19 replies to this topic

[Lisa11]

Hi everyone,

 

After having not much success at my current clinic, I am looking at getting consults at a few other clinics in Canada to see if there are other options for us.

 

I am 32 y.o. with DOR and have had 3 unsuccessful IVF cycles. I usually get about 5-7 eggs and transfer 1-2 embryos but only had 1 pregnancy that ended in missed miscarriage at 8 weeks.

 

My current clinic (OFC) has done what they can but I am now looking to do a 4th IVF at a different clinic. I am hoping that a fresh set of eyes, a different protocol and lab environment might help. I am seeing this as a kind of last ditch IVF before I move on to donor eggs. We would be willing to go to Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver or Victoria.

 

I would greatly appreciate any advice that you can give me - this website has really helped me a lot and the support of the members is amazing! I have learned so much and just to know that there are other folks out there in the same struggle makes it easier to cope with.

 

 

Here are the clinics that my husband and I are considering. I will probably get consults at 3 of them. If there is one that can suggest that might be good for DOR patients please let me know!

 

 

1) Create in Toronto - sounds like Dr. Librach helps with DOR

 

2) Dr. Hannam's clinic in Toronto - I have heard this is $$ but there are no prices on the website so not sure

 

3) Markham Fertility clinic - sounds like Dr. Virro is good but a long waiting list?

 

4) Montreal Fertility clinic - I have heard lots of good things about Dr. Mahutte

 

5) Victoria Fertility clinic - also lots of good things about Dr. Hudson

 

6) PCRM in Vancouver

 

7) Olive in Vancouver

 

 

Thank you very much for your time and I wish everyone the very best!

[Yvonne]

I've been a patient of dr Hudson's for 4 years. I don't have DOR but he's never suggested I go dairy free or gluten free.

[rollergirl]

Dr. Hudson is awesome at VFC and he recommends gluten free and lactose free if he thinks it will help get you pregnant....and if that is something he recommends then there is a good reason behind it. He never recommended it for me and I had the whole kitchen sink approach and he is open to any suggestions you have.... Good luck...

[rollergirl]

Have you and your husband had karotype testing? Cause that could explain something sometimes....

[Lisa11]

Hi there,

 

Thank you so much for your responses! I guess I had read something somewhere about Dr. Hudson's suggestions for patients to be gluten free and dairy free (which I hear is not easy to do!) but it sounds like it was only for specific patients. Oops! I will edit my question to change that. Thanks for letting me know! I agree that he must have a good reason for it, just that I know for myself it would be difficult for sure! If I get a consult with him I will definitely ask him about his recommendations.

 

And for the karyotyping I will definitely ask when I get the consults. My current RE did not want to do this. Thanks for your advice!

[GraceM]

I would skip Hannam.  Expensive and not very encouraging for DOR.  Go see Create.

[babsicle]

I would recommend genesis in Vancouver. I know a lot of patients switched to olive, but I have had a lot of success with genesis and really like Dr. Kashup.

[Hopingfor1]

It is important to find the right fit for you.  My opinion is just my opinion about what worked and didn't work for me.  Your experience may be different and you may 'click' differently with someone than I did.  I agree with GraceM regarding Dr. Hannam.  Although he is liked and recommended by many women, if you have DOR his clinic may not be the right choice for you.  My experience with him was most discouraging and one of the lowest points of my struggle with infertility.  

 

If I could redo things, I would get a referral to Dr. Virro in the beginning.  In the end I didn't end up seeing him, but based on everything I have heard, he is the best and will do all he can to help you.  There is a long wait.  After a failed IVF cycle I got a referral to Dr. Virro and Mt. Sinai.  My appointment with Mt Sinai was the following month (in March) and I had a scheduled appointment with Dr. Virro for September.

 

If I were you, I'd get a referral to Dr. Virro and a few other places too.  You can see other clinic(s) while waiting for Dr. Virro and you may find someone you fit really well with and want to work with, but if you don't, at least you will have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Virro.

 

Good luck.

[JacMac]

Honestly, I am a milk and bread fiend. I gave both up for the weeks leading up to and during our IVF and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I allowed myself the occasional cheese and grain here and there for a treat but for the most part cut it out.

