"Concerned about my treatment at Assisted Conception Service"

I was a patient at ACS from 2017-2019. During this time I underwent 4 x IVFs. I was in my early forties with reasonable AMH and no fertility issues other than age. I had a previous pregnancy a few years earlier with no issues. I was undergoing fertility treatment due to male factor infertility issues.

I feel that the treatment I received as a patient was not individualised at ACS at all. I was put on a treatment protocol for females with low AMH; prescribed the highest dose of fertility meds at a high cost physically/mentally/financially.

During IVF treatment I felt that I was not coping with the high dose of ovarian stimulation meds physically and mentally (Abdo pain / night sweats / headaches / mood swings) and often explained to the nurse that it seemed that it was too much ovulation stimulation and should be reduced. I was always told that because of my age I should be on max dose of fertility stimulation drugs and this would give me the best chance of success.

I feel that ACS pushed me to have maximum drugs to try and get an increased quantity of eggs harvested. I feel my concerns that I was on too much medication were not listened to and that I was just a number. I do not feel that the treatment was personalised in any way. I enquired about reducing the fertility meds and opting for a more natural cycle however I was advised that this would reduce any chance of pregnancy.

After 4 failed cycles at ACS and not being listened to I changed to another private clinic. The doctor at the new clinic agreed that I had been put on far too high a dose of ovarian stimulation meds and agreed that this would really not have been good for my body and would likely have impacted negatively on egg quality. At the new clinic I had another two cycles using less than half the amount of ovarian stimulation meds which yielded similar amounts of eggs. It was a breeze at the new clinic in comparison to the treatment at Glasgow ACS.

Unfortunately I did not get pregnant at the new clinic however I wish I had not wasted 2 years in my early forties doing IVF at ACS. I feel I was over -medicated with ovarian stimulation and the treatment protocol was not personalised. In my experience ACS do not personalise treatment and push maximum ovarian stimulation in an attempt to try and get as much eggs as possible. This is a trying process mentally and physically and one which requires scrutiny.

I also had a lot of issues with the administration side of things around consents and blood tests etc. There was always some issue. As well as that I found ACS very inflexible re appointment times.

I wanted to record my concerns publicly about ACS as it would be interesting to establish whether other females have had similar issues concerning being over-medicated with ovarian stimulation and this impacting on them negatively.