If you're struggling to conceive and on the path to parenthood, looking to have a baby and are considering, planning or about to have fertility treatment like IVF, ICSI, Egg Donation, Sperm donation, Embryo donation treatment in Europe and in places like Spain, Greece, Portugal and Czech Republic then you're in the right place.
I'm Emma Haslam and since the birth of our son in 2018, I have made it my mission to make fertility treatment more transparent, accessible, supported and affordable. I now help people around the world just like you to find a safe, best fit clinic and navigate fertility treatment in Europe. And since 2019 I have helped 100s of people around the world to make informed decisions that are right for them and to have fertility treatment in Europe and achieve their dreams of starting or expanding their families.
Ok, before I begin I just want to say that if you haven’t read my blog post about finding a destination then make sure you read it next here on my blog. You need to work out where you can and want to have fertility treatment like IVF, before you start looking for your dream IVF clinic abroad.
5 top tips to help you find the best fertility clinic abroad for you
1) Do your due diligence
Are the fertility clinics you're looking at registered and regulated and to a high standard? Are they ethical in the way they operate?
The way in which clinics are registered and regulated is different in different countries, and ethics can vary too, so it’s important that you look into this, because you want to make sure that things are gonna be safe, and you also don't want any niggling doubts in the back of your mind while you are having treatment.
2) What are the specialisms of the clinic?
Do you need a clinic with specialist help? For example you may have unexplained infertility and want some answers? Are you older? Do you have PCOS or Endometriosis? Do you require donor treatment? Do you have male factor infertility and need a clinic that specialises in that? Do you have immune issues? Trying to conceive with a higher BMI? The list goes on.
I've talked before about how I don't believe in one size fits all, so consider that when you are looking at going abroad. That's the brilliant thing about suddenly opening your mind to moving outside of your home country.
You've got the option now to really being quite choosy in terms of, you know what you're looking for, which I think increases your chances because if you're gonna go to somebody who has a specialism in the thing that you need, and you're making your budget stretch further if needed, then you're giving yourself the best chances of success and peace of mind to look back with no regrets knowing that you've done everything that you can, no matter what the outcome.
3) Check out patient reviews
It’s great to see patient reviews to get an overall feeling of somewhere, but it's a bit like TripAdvisor. Take it with a pinch of salt. Go and delve into some of the details of those reviews and see what people are saying because we're all different. So I've looked at restaurants before as an example on TripAdvisor, where I would give it a one star and somebody else thinks it's a five star and nobody's right or wrong, but we're everyone is different, with different likes and dislikes.
You need to go and see what people are saying and see whether or not they're things that you would like and dislike, but just use it as an overview. If everyone's giving it one star out of five well then it’s probably worth avoiding - but digging into the details is helpful as is not making a decision on the clinic based on a random stranger's experience.
The most important thing is that if the clinic is safe, registered, regulated and ethical that it meets YOUR needs and personality.
4) What is communication with the fertility clinic abroad like?
Assess how it feels when you're liaising with the clinic at the enquiry stage, how the communication feels. Can you understand them clearly? What are the response times like to email? Again, everyone has different expectations about how quickly people should respond and we live in a digital world now where sometimes we expect responses instantly and some clinics are quicker than others, so how does it feel to you?
Are they helpful and do they make you feel comfortable?
5) Donor conception information
My final tip is understanding the donor conception process. Consider some of the following questions. Are you looking at anonymous or non anonymous egg and or sperm donation? What is the recruitment and selection process like with the clinic/s you are considering. What are the donor’s tested for? Are the donors paid for their donations? Or is it an altruistic act where they're just paid expenses? How many times are the donors allowed to donate? Are they all proven donors? How does the matching process work? How long does it typically take to match patients to donors? Come up with a list of questions for the clinics to answer, just so that you’ve got a really good understanding before you say yes. The process in different countries and clinics will vary so it’s important you have the understanding needed to make informed decisions.
So there are my top five top tips to help you to find the best fertility clinic for you.
If you need more help with finding your best fit safe fertility clinic abroad then take a look at my clinic matching service here.
Love Emma
Co-founder Your IVF abroad
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