Overall, the most significant themes were around Communication, Cost and IP expectations.
We had a cross-section of responses from across all agencies. Most who replied had chosen not to use a medical tourism agency. The majority of people that answered were satisfied or very satisfied but could see areas of improvement.
With regards to expectations, responses were varied, some believed they would have choices of ED's & Surrogates ( this is not the case for all services); some were unaware of the current guidelines with regards to selective reductions and most made comment somewhere in the survey with regards to concerns about billing and unexpected cost.
Those IP's who had experienced the loss of a child were expectantly distressed,but,the common thread was not so much the loss of the child, but rather the lack of communication and support from their chosen clinic/service.Those that chose to respond all talked about receiving emails, with little or no communication.
I have included responses from the comments section for us all to reflect on. I am glad that some IP's recognise their own naivety and lack of research into the IVF process as some of the factors that influence their experiences.
So, to those of you who answered, thank you, this has given us an unexpected insight into peoples thinking and experiences.
This was helpful. We have had three attempts and used the agency in only the
first one. The agency was helpful in that it helped us prepare for certain
aspects of our first trip to India that the clinic doctor and staff did not have
time to help us with. But we were disappointed overall with the help from the
agency. They did not adequately help us with a medication dosage problem and
they were not up-front about the cost of using the agency. They caused some
confusion about the pricing with the clinic.
No help really, once we started, we communicated with the service
Satisfaction is irrelevant. Satisfaction looses its importance in any situation, India or not, when the demand for services outstrips the supply. That being said, our culture is so different from India's that our idea of customer satisfaction is not the same. And the emotions, hormones and costs all run very high and color our perception of what "satisfied" is. I mean, anything less than the birth of a healthy, happy baby means an IP is not satisfied. But the clinics have so much day-to-day stuff to address that their perspective is very different. So we try to remember this and evaluate our experience with the clinics based on objective measures like performance and cost. It all comes down to trust.
The 2nd time it didn't work, we were told it was positive and strung along for two weeks in beta hell. The 3rd time it didn't work, we were informed via text. He was TOO BUSY.
IPs cannot choose their surrogates, Dr X does it and IPs have no say. The same goes for choosing an ED, which is a shock. We didn´t need one but what IPs who needed EDs told me surprised me. They had no specific info about their EDs, no pictures, no details not even basics. Dr X seems to play God and decide everything on her own terms.We were asked for extra money which we were not told ahead. We never received a proper invoice or receipt of our payments, just a piece of paper with a sum, that´s all, no signature, nothing.
Communication during pregnancy was slow and never proactive -- we had to ask
for all updates and sometimes they weren't posted online for 1-2 weeks after
they were received.Did not express much concern -- or discuss plan of care
when surrogate developed low amniotic fluid.Told us up front that surrogate
could express milk, but then during pregnancy retracted this and provided no
help in contacting a local milk bank to obtain breast milk.Provided no
receipts for what was mostly cash payments. We think we overpaid by about $1000 due to this.We were charged for services the surrogate never received, like housing for duration of pregnancy We paid for assistance with birth certificate, but then were told that we had to go pick it up from the local government office; when we got there, officials couldn't find our paperwork and we had to submit it again.We were in xxxxx during delivery, but doctors didn't inform us that surrogate was in labor until 5
minutes before baby was going to be born, so we weren't able to get to hospital
in time.
Post pregnancy, no follow up from doctors or agency to see how baby's health
was. Doctors could not provide clinical documentation proving that my husband was
the sperm donor; we sat in embassy offices for 8 hours while they claimed to be
obtaining this documentation, but what they provided was not adequate for
embassy, and we needed to go back a second day to do DNA testing The $2000
deposit we provided at the beginning of the pregnancy was not refunded to us
until our baby was nearly 2 months old, and required repeated e-mails to agency
to try to obtain.With hindsight, what questions should you have asked about your surrogacy journey?
1.making sure that staff spoke adequate English. i would not use an NGO to provide a surrogate separate from the surrogacy service.
2.I should have confirmed the doctors CV
3.The journey continues and I continue to learn... So many things to know and hindsight is such a great gift...
4.We should have checked out India ourselves
5. How many embryos were implanted?What is included in the price list and what is not.Was the ED used by other people from my country
6. We did not have an understanding of the IVF process The prices, each attempt cost more than we thought
7. I should have found out more about her practice and conditions.I was very concerned about my egg collection.I never thought about the consequences of using an Indian ED - we don't know how many times our ED has been used by other Canadians or families in the U.S
8. What we should (or shouldn't) do to minimise the chance of things going wrong during the pregnancy that may not have occurred yet - such as the surrogate undergoing an unauthorised termination or disappearing while pregnant. Also, where do we stand under Indian law if these type of events occur?
