With so many IVF Clinics to consider and choose from, you are probably wondering where you should start in finding the clinic best suited for you. You may have many questions on your mind e.g., how to ensure that this is the right IVF clinic for me, what factors should I consider before commencement of treatment, which IVF hospital has the best reputation and how much of this goodwill is organic?
Of course, how you really feel about a clinic or its IVF doctor will depend on your actual experience, your feelings while consulting and counseling with the doctors on 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 the right IVF clinic in Kolkata for you.
Location and Environment: The Prime Factor to Get the Right IVF Clinic
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 effort from the patients, and you may need to visit the clinic frequently during the stimulation and monitoring process.
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?
- Do you feel positive when you enter the clinic?
- Do people talk to you warmly, or
- Are you just another patient to them? – These little things at the clinic can make the IVF process feel comfortable and relaxed for the patients.
The Types and Variety of IVF Treatments Offered
To understand IVF means, you need to understand the types and varieties of IVF treatment. Infertility treatment nowadays 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 PESA/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 in Kolkata 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. Always look for the followings:
- Does the clinic have an in-house Geneticist?
- Does the clinic have a qualified andrologist (male fertility specialist)?
- Does the clinic have a full time qualified embryologist?
To be double sure, request for a visit to the IVF lab to see what kind of technology they have, and understand the IVF process step by step. How well are they equipped & how experienced & confident are the embryology team.
It boils down to basically that the clinic’s 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.
IVF Treatment 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.
To find the right IVF clinic among multiple IVF hospital in Kolkata, you should ask following questions during cost counselling, please note
- Whether the clinic takes time to explain both what is included in a package?
- What is not included?
- What are the procedures that you need as a patient?
- Why do you need them?
- What is the cost of consecutive cycles in case the first IVF fails?
Credentials and IVF 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 a good IVF success rate is always better than choosing one with a relatively poor record. Irrespective of what the clinic in question publishes, the best certification comes from actual patients who have availed treatment in that clinic.
If you see patients who have not had success with the clinic speaking positive things, then you should be rest assured you have chosen the right IVF Clinic.
IVF Process: 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.
The IVF Clinic you choose should have their own Embryology, Andrology & Genetic laboratories, using the highest international standards in quality control. We use the best 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.
IVF Specialist: Qualifications and Experiences of Doctors
The qualifications and experience of the doctors at each IVF clinic will likely be a major part of your decision-making. Do the IVF specialists 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 of 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 semenology & embryology teams experienced and fully trained? Is there ongoing training, competency checks, etc. Have the management of the laboratories had lengthy experience? You should feel free to ask these questions at the very inset of treatment.
IVF Patient Reviews
Nothing can 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.
Final Words
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 the right IVF centre in Kolkata that best suits all of your requirements.
