IVF Spain write
Our great team here at IVF Spain have been refining our approach to assisted reproduction for over ten years now and we remain committed as ever to offering bespoke treatments which address the unique needs of individual patients’.
This attention to detail has enabled us to develop a team with a very high level of specialist skills who are able to help patients with a diverse range of diagnoses, including the most complex. The latter applies to Alka and Rhod, the couple who were chosen to be the second beneficiaries of the 2017 Journey Project offered in partnership with Fertility Road.
You might recall this couple had undergone numerous, unsuccessful IVF cycles in the UK. After much consideration, they concluded that their best chance of achieving pregnancy would be by choosing an egg donor pathway. As this route was not a viable option in the UK due to long waiting lists they decided to consider a non-UK clinic for the treatment which offers a higher success rate in many cases.
We warmly welcomed Alka and Rhod to our clinic where they met Dr Alicia Álvarez who was to be responsible for working with the couple to identify the most appropriate way forward. Early investigations showed that Alka’s ovarian reserve was quite low; she had very few active follicles, a low AMH and her endometrium (uterus lining) was extremely thin. Based on this information Dr Álvarez from IVF Spain confirmed that the egg donation programme offered by IVF
Spain would be the most suitable treatment to achieve a pregnancy.
We are fortunate to oversee an excellent egg donation programme at IVF Spain; our egg bank contains eggs from over 500 individuals who donate at the clinic itself which means that we are not reliant on eggs that have been extracted and transported.
Specialists are then able to evaluate eggs in real-time, ensuring the most healthy eggs are chosen for both treatment and or storage. As our egg bank contains a very diverse range of phenotypes we are also able to find a donor with the maximum possible phenotypic compatibility with both members of the couple. The in-house process of matching recipient with a donor is therefore seamless and efficient.
In order to help Alka’s endometrium reach its ideal thickness and readiness her medical plan included a mock cycle to check her body’s reaction to hormones and make any necessary adjustments in the proposed treatment. In addition, we used the predictive software provided by EEVA and integrated in GERI+ which is the most advanced embryonic incubator available to choose the most viable and healthy embryos which had the highest chance of resulting in a successful pregnancy.
At IVF Spain we have a single embryo transfer policy we undertake with good quality embryos which improves both the pregnancy rate and avoids multiple pregnancies which carry their own risks for both mother and babies.
In Alka’s case the process yielded three excellent quality embryos (AA), the best of which was chosen for a fresh transfer and the rest were cryopreserved for future use if necessary.
On transfer day Alka elected to choose acupuncture sessions before and after the transfer itself which helped to ease her both psychologically and physiologically. The resulting transfer went smoothly; Alka’s endometrium responded perfectly and we now wait for the ‘beta’ test (pregnancy test)!
Dr Álvarez and the IVF Spain team appreciate the opportunity to help Alka and Rhod create their own family; we await the result of the test and look forward in great hope and excitement!
Alka & Rhodi writes…
During our 8 year fertility journey, we have had multiple cycles of IVF in the U.K. We were truly blessed when the 4th cycle of IVF gave us a child, our amazing 4 year old son. We have longed to have another child, a sibling for our son, and so pursued further IVF.
Unfortunately my ovarian response, which had always been poor, was getting progressively worse, and of course I wasn’t getting any younger. Each failed cycle was heart breaking.
Eventually our fertility consultant advised us that our best option to have another child would be by egg donation, but unfortunately the clinic had a 2 year waiting list and possibly even longer to find a match with Indian ethnicity.
We discussed having treatment abroad and looked online at a number of clinics worldwide.
It was overwhelming. Which country? Which clinic? Would the facilities be as good as in the U.K? Would the language barrier be a problem? Would the travel to another country add to the already stressful IVF procedure?
We narrowed our search down to Spain due to the success rates of the clinics, the standard of the health care, and the ease of travel to the country. Rod and I had visited Spain a number of times, and knew that it was a country with a diverse population which meant that my physical characteristics could be more closely matched.
After researching various clinics we were impressed by the success rates at IVF Spain, and the patient testimonials were excellent. I had read about the Journey Project in the Fertility Road newsletter and just knew we had to apply. We never dreamed we would be chosen – Wow! We felt so honoured to have been selected and looked forward to seeing the clinic first hand and starting treatment.
The whole treatment process at IVF Spain has been such a positive experience. We had heard from the patient testimonials that the atmosphere at the clinic was very calm and soothing and it really is true! From the moment you walk into the reception, the quiet tranquil atmosphere really does help to put you at ease.
Our initial fears of not being understood at a foreign clinic were completely unfounded.
Each member of staff appeared to be multilingual and were so welcoming. Our appointments with Dr. Alicia Alvarez were amazing. She has such a compassionate nature and her human approach to the whole treatment process made us feel that she understood what we were going through and really did want us to be successful. She gave us the most in depth lay-person’s explanation of the IVF process we had ever had and recommended some vitamin supplements for Rod which was the first time we had ever been given this advice and option.
The clinic puts an emphasis on making you feel at ease and relaxed, and during the 2 weeks that we were in Alicante for treatment, they prioritised our free time, to allow us to have a holiday alongside the treatment process. The staff are so warm and caring and really helped us stay positive during the treatment process.
We had previously had acupuncture before and after the embryo transfer in the UK, and were delighted to find that IVF Spain offered this option. It was hugely gratifying to see that the clinic appreciated the part holistic treatments play in decreasing the stress of the IVF process.
Travelling for IVF treatment abroad has been much easier than we originally thought. Flights to Alicante were easy to obtain, and being a tourist destination, there are a number of reasonably priced hotels and apartments. The majority of people spoke English too, so our concerns about making ourselves understood at the clinic were completely unfounded.
The facilities at the clinic were excellent, and we felt fully informed and were guided through the whole process in a very caring way.
… so now we are in the 2 week wait… and elated to have made it this far… fingers crossed! More info at
