Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine Limited - Bristol

Lynsey B.

I had a few issues over my time with BCRM, my blood pressure was so high I had to go to A&E and then another time once I got pregnant, I was bleeding. The nursing staff showed empathy and treated the issues delicately. I felt reassured during these difficult times. Trying to have a baby can be so difficult for some people and I’m one of those. Thankfully the staff understand this and allowed me to talk these difficulties through with them. Thank you.

Anna C.

The birth of our son recently has prompted me to come back and leave a review.
Excellent care received from BCRM throughout. They were great at communicating, open and reasonable with pricing, and LGBT+ friendly. With their help we made a baby! Our consultant was Dr Freddie but all the staff were great.

Helen A.

This isn’t just a review of BCRM but also offering support to anyone facing a round of IVF/ICSI.

ICSI is a rollercoaster. Even when you’re mentally prepared for nothing to work, the anticipation of waiting for another round can be a real challenge, especially while taking hormones, coming off hormones, taking more hormones etc and it’s costing a lot of money.

We had egg retrieval and after hoping we’d get loads (eating, exercising and doing everything right) ended up with 3 fertilised embryos (blastocysts). Live transfer was unsuccessful which turned out to be because I have low progesterone.

Next cycle we were assisted with more progesterone to try and keep the blastocyst in place. Unfortunately it was genetically not meant to be, which resulted in miscarriage.

Third time we felt practiced and knew what to expect although felt the financial strain as third transfer isn’t funded by the NHS. So far we’re successfully pregnant and been discharged from BCRM at 7-ish weeks while still taking lots of drugs.

Hindsight: we wish we hadn’t wasted a blastocyst on a live transfer. We were unaware my progesterone levels were too low to support a pregnancy as no blood test was offered at that stage. This knocked one star off our review.

BCRM feedback: firstly, we chose them because we know how many appointments would be needed, and it was in closest proximity to home. We didn’t know the nuances of how to compare providers other than looking at success rates. We now feel lucky to have chosen them as they offer progesterone injections for longer into a pregnancy than other practices (up to 12 weeks rather than 8) ensuring a placenta is definitely able to create enough before coming off it.

If you are unsure how to compare providers, book an appointment with your GP to get detailed advice as navigating the information online can be challenging.

Downsides to BCRM: the finance department are keen to invoice the second they receive confirmation from a doctor or consultant that you might want to go ahead with a cycle. They often come as a surprise which is unsettling. And often they have been wrongly invoiced. Invoices have no detail and require payment within 3 days; both very unusual practice in the UK.

Also: You can only order drugs via their contracted pharmacy, fertility2u, which costs £60 per delivery and are sold at an inflated price (even if the drugs can be ordered and collected from Asda who are non-for-profit on fertility drugs). This really infuriated me when we were so hard up to pay for it. This knocked the other star off the review.

POSITIVES: the nursing team! Wow, they are incredible. Generous with information. Patient with you when you’re confused or having a bad time with medications. They are golden. I’m still trying to figure out how to give a gift which represents our gratitude for their knowledge and reassurance. Special mention to yellow clogged Jane and Lou who both couldn’t have done more. Thank you ladies x

Charlotte

We've been with BCRM through our entire IVF journey - using my own eggs unsuccessfully and eventually using donor eggs which has resulted in the birth of my beautiful baby boy in Nov 23 and another baby on the way due in 2025. The knowledge and expertise this clinic has is world class and has made me feel that we were in the best hands. I can't thank them enough for making my dreams of having my own family come true.

Ibrahim C.

Me and my wife had ivf treatment in bcrm. Everyone is very professional. And friendly everyone helped us from beginning to ending successful treatment i'm very grateful for
Their hard work, I'm thankful for their hard work, especially dr price Kelly Herbert and max i recommend bcrm to everyone who needs ivf treatment elif cetinkaya ibrahim cetinkaya and my son jiyan cetinkaya very grateful for your help and support thank you so much everyone

K B.

I was working with a different clinic but they are in collaboration with BCRM for the procedures. Both my collection and transfer were conducted with the upmost respect and care. All staff are extremely kind and knowledgeable. They did a great job. My collection was painless apart from some cramps just after, I was asked how awake I wanted to be, I chose to be asleep. The transfer was calm and I felt in good hands. A wonderful feminine energy in general. I know how important these reviews are, I can assure you they were five star.

