I thought I would share my experience at Thomson IVF for anyone considering treatment there.
I went to a well regarded dr at Thomson for infertility treatment recently. We thought that since he is so well regarded, the process should be fine. We needed ICSI. We were told that based on my age, it was so unlikely that we would not succeed. Well he could not be more wrong. At the first cycle, we had a low number of mature eggs retrieved and the fert rate was poor. The cycle failed. The dr claimed that it was bad luck and we should try again. At the second cycle, the fert result was poor and the cycle failed. The dr told me I need donor eggs in front of my husband, in the middle of my second ICSI cycle, so much for compassion. Donor eggs is such a sensitive issue and I am amazed that he is even this line of business.
There were mistakes in terms of instructions on the medications during the cycle, adding to the stress. By which time, we had enough and sought a second opinion at a restructured hospital. We were advised to go back to Thomson and get the lab reports to see what went wrong and how it can be improved.
The attitude of Thomson, the dr and his staff after the two ICSI cycles failed was horrible. They acted like they wanted to get rid of us because we dragged down their success rate. When the second ICSI cycle failed, I said we needed the reports including the lab reports. Clearly, this was a sign that we were going elsewhere. They took months to give us the medical reports which we needed. I could not start a new cycle at the place and so much time was wasted. I kept calling and emailing with no avail. The reports were finally given months later. I even thought of suing them to produce the reports.
We later found out: (1) Thomson did not bother even culturing the immature eggs retrieved at the 2 cycles – they just discard them. The dr whom we got a second opinion was shocked that this happened. I went to get a third opinion and was told the same thing. For women with low number of mature eggs, any lab will culture the immature eggs. We are so upset that Thomson did not do that or tell us that they would not do so. (2) The reports were so inadequate and brief, and were so useless. The details that we wanted were not there (even though they said they would include) and no further info was given.
We had to pay so much more for the cycles at Thomson (about $15K each attempt) and get treated so badly when they failed. They had no compassion, threw us out when we needed answers. In contrast, at the restructured hospital for second opinion, we were treated with much more respect and with dignity. Sure they are a lot busier, and the dr is not always available but they make sure that they answer my questions. The main lesson to learn for anyone considering IVF/ICSI treatment there is that research very carefully. Don’t believe what the dr says and don’t go on reputation alone.
I went to a well regarded dr at Thomson for infertility treatment recently. We thought that since he is so well regarded, the process should be fine. We needed ICSI. We were told that based on my age, it was so unlikely that we would not succeed. Well he could not be more wrong. At the first cycle, we had a low number of mature eggs retrieved and the fert rate was poor. The cycle failed. The dr claimed that it was bad luck and we should try again. At the second cycle, the fert result was poor and the cycle failed. The dr told me I need donor eggs in front of my husband, in the middle of my second ICSI cycle, so much for compassion. Donor eggs is such a sensitive issue and I am amazed that he is even this line of business.
There were mistakes in terms of instructions on the medications during the cycle, adding to the stress. By which time, we had enough and sought a second opinion at a restructured hospital. We were advised to go back to Thomson and get the lab reports to see what went wrong and how it can be improved.
The attitude of Thomson, the dr and his staff after the two ICSI cycles failed was horrible. They acted like they wanted to get rid of us because we dragged down their success rate. When the second ICSI cycle failed, I said we needed the reports including the lab reports. Clearly, this was a sign that we were going elsewhere. They took months to give us the medical reports which we needed. I could not start a new cycle at the place and so much time was wasted. I kept calling and emailing with no avail. The reports were finally given months later. I even thought of suing them to produce the reports.
We later found out: (1) Thomson did not bother even culturing the immature eggs retrieved at the 2 cycles – they just discard them. The dr whom we got a second opinion was shocked that this happened. I went to get a third opinion and was told the same thing. For women with low number of mature eggs, any lab will culture the immature eggs. We are so upset that Thomson did not do that or tell us that they would not do so. (2) The reports were so inadequate and brief, and were so useless. The details that we wanted were not there (even though they said they would include) and no further info was given.
We had to pay so much more for the cycles at Thomson (about $15K each attempt) and get treated so badly when they failed. They had no compassion, threw us out when we needed answers. In contrast, at the restructured hospital for second opinion, we were treated with much more respect and with dignity. Sure they are a lot busier, and the dr is not always available but they make sure that they answer my questions. The main lesson to learn for anyone considering IVF/ICSI treatment there is that research very carefully. Don’t believe what the dr says and don’t go on reputation alone.
