What to do if you are stuck with a bad IVF doctor

 

Most patients are very naïve when selecting an IVF clinic, because they believe that all IVF clinics are equally good. They will sign up for IVF treatment at the nearest clinic , or at a clinic to which they have been referred by their family doctor , or perhaps to a clinic they have read about in an ad .

However, after they start their treatment , they realise that they are receiving very poor quality care . After they have paid their fees, they don’t get to see the brand-name doctor, and their treatment is handled by clueless juniors and disinterested assistants.

They have no idea as to how their cycle is progressing , and the clinic refuses to share basic medical information ( such as the number of follicles on the ultrasound scan, and their sizes). They refuse to provide photographs of the transferred embryos , so when the cycle fails, the poor patient has no idea what the real reason for the failure is .

The doctor then starts Operation Coverup ! He hides all the information, and then pushes the patient into doing even more tests, or suggesting more expensive treatment , by blaming the patient’s eggs, sperm, or uterus for the failure , when in fact the real reason for the failure was the fact that the doctor was incompetent , which is why the embryos were of poor quality.

Patients are smart , and they suspect the doctor is hiding information from them , and not being honest, but they don't know what to do when they are stuck with a bad doctor. This is partly because they have already spent so much money , that they are very reluctant to walk away – especially when the clinic has signed them up for a 3-cycle package by offering them a discount for this !

They are scared to take the time and trouble to find a new doctor , because they can't really be certain that the new doctor will be any better than the old one , and they are scared they will end up jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Another fear is that the new doctor will make them repeat all the tests all over again , meaning they will end up wasting even more time and money.

The one thing you should remember is that if you are stuck with a bad doctor , then continuing with him will only lead to more grief , and will just make a bad situation worse. There's no point in regretting what you have done in the past , because this is a sunk cost and you can't undo it, but you can definitely learn from your mistakes , so you can choose a better doctor the next time around !

Your first step is to get a copy of all your medical records , including photos of your embryos. If the clinic refuses to share this , please remember that your medical records are your property , and doctors cannot refuse to give them to you ! If they do, send them a legal notice please !

After you have obtained your records, the next step is to get a second opinion , so that you can determine the lacunae in your treatment ,  and can move on to a better clinic . The good news is that your ability to find a better clinic will now increase dramatically because of all the mistakes which you made in your first IVF cycle ! 

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 !