked the things we wanted to talk about he told us that we needed to hurry up as time was pressing on! We hadn't even spoken a word before this point. Anyway, my DH being the man that he is, carried on asking the questions and this was the response:

Enquired about my thyroid problems and how it could affect pregnancy - his response: not my issue, speak to an endocrinologist
Enquired about my history of thin uterine lining  - his response: "Historically women never bled, you don't need periods".
Enquired about my DH's poor sperm count and whether he should have DNA fragmentation as well as count -his response: "no".
Enquired about my abnormal DHEA result - his response: "You're old, it will be abnormal". He then went on to say that the doctor reporting on my result didn't know what he was talking about. When DH asked him what the normal parameters actually are, he conceded that he didn't actually know.

He then undertook my USS without gloves! It didn't even occur to me that he had put the condom on the probe with his bare hands and then inserted it inside me He didn't wash his hands either. I would normally clock this and say something, but his attitude un-nerved me and caught me off guard.

It's so unfair that we have to go through this stuff. IVF is hard!!

Anyway, thanks for reading and I look forward to your responses as I need a new clinic now.

Amber x

[FertilityFriends]

[Stacey10]

Not sure where you are from, but I’ve never had the dr or sonographer put gloves on for an internal exam, so for me that’s a pretty common experience. If your still in the Czech Republic and have a couple of days, maybe see if you can go to zlin for a consultation. The most thorough clinics should be worried about thyroid issues etc, and any underlying issues you have as these will most probably affect pregnancy rates. In saying that, there are plenty of clinics around who actually don’t care, their thinking is that it is not their area of expertise and if you have other issues they should be addressed by the appropriate dr’s, it’s just their job to make the embryos and implant them and hopefully get you pregnant. Its a good idea that you want to look around for other clinics, you want to be sure your issues are being addressed properly and feel that the clinic will take those seriously, you already have two warning signs imo, first the discrepancy of cost, then the unwillingness of the dr to answer your valid questions at your consultation.

[AmberJ]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks very much for your response. I think you have recommended Zlin to me before, we're back home now, but I'll definitely look them up. I think you said they've been very successful lately.

As for the no glove thing - I'm a health professional myself so I know it's poor practice not to glove up. If he doesn't wash his hands between patients he's risking cross infecting those ladies and he himself could have a whitlow etc on his fingers and pass the virus onto women via a condom. Btw I'm from the UK and DH is Argentine, we were both a bit stunned. 

Hope your own ivf is going OK.

[Stacey10]

I had an internal scan in Slovakia 2 weeks ago and I can’t for the life of me remember if the dr put a glove on 🙄 I know that in zlin they don’t put gloves on when they do your bloods, but that’s pretty standard over there, must be because everyone has had blood tests previously 🤷‍♀️ Zlin have always been successful, they’re a very consistent clinic.

[AmberJ]

So where are you having your ivf now, if you don't mind me asking?

[Stacey10]

At a clinic in Bratislava.