How to Find the best IVF Clinic: The 8 Most Important Factors to Consider

With so many IVF clinics to consider and choose from, you are probably wondering where you should start in finding the clinic best for you. You may have many questions on your mind e.g., what is a suitable IVF clinic, what factors should I consider, and which IVF clinic has the best reputation?

                    Of course, how you really feel about a clinic or its doctor will depend on your actual experience, you feelings while consulting and counseling with the doctors at the staff at the clinic. However, if you have prepared yourself,  equipped yourself with a checklist of what you should be looking for, then you are likely to have made the correct choice Here is our practical, fundamental guide to assist you to narrow down your choices when choosing what IVF clinic is best for you.

1. Location and Environment

Where is the IVF clinic located? Is travelling there easy, convenient, safe, and suitable for your work or life schedule? IVF is a process that requires much dedication, time, and efforts from the patients, and you may need to visit the clinic frequently during the stimulation and monitoring process. For example, in the case of Thailand, if not travelling by car or taxi in order to avoid traffic delays, is the clinic located near any BTS or MRT station? Our clinic is located right in the heart of Bangkok and is only 15-minute walk from BTS Ploen Chit station and Central Embassy.

For patients who are travelling from abroad, then the dedication, time and effort is even more. At our clinic, patients who are from abroad may in most circumstances start the stimulation and monitoring with one of our affiliated doctors, or with a doctor of their own choosing, in their home country, then come to Bangkok only for the trigger injection and egg retrieval, shortening their stay to only about 4-8 days.

Apart from the transportation, it is also always wise to visit the clinic and assess its environment. Does the clinic’s atmosphere make you feel safe and comfortable, is it clean, does it make you feel relaxed while being there? These little things at the clinic can make the IVF process feel comfortable and relaxed for the patients

• The Types and Variety of Treatments Offered

IVF is so far from merely the process of traditional IVF. A variety of infertility and genetic factors in the male and/or the female, may require other additional treatments and services in order to provide the best possible outcomes. Where your infertility issues are not severe, the doctors may advise you to try IUI first before proceeding with IVF. You may need ICSI instead of the traditional IVF for your fertilization, or the male may require PES/TESE to extract sperm, or Sperm MACS or PICSI to select the few good sperm? During the IVF cycle, you may also need a clinic which provides egg freezing to save your retrieved eggs for later use? After the IVF cycle, you will most likely to need a clinic which provides embryo freezing  to preserve your good embryos for later use. A good IVF clinic may also provide PGT services, genetic testing of embryos prior to transfer to the woman’s uterus, where patients require genetic screening of their embryos for a variety of reasons.

It boils down to basically that the clinics range of assisted reproductive services indicate how likely it will be that the clinic can support your needs through every step of your fertility treatment journey.

• Cost and Affordability

Although most couples seeking IVF treatment are already aware that IVF is generally quite costly, it is still always wise to spend some time researching costs and searching for a clinic with a reputation of no hidden costs, that is open about the range of expenses, that will take time to explain the potential costs and the reasons why certain treatments may be suggested or recommended. Packages can be confusing and misleading, does the clinic take time to explain both what is included in any package, and what is not included?

• Credentials and Success Rates

Every fertility clinic keeps their statistics, and if the clinics are transparent, trustworthy, and promising enough, they will be more than happy to show you how well they have been doing. Choosing a clinic with good success rates is always better than choosing one with a relatively poor record. Nevertheless, as HFEA (Human Fertilization & Embryology Authority) said, “if you’re comparing two or more clinics, you may want to consider the multiple other variables (cost, location, patient ratings) to find a clinic that meets all your needs and expectations rather than deciding on success rates alone.”

• Equipment and Technologies

The chances of success in IVF go hand in hand with how much and how well a clinic invests in the quality of its equipment and in advances in technologies. The key is not just to solely focus on how “advanced,” “cutting-edge” or “latest” certain technology advertised by a clinic, but rather is it effective and suitable for your case? Many IVF clinics will promote how their latest technologies are, but their basic core functions and services are just as important, and so is the quality of the staff using the equipment.

At Superior A.R.T., we have our own onsite Embryology, Andrology, and Genetic laboratories, using the highest international standards in quality control. We use the Geri-Time-Lapse Incubator, the newest generation of time lapse incubators available, with a single high quality microscope camera system dedicated to each culture chamber, thus allowing detailed tracking of embryo development without the need for the plate or the embryos having to move. Each chamber is independently controlled and monitored, providing individualized, optimal culture conditions. The use of mini incubators increased the pregnancy rates as embryos have more stable conditions in which to develop. This technology is very critical and crucial to the process of embryo culture in IVF as embryos that can be transferred in the final step of IVF are required to reach the blastocyst stage. At Superior A.R.T., we also use Karyomapping, the latest technology for preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders and HLA Matching. Karyomapping only requires days to a few weeks to complete a test workup, unlike other PGT-M tests which usually take months to finish, Karyomapping is considered highly accurate, with a greater than 95% reliability.

• Qualifications and Experiences of Doctors

The qualifications and experience of the doctors at each IVF clinic will likely to be a major part of your decision-making. Do the doctors have the highest training possible in infertility and reproduction? Though it seems to have a fixed set of steps, IVF treatment can require very subtle changes between patients to achieve the best result. A good IVF clinic should design a personalized treatment plan for each patient. Each patients response to medications is different, and the process of stimulation and egg retrieval needs to be closely monitored to avoid any complications. Making an appointment and talking to the doctor in person may give you a better understanding whether it is the right IVF clinic for you. If he or she is a good infertility clinician, it will usually not take long to be obvious.

• Quality of the Staff

While the doctor will play a big part in your clinical experience and journey, the fertility team of a clinic will also play a huge role in your IVF cycle. You will likely work with the clinic for a few weeks, with many questions and issues requiring someone at the clinic to help you. Do the staff take time to answer your questions? Are they courteous and helpful to you? Do you feel comfortable with them, or do you feel quite stressed or, in the worst case, neglected?  

Are the scientists experienced and fully trained? Is there ongoing training, competency checks, etc. Have the management of the laboratories had lengthy experience? Is there any scientific literature to indicate that experience? Do they engage in knowledge sharing and quality assurance testing?

• Reviews

Nothing can you help you visualize better any service you haven’t yet experienced, than the reviews of other patients who have been through the journey already. This may be difficult if the clinic has no referrals or testimonials for you to review, although you may be able to find some on social media. Try visiting a clinic’s Facebook page and see how others react to their posts or comment on their treatments or services. Many good IVF clinics also often share the success journey of some of their patients as well. So, take time to do some research on it. However, it is important to note that reviews can also be very subjective. So, it is always wise and best to take every factor into consideration – especially by seeing, experiencing, and assessing the doctors and the clinic via a call or by an in-person meeting.

With all these factors in mind, we truly believe that you will be able to narrow down your choices for an  IVF clinic  that best suits all of your requirements.

About Superior A.R.T.

Superior A.R.T offers comprehensive fertility and genetic services in state-of-the-art Assisted Reproduction Technology (A.R.T.) Laboratories in Bangkok Thailand. Superior A.R.T. was founded in 2007 by a group of leading Thai Infertility specialists in collaboration with Australian world-leading fertility and A.R.T. treatment providers, Superior A.R.T is a renowned fertility clinic offering comprehensive fertility and genetic services by a team of experienced treatment providers and researchers specifically specializing in Assisted Reproduction Technology – A.R.T. Superior A.R.T. is committed to making your dream of having a healthy baby come true.

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