[ewok]

Honestly, I would not go to Montreal Fertility Clinic.  While yes, there is lots to say about Dr Mahutte dedication and a small clinic atmosphere, they are not know for innovative protocols or being on top of the trends.  As you already had some failures, a clinic who uses many different protocols would be better for you.  In Montreal, that would be McGill (although my friend told me they sound very disorganized right now when cycling, but the Drs are top notch), or Ovo (they do tons of research, and have a large array of protocols.  I'm not sure everyone masters English, but a consult for a second opinion in English is certainly possible).  Driving to Montreal just for a consult is not too costly if you're in Ottawa, and it would give you a starting point if you decide to cycle further away from home.

[Pebbles]

I agree with Ewok. I am at Montreal Fertility Center and I like that they are small clinic with nice atmosphere and Dr. M definitely is very dedicated and helpful! However, they don't have too many different protocols and having some obstacles to start off with you might be better off at McGill, which has more diversity in options.

 

A friend of mine suffering from DOR, however, did get pregnant at MFC at her 2nd transfer and is currently in her 2nd trimester and Dr. M was able to adjust her protocol accordingly to work his magic (but she went through some cycles with nothing to transfer before).

 

Another lady previously cycling at MFC switched to Ovo after Dr. M couldn't help her to get pregnant and eventually she managed to get pregnant there with a protocol outside the box.

 

Good luck

[Bibbs]

I'd also recommend VFC and Dr. Hudson. I've only been to him for my consult, so maybe I"m not the most informed, but I found him to be night and day.

 

I was going to Genesis, and wasn't really happy. We found the staff and nurses to be really abrupt and rude. After going to them for about three months we finally met with Dr. Kashyup (saw a OB/GYN who was nice enough but said he took care of the initial intake and was our only contact for the first bit). They kept forgetting to book my husband in to the urologist -- and when they did they ****ed up the appointment so we ended up taking a day off of work for no reason. We left there knowing we had MFI, but not a sense of what might be causing, and being told that we had less than a 4% of conceiving naturally.

 

At my one appointment at VFC, Dr H spent an hour and a half with us. I had an ultrasound (didn't get until fourth appointment at Genesis) AND he did an exam of my husband (which never happened in all the time with Genesis). He agreed that we had MFI, but didn't agree with our prognosis. He was able to find something a bit suspicious on my husband's left testicle and was able to say he htinks that's what caused my husband's range in his SA. For the first time, I heard that some of our tests were actually in the normal range! It didn't change our end result of doing IVF as he felt we could conceive naturally but htat it would take years and at our age, we don't have that. BUT we walked away being heard, having a possible explanaition (which felt great) and an actual plan.

VFC has been really great. I'm also travelling from Vancouver, and I'm going to be honest -- it made for a really long day. I was done mentally on the ferry ride home. But its worth it.

 

Its also cheaper to do the procedures at VFC which is also a great benefit.

 

Good luck with your decision!

[Lisa11]

Hi everyone,

 

Thank you so much for  all of your feedback, it is greatly appreciated! From your responses I think we will definitely be looking at Montreal clinics (had not considered McGill and Ovo so that is interesting!) and also Create and Genesis. I will ask for a consult with Dr. Virro too because I know it takes a long time to get in to see him.

 

And I have heard so many glowing reviews of VFC so I will need to get in touch with them. If I have to make dietary changes, I will do whatever the doctor recommends!

 

Thank you again and good luck everyone! I hope one day I can offer great advice to others on this forum and be as helpful has you have been for me =)

[RDC]

Hello ladies..

 

 

I am not quite happy with the current clinic in Richmond hill especially their embryology lab. And the doc seems to be blindfolded with the same set of protocols (we did multiple IUIs and IVF (awaiting the result...but preparing my self for the worst as the whole IVF process didn't go in an encouraging way). My husband and I are preparing ourself for the next step...so we are planning to switch to a different clinic in the GTA area. I googled and found very positive feedback of Dr. Anthony Auyeung in Toronto. Though I can find his office address, I am finding hard time to find his website and if he visits any clinics in Mississauga area….anyone who are currently cycling at this office/clinic please let me know!!!

[openskyclearwaters]

I interviewed 3 doctors/clinics to make sure I had the right fit.  You can also ask them about what the other doctors said as well so it is almost like getting a 2nd and 3rd opinion.  I have learned my lesson with putting all my eggs (or lack of) into one basket.

[maryd]

 

Hello ladies..

 

I googled and found very positive feedback of Dr. Anthony Auyeung in Toronto. Though I can find his office address, I am finding hard time to find his website and if he visits any clinics in Mississauga area….anyone who are currently cycling at this office/clinic please let me know!!!

 

 

My friend went to him, he's downtown. Have you tried calling the number in Google? I never found a website for him either. We considered switching to him though. She had nothing but good things to say about him.

