CREATE Fertility - Bristol Omdömen 

We finished our cycle on the third week in September of 2021. The experience we had at Create Fertility Bristol was not what we expected.

Information flow was seriously lacking. Here are a few examples:

- Emails replies never took less than two days.
- Often, no one would answer the phone. About 1 in 10 calls were answered in our experience. The person that needed to provide the answer was never available at the time of the call. Not once did we get a return call on the same day.
- There are no scheduled calls. CFB will arbitrarily call and you must answer at that time or you will loose your place in the queue.
- When the phone connection was dropped, CFB did not return the call. We returned the call immediately, but the person had gone and was no longer available.
- When CFB did call, they were only interested in speaking with my wife. When she asked them to hold so I could come to the phone or set up a 3-way call if I was at work, was met with genuine surprise. The expectation to include the male was absent, even during important decision times.
- While at the clinic, we asked for a consultation to address outstanding questions that, despite our repeated asks, were not answered. We waited. A coordinator sent us to the ground floor. We insisted again that we needed counsel. The coordinator assured us that the staff on the ground floor would address the questions. No one from the ground floor knew we needed anything. The consultation didn’t happen. Instead, an impromptu discussion was had, not in a room, where we could sit and talk, it was in a hallway as we asked private questions. We stood closely as the nurse gave short answers and took a position that we should have already known what we were asking.

Some other problematic points:

- When we arrived on time for an in person appointment, we were informed that the embryologist and team were going to lunch and would be with us after. We sat and waited.
- I was locked out of the building and not allowed in while my wife was in clinic. It didn’t matter that it was raining, I was meant to wait on the street. After about 90 minutes, I rung the bell and asked the 1st floor staff about how my wife was doing through a microphone. Although she was on the ground floor under anesthesia, I received an immediate reply that she was fine. I am not sure how they could’ve possibly inquired within a span of a few seconds.
- In order to seemly to prove a point about our care, the nurse managing the egg transplantation asked whether we were NHS or private pay in the clinic room while my wife was in scrubs on the gurney. We were private pay, but nonetheless, our requests were immaterial to the care they decided we were to receive.
- A general hesitation to have a technical discussion. Asking about viability of eggs, or sperm, or hormone levels, were initially met with some version of everything is fine, or looks good. The person on the phone was unprepared for a quantitative discussion.
- We received a sheet documenting the medication costs in the beginning but the costs increased without explanation at the time that payment was needed. We phoned repeatedly about not having the medication as late as three days before the start of our cycle. We were informed that if we didn’t pay that day, the meds were not going to get to us in time. We were meant to just accept it or risk missing the cycle window. We were told that they’d previously stated that medication was extra. The person on the phone asked whether we still wanted to move forward with the IVF cycle.

Broadly, our expectation for a diligent, informative, and compassionate care, were missing from Create Fertility Bristol. Nearly all of the components of our experience felt reactive, rushed, and impersonal. The feeling of helplessness was honestly, horrible.

It is irrelevant how successful (or not) Create Fertility Bristol is with IVF. It is not only about the goal. Prospective parents need to know about the process. They need a supportive organizational infrastructure to navigate the incredible stresses of IVF. Without this critical piece of comprehensive care, it was an arduous experience. I believe most families and people need this piece; and for that reason, I cannot offer an endorsement of Create Fertility Bristol.

I am happy to share more details to help anyone who needs it or to help substantiate our experience.

My wife and I attended the Bristol clinic following a recommendation from friends; we were not disappointed and have had a very positive journey. This was our first IVF experience and feel we have been supported by Create staff from the beginning. We chose shared motherhood and the clinic provided us with all of the options and information we needed to make this choice; there was always someone at the end of an email/phone if we needed and never felt alone. Staff were friendly whenever we were in the clinic and the service we received was very professional.

We started our journey with Create in Bristol and I honestly cannot fault them. Our patient coordinator Charlotte is so helpful and attentive, answering all of our questions and easing our concerns in a heartbeat.
The embryology team are one of a kind. They explained every single step and made sure to break everything down so that we completely understood.
We moved to a different county part way through our 3 cycle package so had our scans at the Manchester clinic. We did try to transfer to the Manchester clinic but didn’t get a reply from them so travelled to Bristol for our egg collections. We found the Manchester clinic to be overly busy. The appointments felt very rushed and though the staff are lovely, we didn’t really feel as informed about our process.
Our nurse Jackie was incredible and made us feel so comfortable throughout the egg collection process.
We’re so happy we stayed with Bristol Create and are looking forward to continuing our journey with them.

Back in April 2021 after 1 failed cycle of IVF , I called the clinic to inform them of my negative test result. Since that day I have never heard from them , no follow up call to see how I was or what happens next . Such poor after care , we have since moved to a different clinic

We looked at lots of fertility clinics and options. For choosing Create Bristol. We were impressed really looking to keep the process as natural as possible to try and work with my body and my own cycle. The staff and nurses were amazing throughout the process and when we had a successful round everybody was so excited at our viability scan. Highly recommend this clinic and the process. Having had friends go through traditional IVF, I definitely had an easier time choosing the more natural route and fitting in with my own natural cycle.

We were treated at Create in Bristol following numerous rounds of treatment elsewhere. Throughout our treatment the staff at Create were confident that they could help us to become pregnant which was a stark contrast to our previous clinic. All the staff were professional and genuinely seemed to care. We had natural modified ICSI IVF which was far easier on me than the standard IVF. There were fewer drugs and the whole process was much quicker. We had 2 rounds, following the first I became pregnant but unfortunately miscarried, following the 2nd I had a beautiful baby boy! Our previous clinic had failed to get us pregnant 5 times. I truly believe that following a more natural cycle lead regime helped to give us the result we hoped for. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Create to anyone who is thinking of IVF.

As a same sex couple our journey would always involve an IVF clinic and I cannot fault our experience at Create Bristol. Everyone at Create; from the doctors and nurses to the receptionists were so helpful and friendly. My health as a patient was paramount and every action taken always considered what was best for me. We attended an open day and the allure of a ‘Mild IVF’ was really attractive and focused on a more natural approach. The atmosphere in the clinic is one of tranquility. A small, personal space where my wife and I felt completely comfortable and relaxed and able to ask any questions. We thoroughly recommend Create to anyone on a similar journey.

We started our journey with Create in the Summer 2019 and were given lots of information to get us thinking about the process we wanted to go on. We then went through IVF in January 2020 and now have our beautiful baby girl. We are a same sex couple and never felt any discrimination from them and they helped us every step of the way! It’s actually a much quicker process than I ever imagined and we were very lucky for it to work first time! I would recommend Create and ABC to anyone and the staff were all brilliant!
We are considering another round of IVF with them again very soon!

Thank you to each and everyone who was involved in our journey. Absolutely amazing staff! Very helpful and genuine people. Made this such an easy and happy process. Highly recommend.