Loaty F.

We unfortunately didn't have the best experience with BCRM. We stayed with BCRM from Dec 22 up until our last treatment in April 24 as we decided to change clinics.

The reason for three stars, is Carrie, part of the nursing team. Me and my husband often discuss how wonderful she was and what an absolute credit she is and what she does to support her patients. We can honestly say, we haven't met another nurse like her on our journey.

Other things to note, cleanliness, great hygiene and egg collection was always carried out seamlessly. (I had 3 collections)

We, had a unique case where we were never getting to egg transfer our eggs were arresting. So we spent alot of money on rounds that never got to the end. I decided to have a break from IVF and try some IUI which again procedure was completed fine. I have no issues with how patient care is involved when doing procedures at BCRM.

The thing that was disappointing;
Appointments were rarely on time.
My first round I was told I wasn't allowed a fresh transfer by a nurse, then was told by the doctor I could, then further being told I couldn't by a nurse so that was confusing and concerning. (Albeit we never got to transfer)

As other people have mentioned, We never really felt the clinic really wanted to help us understand why we were failing each time. And were never really given any answers. We knew we had a sperm issue, but they also couldn't tell us we had an egg issue. Which lead us to having. Three rounds of ICSI that never got to transfer. We paid for extras, calcium, fancy incubators, sperm DNA fragmentation which was then said we couldnt use because of the sperm quality. I'm pretty certain if we had decided to do another round with my husbands sperm they probably would have said yeah ok, even with the circumstances.

Our first post treatment review with one of the doctors... Was rubbish. No real feedback, just basically asks what do you want to do next. Thankfully, the other two times we seen a Dr who actually seemed interested in our situation and gave advise.

From having so many treatments, there were. Some things that were inconsistent. Some rounds I had a few blood tests and then others it felt like I had none? I hate to compare with our current clinic but everytime we visited for scans they were taking bloods. Which I know not all clinics are the same but it just seems odd to me. Also, my last IUI was medicated which I was supposed to be given ovitrelle trigger, this was forgotten and I had to ask the clinic for it. After one of my IUIs we never had a follow up after the fail which I found odd. But we had a follow up after the 2nd IUI?.

I know our situation is unique and not everyone is as unlucky as us. Partly, we should have parted ways long before we did, but I think we had a bit of false hope when ideally we should have moved onto using a Donor for IVF a long time ago. (Which isnt on the clinic we ultimately have to make that call) But I felt we were steered in the wrong direction, trying things that ultimately cost alot, and holding onto false hope. Which I think through tinted glasses I realised was never going to happen this way.

From going on this journey for years, I can honestly say we learned alot from BCRM some good and some bad!. It's just unfortunate that it's taken us this long to actually have a full round of IVF (not ICSI, and not at BCRM) and get to transfer and have eggs frozen and have a positive outcome.

K J.

Awful experience. After the intial consultation, we were pushed on to someone who was rude and just seemed to expect payment without explanation. Following on, no one seemed to understand the extremely complex pricing structure. When explored with finance, they did not know either. Packages appeared more expensive (than component parts) and the total cost turned out to be nearly double the £13K 'package'. Appointments are totally disorganised and we received a huge invoice without any description whatsoever as to what it is for. I called and was told it was a mistake and would be credited. A further invoice was issued at the same time for services we may not require. I called and asked for explanation as to why payment up front is required and if it is refunded. I was told it will be refunded, but it sounded like it might only be partial refund. I asked for someone to provide terms, explaining what it is for and under what circumstances it is refunded. I was told that would follow, but it did not. This is a sensitive subject and it really is unacceptable performance from admin / finance. Every single appointment we have had was late. Costly drugs were over-prescribed, but be sure to ask about the purpose of each and alternative options, as it turned out there were better options, which we were not informed about when we had an nhs funded round. There didn't appear to be any interest it that being successful. We have been overcharged and discovered extra services, which we thought were standard. The focus appears to be to make as much money as possible, out of desperate people. The medical staff are good, but it seems the knowledge and tech are still limited in this field. We are making extensive notes. Since talking with others, their experience is similar. These organisations need regulating.