Perth Fertility clinics - any advise?

[Ping]

Hello, I am a newbie here.

Just underwent my 1st failed attempt on IVF/ISCI in June 09.

Re the question brought up on switching fertility clinic, it did cross my mind on many a times and my concern would be:

- will our test results be transferrable to the new clinic upon our request? I mean, do we have this right to request that our current clinic transfer all findings and results to the new clinic?

I went with the current clinic as it was a referral made by the GP that I saw in Jan 2009. Went into this whole IVF thing with not much of a knowledge especially when both my DH and myself were still new to Oz (note: we had only been relocated here last December). Both my tubes were found to be blocked in the Hycosy procedure and with both of myself and my DH being in our early 40s, we just went with the flow of doing the IVF without wasting much time in seeking a 2nd opinion. I know it is too soon to call it quit with the current clinic but I have not been comfy with the 2 FS that I had seen so far. Even if I had been comfy with any of the FS, I will never have the previlege of having him/her performed any procedures that I will need as the clinic's policy is that it will be done by any FS that is on duty on my scheduled day of surgery/procedure.

My blastocyst transfer was actually performed by a FS whom we had met in Jan as an understudy FS during our first consultation session with another FS in the clinic. Not doubting this 'newly trained FS' experience and skill, but .......

Anyway, I'll appreciate if anyone could share their experience of switching clinic.

Thank you.

Ping

[nitzerette]

Hello,
My husband and i are new to this we are currently with pivet we have to do ivf with icsi , please excuse me if i get the technical terms wrong , we would love to have 2 put in instead of 1 , but they wont do that, does anybody know where does put 2 in ? Also I am a bit worried about doing the HSG can anybody tell about how they went with that? I am so glad i found this site so i can talk to people in the same boat.. Any information I can get will be great..

Thankyou Tam

I think that whether a clinic will use 1 or 2 embryos is more of a case by case decision. At Hollywood, I have had 2 embryos transferred on a couple of occasions. I am over 35 now, and I have had plenty of test and treatments. Dr Perkins prefers only one at a time, but the head dr (Turner) says I should use 2 at a time.
I had an HSG and didn't find it particulary painful (no blockage); I think I went shopping for the afternoon with a friend afterward. But I have read a lot of womens posts that have found it really painful.

Hi,
I have been going to Hollywood for the last 2 & a bit years for 'unexplained infertility'. I originally saw Dr Perkins & found him great but he did have a bit of a wait list. We were blessed with a BFP after our fourth attempt & our daughter was born Sept 08. I have now gone back but due to Dr Perkins wait list got in to see Dr Barton. I have also found her great & all the nurses there are very supportive & professional.

The only negative with Hollywood is they work on a roster system for w/end work. When we went in recently for our FET it was not my FS doing the procedure & I had an AWFUL experience with the FS on duty. I have an appt next month again with Dr Barton to address this.

Also, another positive for Hollywood they have introduced a new procedure for freezing leftover embryos which I'm not sure if other clinics are doing yet. The success rate for FET has apparently increased since this new freezing technique was introduced. Anything that bumps up our chance is great!!

I was supposed to be starting my next fresh cycle with Dr Perkins and Hollywood on 3 July but there was a major miscommunication (again). I was to be doing PGS this time. He says he told the clinic, they say he didn't. End result, they say I wasn't booked in to July cycle, so I can't do IVF til Sept. VERY upset about this for emotional, medical and financial reasons.
I have not found "all the nurses there are very supportive & professional." Quite the opposite at times. I really like Wendy (scans) and my embryologist tho.
Who was the FS that you had the bad experience with? One time I had Lincoln Brett and the transfer was soooo incredibly painful!!! The next time it was Dr Barton, I told her of the time before and with her, I didn't feel a thing.
I believe all the clinics use the vitrification freezing now - FSWA and Concept do for sure. That said, one of my embryos (done with that new technique) at Hollywood did not thaw properly.

[nitzerette]

Hello, I am a newbie here.

Just underwent my 1st failed attempt on IVF/ISCI in June 09.