9. How many babies have gone home with IPs to the US so far?
10. We didn't realise how much each FET would cost. I mean REALLY cost.We didn't know we'd get charged for thawing each time - which made each FET 3000 US.
11. Does the surrogate have an agent and what is their role ?
12. we did not ask if the egg donor had donated prior - big mistake, should have been a no brainer to ask this. We also should have gotten more firm commitments regarding expected communication frequency about the ongoing details of the pregnancy
13. More about the proper dosage and timing of medications for IP mother egg cycles. How does the clinic ensure that the surrogate mother is properly prepared and what happens - especially financially - when they are not?
We were not prepared for India and the different levels of service
Our agency billed themselves as being super touchy-feely, customer service oriented. We think they handled the medical side of our pregnancy very well, but we were always worried about what we weren't being told. In India for baby pick-up, we felt very un-supported, and at times, like the doctors were actively rooting for us to have a hard time
Unwilling to deal with our complex (but hopefully unique) situation when we started to ask questions. Asking a question does not mean we do not trust, it simply means we do not understand
is appropriately conservative in their approach. They use 100% ICSI, have
excellent fertilization results, good FET success, and don't irresponsibly
transfer too many embryos in a cycle (max. 3 if Grade 1 / Grade A). XX has a
back-up SM readied in case the intended SM's lining isn't suitable at the time
of transfer, or have postponed a cycle otherwise if the SM is optimal (freezing
the embryos instead).
journey continues and I think you have to give yourself to the journey.
We have questions that remain unanswered. Why the change in ED?We think our ED did not have the eggs required and we shared an ED with another couple
One IP's experience of hearing about their loss:Short email. Copy below. first time I've looked at it since I received it
- also the first time I'm sharing it with anyone: Please note that your
surrogate was complaining of some bleeding yesterday for which we got an
immediate ultrasound done.But unfortunately, she had passed all the products of
conception and therefore the scan shows an empty uterus with no products left
inside. Forwarding you as attachment the report we have received from our
Radiologist for your reference.We shall now have to stop all her medications,for
her to get a withdrawal bleed.We do understand what you must be going through at
this point of time.But we advice you to try one more time. Please let us know
how would you like to proceed so that we can plan accordingly.If you had a magic wand, what 3 things would you change about your Surrogacy provider?
1.Better communication. More information upfront about what to expect, A video/movie about where we were going
2.Not pay so much money up front &Better communication
3.A one stop shop for the whole surrogacy process, working with two agencies was stressful
4.Better Communication &That we could do this in Australia
5.Make their forum accessible to clients only so it stops all the BS about bias.Better / clearer ultrasound scans. They use multiple providers to ensure one clinic isn't giving inaccurate results, but all produce rather bad images for the IPs. Maybe limit access to SMs more, although many IPs like this about xx (it can backfire, as in the case of XXXXXXX)
6.sanitation & communication. Facility - now it is poor, old, not up to modern standards these days
7.They surrogacy was legal in Australia. That is was affordable. Two males could make there own baby and I did not need surrogacy!!
8.Move them along with a surrogate to the US :)
9.We would have not gone through a medical agency &Better communication
10.Clear communication& Understanding and consideration to what they are telling IP's - d0 not lie and tell me 4 if you have implanted 7-8 embryos
11.Clear price contract.More information on the ED, if shared and how many times used&How many IP's each year have a baby
12. I would want to know more about our Indian ED - i didn't think about how many others may have used her2. Costings - they jumped all over the place and we were ripped off a number of times3. Keep it professional, Dr. xxxx is a wonderful, but the blurring of roles makes it difficult to sort out issues.
13. 1) it's business, stop making it more than that (and/or continue as you start) 2) send regular updates during the pregnancy and bulk emails generally advising what is going on with the business, such as when there has been a change of mobile phone number for one of the doctors 3) do not meet surrogate
14.More information about egg donors.Less emphasis on wining and dining clients before the pregnancy and more contact to discuss care plan and progress of pregnancy during care. Assign someone with depth of experience in dealing with Westerners to act as liaison during baby pick-up.
15.I wouldn't go with them, easy as that.
16.Having an agency that is able to communicate verbally and via e-mail in perfect English.Keeping us updated on a weekly basis regarding our baby and surrogate. Providing scans where you can clearly visualise the baby
17.surrogate payments monthly as long as pregnancy continues proof of surrogate living in surrogate housing improved communication on a weekly basis
18. Cost structure change to reflect goal of healthy, survivable baby and lower front-end costs.
19.Better communication.Full access to surrogates medical records during the pregnancy.Fixed price contract
0 comments:
Post a Comment