Once in a while, we see patients who are going through IVF and are having difficulty with their fertility clinics or consultants. They may feel that their consultant doesn’t sufficiently answer all their questions and concerns, or sometimes they find their consultant to be quite cold and aloof. Since they are paying a lot of money for the treatment, this can lead to bad feeling.

If the cycle is unsuccessful it is not surprising that patients can feel unconfident about starting a new cycle with the same clinic or consultant. Often the main issue stopping someone change clinics is a financial one, and the clinic that they might like to go to seems above budget.

In our experience, when this situation arises patients often like to talk about it with us, and our advice stems from thinking about the whole IVF treatment in holistic terms. An IVF cycle is a very stressful process, partly because everything seems to move so slowly. Frustrations or worries can easily build up, which in turn puts the physical body under more stress. Lack of confidence in a clinic or consultant is an unnecessary extra source of stress that could negatively affect the outcome of the cycle.

Our advice would be to find a consultant and clinic that make you feel as confident as you can that they are doing a good job. It may cost more money, but the peace of mind you will gain is far more important in the long run. Based on our experience watching many women go through IVF, we are convinced that if a patient can find a clinic that they feel happy with, the chances of a successful cycle improve.

Tags: infertility, IVF