Re the question brought up on switching fertility clinic, it did cross my mind on many a times and my concern would be:

- will our test results be transferrable to the new clinic upon our request? I mean, do we have this right to request that our current clinic transfer all findings and results to the new clinic?

I went with the current clinic as it was a referral made by the GP that I saw in Jan 2009. Went into this whole IVF thing with not much of a knowledge especially when both my DH and myself were still new to Oz (note: we had only been relocated here last December). Both my tubes were found to be blocked in the Hycosy procedure and with both of myself and my DH being in our early 40s, we just went with the flow of doing the IVF without wasting much time in seeking a 2nd opinion. I know it is too soon to call it quit with the current clinic but I have not been comfy with the 2 FS that I had seen so far. Even if I had been comfy with any of the FS, I will never have the previlege of having him/her performed any procedures that I will need as the clinic's policy is that it will be done by any FS that is on duty on my scheduled day of surgery/procedure.

My blastocyst transfer was actually performed by a FS whom we had met in Jan as an understudy FS during our first consultation session with another FS in the clinic. Not doubting this 'newly trained FS' experience and skill, but .......

Anyway, I'll appreciate if anyone could share their experience of switching clinic.

Thank you.

Ping

Oh, I missed your message because i logged on before you posted, but then had to go out and only finished my reponse later, so it didn't show the 3rd page.

Yes, definately you can have all your records transferred to another clinic. You just have to sign a waiver. I had mine sent over from a Queensland clinic. And a nurse at Concept said (when I inquired last Dec.) that ladies transfer between clinics quite a bit. I was wondering about frozen embryos and she said they can get transferred no problem.

Which clinic are you at and what doctors have you seen? Am wanting to gather as much info as I can to decide whether to switch clinics or 'stay with the devil I know.'

Where are you from originally? I am also not originally from here.

[Tam12]

Thankyou Nitzerette,

I am 36 going on 37 and my husband and i would like 2 have 2 put in we are going to pursue it more with our Dr , try and get him 2 do it , and thanks for the info on HSG.

cheers

[littlemissmoo]

hi nitzerette,
The dr i had the bad experience with was the same as you, Dr Lincoln. When I have my next appointment I'm going to request that he stay right away from me!

We only have one embryo left, so I hope that it thaws properly for us. Good Luck,

[Doodlebug]

Oh crap!

I'm currently doing ovulation induction for the 3rd time and have found out that my estrogen is very low for someone of my age (32) and who has been on the hormones for 2mts now. Looks like early menopause runs in my family on my mums side!

Anyway, my original referral was for Dr Brett on my gyne's (Dr Tim Jeffery) recommendation and now I have him for my 'review appt'. Does that mean he'll be the guy doing all the procedures?

I'm in tears normally at the internal ultrasound due to the amount of scar tissue and cysts I have had removed from my ovaries. I'm so not looking forward to further tests and transfers. It bloody terrifies me, is it really that painful???

Sorry for hijacking the post

[~BecD~]

Thanks for the responses. Does anyone have an opinion on Fertility Specialists of WA?

nitzerette - I am at FSWA and I like it there. I think there is definitely not a 'one size fits all' clinic though - i like that my clinic is still relatively small, I can call up about any little thing, receptionist knows who I am, and they actively listen to what I have to say. It isnt the cheapest of the clinics, but I wouldnt feel comfortable anywhere else, as I have built up good relationships there. That isnt to say they are perfect though - i have had the occasional run-in with a nurse, that happens when you have been around for 2+ years!

Ask away your questions and I will see if I can help

[nitzerette]

Hi Sharon,
Generally your doctor will do the transfers I believe if they fall during the week. But if they are on the weekend, it may be any of them - whoever is rostered on. I have had 7 transfers and 6 of them were fine, but that one really bloody hurt. The nurse gave me her hand to squeeze cuz she could see how much pain I was in.

Thanks Bec. I think a smaller clinic may be the thing for me. I was in a clinic in QLD that was small and caring and personal and I thought they were great. Then I moved over here and started at Hollywood. They boast good results, but a patient just becomes a number. And it is not just that it is impersonal, it is that they have a lot of miscommunication or lack of communication between the doctor and the clinic.

