Choosing an IVF Clinic and What to Ask Them

The right IVF clinic can make all a difference to your fertility journey. Success rates can vary among clinics, with the results depending on the clinic’s expertise, technologies used, and the age and health of the patients. 

The best clinics invest in state-of-the-art lab equipment and cutting-edge techniques like ICSI, PGT, or embryo freezing. They also offer individualised treatment plans. 

Recommendations from our Patients:

Here are some recommendations of IVF clinics or private gynaecologists from patients at Creation Acupuncture in and around Wolverhampton: 

Local Clinics: 

• Care Fertility - highly recommended by multiple patients who wish to enjoy positive communication and success with complex cases.   

• Access Fertility - payment plans with refund options and free webinars. 

• Create Fertility - private IVF and referrals from NHS, mild IVF as standard 

• St Judes, Dr Adeghe, Penn Wolverhampton - small clinic with a welcoming, family feel, ovulation induction and blood tests. 

Clinics in London and their Finance Packages:

These clinics specialise in complex cases and offer comprehensive testing procedures:

• CRGH- offer finance packages with refunds if unsuccessful. Online medication appointments with home delivery. 

• ARGC- specialist complex cases such as elevated FSH, high success rates, daily blood testing. 

• Gaia Fertility - this is fertility insurance. Patients have recommended this for those who need help to pay for IVF. Gaia pays for a set number of IVF packages. If you are unsuccessful, there is no repayment. If you are successful, you pay them back monthly. 

Clinics abroad: 

These clinics tend to be cheaper than the UK, are often highly recommended for patient care, and provide the added bonus of a holiday in the sun. 

One such example is IVF Antalya, Turkey, which offers packages starting from £3000. It includes free consultations. A 5 star reviewed clinic, it’s worth investigating if you’re considering looking abroad.

Private gynaecologists: 

If you’re suffering from particular issues, you might want to try a specialist clinic. Here are a few private clinics that specialise in particular conditions:

Endometriosis

Spire Midlands Endometriosis Clinic

Dr Y Affifi Birmingham, endometriosis surgery. 

Endocrinology (thyroid) 

Dr P De, Circle Health Group 

Recurrent miscarriage

Circle Health Group - circlehealthgroup.co.uk/consultants

Nuffield, Wolverhampton: 

Specialists in Gynaecology 

Dr K Afiffi 

Dr U Bathula 

D O Ofinran 

Private scans: 

Window to the Womb, Wolverhampton and Birmingham 

Baby Bumps Scan Studio, Dudley 

Magical Views, Wolverhampton 

Questions for your clinic: 

It’s always important to start the IVF process with your eyes open. After all, this journey can be both an emotional and physical rollercoaster. 

Here are some initial questions you might want to ask:

• Will I have a short or long protocol? 

• Will it be a fresh or frozen transfer? 

• Will it be mild IVF or increased stimulation? 

• Will you transfer 1 or 2 embryos?

Questions for Each Scan: 

• How many follicles do I have? 

• What size are they? 

• How thick is my lining? 

• What are my oestrogen (E2) progesterone and LH levels? 

Questions for complex cases, RIF or if age is a factor: 

1. Could I have assisted hatching? This is a process to thin or place a hole in the outer layer of the embryo to encourage implantation. 

2. Could I have embryo glue? The embryo soaks in a hyaluronate enriched culture to mimic the natural environment. 

3. Could I have an endometrial scratch? A procedure to cause a small scratch to the uterine lining promotes a healing response and encourages implantation. 

4. How did the embryos progress after day 3? This is when the male DNA plays a part in embryonic division. 

5. Will we need ICSI? This is commonly given if sperm quality is low in order to select and inject the highest quality sperm. 

6. Could I have the endometrial receptivity test in order to determine the optimal implantation time? ERA 

7. Am I a candidate for additional level 2 immunology tests such as natural killer cells test. Treatment is steroids or intralipids. 

8. What are my thyroid blood results such as TSH, free T3 and free T4? Do I need a thyroid antibodies test? If thyroid antibodies are present this could suggest autoimmune thyroiditis which affects implantation and egg quality. 

9. Could I get EMMA ALICE testing to determine the endometrial health and rule out bacteria and infections which affect implantation?  

10. Could I get a blood test for sticky bloods? If this test shows as positive, treatment includes blood thinners such as inhixa or clexane and low dose aspirin. 

11. Would we be candidates for sperm DNA fragmentation testing? 

12. Should we get PGT-A testing, genetic screening on the embryos? 

Reasons a Cycle Might Be Cancelled: 

We ask the questions regarding scans above so that we can counteract any of the following issues should they arise:

• OHSS

• Cyst 

• Too many follicles or follicles growing at different rates 

• Fluid in the uterine cavity 

• Premature ovulation 

• Poor growth of the uterine lining 

• Poor response to stimulation 

Common reasons an IVF cycle may fail: 

• Egg quality

• Autoimmunity 

• Age 

• Missed uterine or sperm problems, which further testing (explained above) can determine. 

I hope this helps and thank you to all my patients for their recommendations. You really are helping others on their fertility journey! If you want to know more about fertility acupuncture can help, don’t hesitate to contact my clinic in Wolverhampton today. 

Natalia