[canucky]

I'd also recommend VFC and Dr. Hudson. I've only been to him for my consult, so maybe I"m not the most informed, but I found him to be night and day.

 

I was going to Genesis, and wasn't really happy. We found the staff and nurses to be really abrupt and rude. After going to them for about three months we finally met with Dr. Kashyup (saw a OB/GYN who was nice enough but said he took care of the initial intake and was our only contact for the first bit). They kept forgetting to book my husband in to the urologist -- and when they did they ****ed up the appointment so we ended up taking a day off of work for no reason. We left there knowing we had MFI, but not a sense of what might be causing, and being told that we had less than a 4% of conceiving naturally.

 

At my one appointment at VFC, Dr H spent an hour and a half with us. I had an ultrasound (didn't get until fourth appointment at Genesis) AND he did an exam of my husband (which never happened in all the time with Genesis). He agreed that we had MFI, but didn't agree with our prognosis. He was able to find something a bit suspicious on my husband's left testicle and was able to say he htinks that's what caused my husband's range in his SA. For the first time, I heard that some of our tests were actually in the normal range! It didn't change our end result of doing IVF as he felt we could conceive naturally but htat it would take years and at our age, we don't have that. BUT we walked away being heard, having a possible explanaition (which felt great) and an actual plan.

VFC has been really great. I'm also travelling from Vancouver, and I'm going to be honest -- it made for a really long day. I was done mentally on the ferry ride home. But its worth it.

 

Its also cheaper to do the procedures at VFC which is also a great benefit.

 

Good luck with your decision!

 

Hi, sounds like a great experience.

 

How long do bookings take? And how does it work for your travel -d o you usually take a whole day off (I am working so unsure of how that would work)

 

Thanks!

[Bibbs]

Hi Canucky,

 

I did find VFC amazing. I am currently 15w6d pregnant after our first round of IVF. We had a big scare very early on when I developed a subchorionic hematoma (big blod clot in my uterus) that made me extremely high risk for a miscarriage due to its size. The clinic was really great through out all of this, got me in for extra ultrasounds, working arond my schedule. They even offered to call and check in on me if that would be helpful to making me feel better. I was sad to leave them!

 

For me, I believe we had onl a 6 week wait to get taken in. I've sort of surmised from the forums that it depends a little bit on demand and your case (i.e. they may prioritize a 40 year old woman with a complicated diagnosis over a 23 year old woman, resulting in maybe a 2 month wait for the younger, and a one month wait for the older?). Not sure if that's true! But for us it was relatively quick. The wait to get in was the longest wait -- they gave us what they saw our treatment options were and left it up to us how aggressive we wanted to be with everything. I did have all my testing done up to this point so that helped a lot. We had our first appointment in January, started the suppression phase in february and the transfer in March.

 

Distance wise, it was a bit of a pain but we knew that going in so we were ok with it. We tended to need the whole day to get there. We live out in White Rock, so it wasn't bad to get to the ferry. We would often catch the first ferry of the day, and be able to get an 11 or so to get back. But it seemed strange to get back to work at 2 or 3 for just a couple of hours. So it may depend a bit on your work situation. If you want to save on money, there is a bus right at the ferry terminal and it will drop you off close to the clinic -- its about a 15 minute walk from there. We did keep all our ferry receipts just in case, but I'm not sure if we can actually claim them or not as part of our medical expenses, I guess we'll find out next year.

 

If you are doing IVF (not sure where you're at), you do have to have more frequent appointments. You will start your injections and after X number of days they'll want to do an ultrasound to see how you're responding. If I remember right, at first they were maybe once a week? The last week, its easiest if you can stay in Victoria. I know at the very end it was pretty much daily ultrasounds while they decided if I should go one more day, or if it was time to trigger.

 

OVerall, it was a great experience. I did have to miss a fair amount of work. I told my work that I had to have minor surgery (true!) and that timing was a bit out of my control. I made arrangements to work "from home" for the last week or so of everything.

 

It may not be worth the travel for an IUI, but for IVF, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Even if your cycle isn't successful (I did brace myself) you will be treated with compassion and care, which made the whole thing much, much nicer.

 

Good luck.

[petite madame]

Hi Lisa,

I know the post is a little old, but I was wondering if you ended up going to a clinic in Montreal? I also have DOR and was advised to look for donor eggs after one failed cycle, so i want a second opinion and was thinking of Ovo.

Thanks!!

[vinita]

hello , I too wanna know if you manage to get another clinic ?