I wanted to stay with Hollywood, because they are the only ones that do Day 5 PGS.
When I wrote to the business manager in the past, he followed up so I stayed there, but this time he just seemed to palm the problem off and not follow up. This just made me more upset.

[Jacki]

Sharon
My FS at Hollywood is Turner but my FET next week isn't being done by him (unfortunately). I was told it depends on what day you have you transfers as to what doctor is on duty that morning doing collections and transfers. I didn't realise this was the case until too late and my FET date was set.

[~BecD~]

Hi Sharon,
I wanted to stay with Hollywood, because they are the only ones that do Day 5 PGS.
When I wrote to the business manager in the past, he followed up so I stayed there, but this time he just seemed to palm the problem off and not follow up. This just made me more upset.

I would call FSWA and speak to Steve Junk the scientific director about PGD, because I am fairly sure that they are doing it at my clinic, but I could be wrong. My clinic is getting good results (50% for fresh transfer, under 37yo)

At our clinic, it depends on who is on duty the day of your transfer. Each FS spends one day in the office, plus they try to schedule your EPU for the day your dr is in. Weekend transfers are done on a roster system. All of the doctors are really nice at the clinic anyway, besides one guy who talks WAY too much!

[Doodlebug]

Thanks for the info girls.

I didn't think we would come to this. I had my ds through 7months of blood tracking, and half thought that the ovulation induction would work for us 1st time. Think I was being a bit of an ostrich!

Now it's all hitting with a big fat reality check. How did you decide where to do your fertility treatment? Why did you choose where you did? I just went on my gyne's recommendation. Maybe I should have done more research???

Also, how do you know the percentage of success rates?

Life was so much easier when I was an ostrich!!

[Jacki]

I relied on the recommendation of my GP when it came to choosing my FS. Luckily I am very happy with him. I would think that most FS are very good at what they do but it helps if you like their personality/manner. I know other people don't like my FS so when deciding to stay with one you need to look at their skills as well as how comfortable you are with them.

As for percentage success rates I would suggest going onto each website and checking out their statistics and compare - I think most put these on their website - I know Hollywood does.

[rhimb]

I was with Concept for over a year, but I have recently switched to FSWA. I saw Dr. Wong at Concept, and overall, I was happy with her... but she was very busy and hard to get in to see face-to-face. I ultimately decided to switch because I wasn't happy with the nurses or other staff at Concept. I just felt like the care I was receiving could be much better, and my naturopath recommended FSWA. I am currently seeing Dr. Yeap, and I am much happier with this clinic so far. The staff have been much more personable, and I don't feel like they are constantly trying to fob me off. I would definitely recommend FSWA!

[Krikkit]

Hi,
I am currently at pivet - A friend of mine had told me about the negativitiy from concept and hollywood and wouldn't recommend going there.

She had heard good news about pivet - I have done my 1st round at pivet and we start our second round next month, but we still unsure if we are 100% happy - we may change to Fertility North in Joondalup if we dont see any results.

I find doct Yovich fantastic and majority of his staff and nurses are ok, its just the odd few who can be a bit off putting. Although in saying that, I have had 3 different FS since January, and have finally said no more and we are sticking to the last one - unfortunatly at pivet its 1st in first served, so if you have your *favorite FS* you have to ask for them or you will get put with any ol' FS.

[nitzerette]

Bec, the other clinics do PGS, but they all do Day 3, whereas HW is starting to do Day 5.

Sharon, even choosing a clinic was not that easy for me. I had been going to a clinic in QLD, but they could not recommend any over here. so when we moved to WA, I went to a GP's office and told the receptionist that I needed an appointment with a doctor that could recommend me to a good IVF clinic. She said, I will give you an appt with dr so&so because she is up on womens issues. When I went back to the appt, I told the dr what I wanted and she said Oh, I am new to the area, I will have to look up the doctors in this book. Not helpful! At the time we only knew of 2 clinics, so we went with Hollywood which one was not as new.

