We struggled with Bourn Hall fertility clinic the first time we went there, and we continued to struggle with them for months after. They sent us the wrong bills. They refused to quote us a total cost for the treatment there. They didn’t respond to emails. They seemed scattered, uninformative, uninterested, and 100% out for the money.

So we agreed to do just one more. One more clinic to visit on the off chance that they were better, and then we’d have to make a final decision.

Enter ABC IVF!

 

I was drawn to this clinic because they claim to be huge on transparency. They offer one price for IVF without any hidden costs. They have it all over their website, and after the endless mess with Bourn Hall, the idea of just knowing what the price would be, the TOTAL PRICE, seemed magical to me.

I had already contacted them on my intense clinic search back in early summer, but back then they said they couldn’t work with donor sperm. Now I heard the opposite on a forum though, so I contacted them again and found out that they’d changed their policy and now cooperate with another clinic to provide it, which was great news for us.

We made an appointment, and in the days leading up to it I did some research about them.

They have an entirely different approach to IVF. They use lower doses of medication, and there is a focus on quality over quantity. As a result of this the rules to get in are quite strict: you have to be under 38, with a specific BMI, a good egg reserve, and high follicle count to be accepted.

They don’t offer egg sharing like I had wanted to do which is sad, but everything else seemed so interesting that I was still pretty eager to see them.

They’re on Harley Street, which Jo tells me is fancy as hell!

But when we arrived there the clinic itself was much smaller than any of the hospitals we’ve been to previously. It’s not much bigger than a flat, but cosy. They were nice. Proper friendly, but also informative. They sat us down, explained everything, and – true to their promise – there really is only that one amount to pay.

They did a scan right on that first appointment as well, something Bourn Hall never bothered to do.

The scan showed that I have a cyst on my left ovary (which was news to me) and that the position of my right ovary is quite challenging. They also counted my follicles, and I had 22! That’s a brilliant number, and despite the cyst I was officially accepted to their clinic.

We went home with a whole information packet. There were also a bunch of forms to sign later, but the difference here was that we could study them at home first before ever having to sign anything, which meant a lot to me. No sudden surprises, no having to sign something without knowing what it says. It does exist! Even in that they were just so much better than Bourn Hall.

We talked it over at home, but the choice was clear enough: we are going with them. ABC it is!

 

 

 

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