Finding a fertility clinic …tick tock tick tock

In the short space of leaving the hospital and driving home, we’d both come to the agreement that we would go ahead with the fertility treatment. Finding the money worried us, but we’d spent money on far less important things in the past – I’m sure we could find the money.

Something was troubling me about the letter that the consultant’s secretary had handed us. It looked like the Gynaecologist was affiliated with the Complete Fertility clinic in Southampton. Some close friends of ours had previously received IVF treatment at this clinic and, very sadly, were unsuccessful in their attempts. Amongst this tragedy my friend had told me at the time (and also very recently) what an awful after care experience they’d received there and said that she wouldn’t recommend the clinic at all – this kept playing on my mind. Whilst he seemed like a nice enough chap and very knowledgeable specialist, I felt I didn’t want to put myself in the hands of people who may not treat me in the manner in which I’d expect, especially with everything else going on and also having to pay thousands of the pounds for such care too. I voiced my concerns to Pats and we both agreed that given that we were paying for the treatment ourselves it would be best to find an alternative clinic.

When we got home we called my Mum and Dad to let them know what they’d said at the hospital and to asked if they’d be able to lend us the money for the treatment. They seemed as pleased as we were that there was some hope for a baby at some point in the future and very kindly agreed to lend us the money. That was a huge relief and now knowing that we were going to go ahead with the treatment and with the backing of my parents to help us fund it, all I now had to find a suitable fertility clinic.

Whilst we had experienced difficulties falling pregnant naturally, we hadn’t got to the point of looking into IVF options so I had no experience or knowledge of where to start the search.  I found the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority  (HFEA) website – the regulating body that licenses and regulates UK fertility clinics. I put in a search with our postcode and up came a list of clinics. The HFEA website was very good and detailed and had data for a whole host of options but I felt overwhelmed by all the information. I looked at the success rates and thought I’d start a spreadsheet to list them all to determine which would be the best option.

A friend of mine had not so long ago successfully given birth to a beautiful baby girl via IVF treatment and had called up that day to see how I was doing. She works in the pharmaceutical industry and offered to use her contacts to gain some advice for me. I said I didn’t have a clue of how to choose the most suitable clinic and she recommended  asking for success rates for frozen cycles and said that the clinic in Surrey that they had used was very good and she also very kindly offered to help do some research for me. It was good to speak to someone who had been through the same experience and I was grateful for the help.

Not wanting to rely on my friend’s ability to research an option for me, I then started to look at forums to try and find out people’s experiences of clinics –  after all that was the reason why we weren’t going with Complete. I started to feel so stressed with it all, not knowing what to do for the best and knowing we had to make a decision within the next day or two it just all got on top of me. It wasn’t like choosing an energy provider or a plumber, this was such an important choice to make.

Another friend of mine had already had a few rounds of IVF in the UK but unfortunately had been unsuccessful each time, she felt despondent at the treatment she’d received here and was about to embark on a trip to Athens to a clinic called Serum IVF. She’d told me how brilliant they had been with her and that their success rates were really high. The lady, called Penny, there seemed to be quite well known, as when I mentioned this to my dear friend, Kate, previously that week she seemed to know all about her from seeing her on TV. I felt compelled to get in contact with the clinic and after reading all the amazing testimonials on their facebook page I felt like it could be a good opportunity for us. I’d mentioned it to Pats that evening but he laughed and said ‘You are joking aren’t you? You’re not going to be travelling to Athens after you’ve just had surgery Allie!’ It did seem like a crazy idea but one that looked like had been so successful for many others.

The following morning I’d already completed the initial enquiry form for the Serum IVF clinic and they came back to me instantly. I told Pats that they’d replied and that’s when he flipped slightly. He said it was ridiculous for me to be thinking about travelling to Athens after I’d had surgery and to a country that is in such a dire state economically. I felt so upset I burst into tears in the bathroom – I knew deep down inside that he was right but it somehow felt like a better option. He came to kiss me goodbye as he set off for work and saw I was crying. I felt so mean as I know he was just looking out for what was best for me, and he could see I was clinging onto the best chance of us having a baby. He hugged me so tight and the tears eventually stopped – this was all starting to take its toll emotionally on us.

I’d called work that morning in quite a distressed state and said I wasn’t going to be at work – they’d been so supportive of me ever since my diagnosis – they said to take the time so that I could do my research and figure out our options.

Amongst the clinics I rang, I decided to call the Nuffield in Surrey as that’s where our friends had been as well as another friend. I spoke to someone there called Caroline and asked whether it would be possible to transport embryos from there to Athens. She questioned why I wanted to do that and I explained the whole situation to her. She said it would be very costly to transport and that I’d need to arrange the transfer myself via an international courier and the process would be quite complex. She told me that the best place for me was here in the UK, that their clinic had just been audited by the HFEA who were thoroughly impressed by all their working practices and had received an outstanding assessment. She went on to explain similar information that the consultant at QA had and said that acting quickly really was crucial in all of this. Caroline had such a way about her that she made me feel completely at ease and that I could totally entrust our treatment with them.

In the meantime my friend had come back to me and said her contact had recommended the Royal Marsden Hospital in London (I did not know this at the time but this is a leading cancer hospital). I wanted to consider this an option, however the time it would take to drive there and back made it an unsuitable choice for us. After speaking with Pats about the pros and cons of each, we agreed that we would use the Nuffield for our treatment. Caroline went on to book us an appointment with the consultant that Friday. Apparently there is normally is a 6-8 week waiting list, but because of my circumstances we were able to jump the queue – the one and only benefit of having cancer!

She sent me a list of all the tests we’d need to have in place before the appointment.  I then spent the next day or so running from our new doctor’s surgery to have tests and to my old surgery collecting copies of previous smear tests, and Pats and I both had our bloods taken at a separate local hospital .

At last, I could see a way ahead and felt confident we’d chosen a good clinic with people who would take good care of us.