One of the things
which irritates a lot of patients about IVF clinics is that they get
inconsistent information from their clinic. Different doctors in the same clinic give
them completely different advice. Because there's so much turnover among junior
doctors in these clinics, no one says the same thing at different visits, as a
result of which patients get completely confused , and don't know whom to
believe or trust.
This is one
of the reasons why there are so many last-minute changes in their treatment
protocol, without any adequate explanation. There’s a complete lack of
transparency and the treatment is delivered on an ad hoc basis, depending upon
whether the senior doctor is travelling or not. When taking the fees, the
clinic promises to do a blastocyst transfer, and then finally ends up doing a Day
2 or Day 3 transfer , without providing any explanation to the patient. This is
why patients will often get upset and unhappy, and will feel cheated.
The problem
becomes even worse after the IVF cycle fails. Before the cycle, doctors are in
sell modem and are happy to tell patients what they want to hear. They want the
patient to sign up, so they over-promise and make all kinds of false claim,
"Yes, our success rates are brilliant and all the patients we treated last
month got pregnant. Don’t worry, of course we will get you pregnant as well –
you are young and don’t have any major medical problem." However, when the
cycle fails , they end up singing a completely different tune ! They blame the patient
for the failure, saying, "Oh, your eggs weren't good ; or your sperm wasn't
good because there’s a lot of DNA fragmentation." They then offer all
kinds of alternative options , and suggest that patients use donor eggs or
donor sperm for the next cycle. As a sweetener, they even offer a discount for
the next cycle, so the patient is impressed as to how caring and considerate
the doctor is !
Now IVF patients
are extremely vulnerable , and many will even say yes because they are
desperate. However, it's not surprising that they believe they have been cheated.
They many not have the courage to speak up, but they feel, "If there was a
problem with my eggs or sperm , why didn't you tell me that when I came to you
for the consultation , before I started the IVF cycle? Why are you telling me
this now? Are you manufacturing problems to save your own skin ? Why is what you are you telling me now is so
different from what you first told me?"
Unfortunately,
it's very difficult to hold doctors accountable. There is very little
documentation, and doctors refuse to be transparent or open. Patients feel
they're at their mercy , and are forced to do whatever the doctor tells them. This
is especially true when doctors in smaller towns take advantage of their patient’s
ignorance and exploit their naivete. The tragedy is that all IVF doctors start
getting a reputation of being unscrupulous cheats !
Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !
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