IVF Australia or Sydney IVF - advice needed

[Lozenge]

Hi
I am about to start IVF after about 12 months of TTC.
I am currently seeing a doctor through IVF Australia (Dr Sachs) but am considering swapping over to Sydney IVF as they seem to be a more established clinic and I'm not particularly tied to my doctor. Also, I have heard good things about Alison Gee at Sydney IVF.
Does anyone have any recommendations regarding these two clinics? Is one better than the other? I am finding it hard to compare their statistics (they are done on different bases). Also, is it important that the clinic be open and available to do procedures 7 days a week? IVF Australia is not open on weekends.
Many thanks in advance!

[Sara69]

Hi Lozenge,

I am with Dr Gee and think she is great, also very happy with SIVF. Feel free to send me a pM if you want to know anything specific. Dr Lok at SIVF also seems to be very good.

Might be a good idea though to check on costs, I've heard that IVF Australia is considerably cheaper and have heard lots of very good things about Dr. Sachs.

Good luck,

Sara

[kdmeddie]

Hi Lozenge,

I have used both IVFA and SIVF.

My Dr at IVF Australia was Prof Illingworth he is great. We fell pregnant with IVF Australia in 2006 after one stimulated cycle (two embryos in the end) - fresh cycle didn't work but frozen worked and we had a beautiful baby boy in 2007.

So when it was time to go back for baby #2 we had no hesitation in going back to IVFA.
Last year we did two stimulated cycles with IVFA with no luck - first cycle we only got one embryo, second cycle two - did accupuncture with this cycle

Disappointed, I started to do some more research and got some advice from my accupuncturist. I have PCOS and it seems my estrogen levels can spike very quickly at the end of my stimulated cycle. The problem with IVFA is that they only do egg collection on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays, so for me in the cycles from last year they went too early on the first one and too late on the second cycle.

So we switched to SIVF in December and see Dr Lok who is also great. The greatest benefit of SIVF for me is that they collect 7 days a week, and therefore organise egg collection on a day that is optimal for me, unlike with IVFA where I had to fit in with their schedule.
Also SIVF apparently have a more advanced and better freezing technique than IVFA - therefore greater success rate with frozen embryo transfers.

We find out tomorrow our final number of embryo's (at day 3 we had our best number yet!) and are scheduled to have our transfer.

In terms of costs between the two they are now about the same following the recent changes to the medicare rebate.

There is another option Westmead IVF - Dr Lok also works at that clinic, I believe they now collect 7 days a week and are significantly cheaper. For financial reasons only ,this is where we might be heading next if we have no luck at SIVF.

Best of Luck, let us know what you decide

[Lozenge]

Thanks so much to both of you for your quick and helpful responses!
I am tempted to switch to Sydney IVF for all of those reasons. Plus their statistics seem to be much better (although I am finding that it is hard to compare apples with apples).
One more question - is it inconvenient to travel to the city for blood tests etc with Sydney IVF? I would imagine parking etc is difficult.
Good luck to you too.
Lozenge

[kdmeddie]

I suppose it depends where you live? I tried to avoid going into town unless absolutely necessary, I either went to Liverpool or Norwest for blood tests and the ultra sound - you can go to any clinic for these. I had my egg collection and transfer in town though.

When I did go into town I always managed to score street parking, we only had to pay for a parking station a few times. However in saying that it has been the xmas/new year period when it is pretty quite, not sure how it would be when everyone is back at work though??

[blossom73]

Hi i have been to both clinics and would definately recommend SIVF without hesitation they picked up on a lot more than IVFA and where much more professional and informative.

Dr Lok was our doctor there and he was fantastic unfortunately for us our situation has meant we had to change clinics but only because they dont offer the service at SIVF otherwise we would have stayed there with Dr Lok.

With regards to BT etc u can also get this done at other ultrasound places so hopefully one of those could be close by! I had to travel 20 mins each morn but after a while it didnt matter and i got into a routine, i also went to the city once or twice and due to the early hour you get there i found parking on the street so it was easy.

Good luck with your decision

[Lozenge]

Many thanks Blossom - good luck to you as well

[AliB]

ALISON GEE IS AWESOME! After 2.5 years of going to loads of specialists for my various issues I was immediately sooo impressed by her as a Dr, she writes the most amazing letters for referrals etc which really indicates that she has listened and understood everything about me!! I believe she has the highest success rating at SIVF. Here's my "success story" oops here's the link https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ml#post1938489

SIVF does have a better rep than IVFA (I've known about 10 people and only one would rate IVFA over SIVF).

As for parking - if you come really early esp weekends you can get a park on the street. Otherwise there are lots of parking stations in and near the building. You can quite likely get your bloods/scans done elsewhere if you like.

Best of luck!!

[AliB]

ps Oh wow, I feel soooo fortunate - just looking back at my diary, my first appointment with Alison Gee was on 28 Jan 2009 - and today I am 36.5 weeks pregnant!!! Despite heaps of tests and surgery in between. Hope you get the same amazing results xo

[Lozenge]

Hi to all of you again.

I wanted to let you know that I have decided to switch to SIVF. Its a tough call because it means waiting another month or so (I can only get an appointment with Dr Lok or Gee in Feb), but it sounds like it is the right decision based on everything you have all said (plus everything else I have read).

I wanted to say a BIG thank you again for all of your advice and support which has been invaluable. I got my husband to read all of your responses and it really helped us make an informed decision. I appreciate all of your time and experience!

I will let you know what happens.

PS: AliB - congrats to you that is so fantastic and so encouraging to hear.

[AliB]

Hey Lozenge, glad you made the decision, it's amazing how impatient you get once you decide to press 'go', but February isn't far off! I really hope you have a smooth and successful journey - well even if not smooth (like mine!) then still successful!