Thanks rhimb. I am trying to decide between Concept and FSWA, so your opinion is helpful.

I haven't even looked into Pivet because my head was already swimming with trying to decide what to do.

[Ping]

Oh, I missed your message because i logged on before you posted, but then had to go out and only finished my reponse later, so it didn't show the 3rd page.

Yes, definately you can have all your records transferred to another clinic. You just have to sign a waiver. I had mine sent over from a Queensland clinic. And a nurse at Concept said (when I inquired last Dec.) that ladies transfer between clinics quite a bit. I was wondering about frozen embryos and she said they can get transferred no problem.

Which clinic are you at and what doctors have you seen? Am wanting to gather as much info as I can to decide whether to switch clinics or 'stay with the devil I know.'

Where are you from originally? I am also not originally from here.

Hi nitzerette

Sorry for the late reply. Was trying to distract myself from the IVF thing for some time and had thus not been back to this forum since my last posting. Both my DH and myself are from Singapore.

Our referral to Pivet was insisted by a GP in Perth whom we had no contact or information at all. At that time, this GP was the only one whom we could make an appointment with without a waiting period policy practiced by some due to our being new in Oz. Our time in Perth was short before my DH's transfer to the NW for employment. I actually was considering Concept through a little research online but the GP made it clear that he will only make referral to Pivet as he does not have the FSs contacts in any other fertility clinic.

In Pivet, I did not get to see Dr Y as referrred by the GP. I was arranged to see a junior FS in the clinic at my first consult. The junior FS was grand but I requested to see another later as I want to have a 'feel' of another FS just for comparison sake. On my return to the clinic for a discussion of my cycle test results, I was met by a 2nd FS who was very distant and who only got warm up later when I decided to do IVF per his recommendation.

The nurses in the clinic are pleasant but it is not easy to establish a rapport with anyone when they are not available in the clinic all the time due to shift work, I reckon. In fact, I met a part-time nurse during the weekend during my preparation for transfer and she was just the perfect nurse anyone would dreamt for. Perhaps, it was less of a stress working on the weekend for the nurse. Or to be fair, she just have that right qualities of being one.

It's been almost 6 weeks now since my failed transfer ..... I still have a frozen embryo with the clinic. I will probably returned for a FET with the same clinic when I had myself fully prepared both mentally and physically again.

I hope you had better luck in your search of the right clinic and FS.

ping

[nitzerette]

Thanks Ping for your insight into another clinic.

I would recommend that if you are thinking about switching clinics, that you start working on it now - even if you don't end up changing in the end. Do some research on the different clinics and find a different GP to get a referral. No doctor should tell you what clinic you HAVE to go to! I went to a GP and got them to give me a referral to a couple clinics so I could check them both out.
Oh, and my past clinics haven't been very forthcoming in giving me my past results. You have to be specific. And the new clinic has been able just to go to the pathology and get many of them.
Good luck. Hope your FET goes well.

[onthefly]

Hi
Thanks for this discussion everyone.
We're planning to take the plunge for another go soon and considering changing clinics. We have embryos frozen at pivet and it's reassuring to hear it's relatively easy to have things transferred.
Maybe FSWA is worth investigating...any top picks among doctors?For those who've been at Pivet recently - what's it like these days. Still extremely busy?
We found our main doc was, well, erm.. we didn't like him. Not the best bedside manner in the world. In fairness though, he did get the job done and we have our son now. There was a bit of a ballsup and I got tossed between docs when I got OHSS, then Yovich picked up the ball and sorted things out - he was really good. I think I'd probably try and get an apt with him if I can.
We also found the nurses were a bit hit & miss - some great, some not. And often too busy to really tell you much.
The staff downstairs in the day surgery were excellent though, which made all the procedures bearable.

I feel like, on the one hand, if I knew it were going to work quickly it wouldnt' matter where i did it or how bad the staff were, cause I could take it. But when things don't work out and it takes a while... well then you need some sensitivity.

All the best to everyone