Myself and my partner first approached Ruth in January 2022 after she was highly recommended to us by a friend. Due to our age the option of free treatment with the NHS wasn’t available to us but the high cost of private treatment in the UK would also have been a stretch.  I was lucky enough to have a good friend who has two donor egg babies through Ruth’s services, I was left with no doubt that using Ruth’s services were the best option for us.  
From the offset Ruth has been helpful, supportive and most importantly accessible when we have needed her.  From the first consultation, Ruth gave us all the information required to make an informed decision, she has a wealth of experience which is helpful in the daunting world of fertility options. She was honest with us and our situation and advised us to look at helpful websites and sources of information before making our final decision on how to progress. 
It was not a simple decision but after talking to Ruth we decided to opt for an egg donor in Greece.  Ruth found us a suitable donor within a month of making the decision to start our IVF journey.  Unfortunately, after having issues with the initial donor, Ruth managed to find us another suitable donor before we made the trip over to Greece for the embryo transfer. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the outcome of the donor eggs retrieved.  
The two trips we had to Greece were seamless and everything went to plan. Staff were professional and put you at ease. I am happy to say that we are now 15 weeks pregnant and everything is going well so far. 
Another benefit of using Ruth was that all of the fees were clearly stipulated before embarking on our journey.  This was a great help to us as we found that fees to have the same treatment in the UK were not clear and we felt that the costs could spiral pretty quickly.  Of course egg donors in this country take far longer to arrange and when time is not on your side this was also another positive about going abroad and using Ruth for this treatment. 
I wouldn’t think twice about recommending Ruth, she is dedicated, passionate and honest.  I can’t express how helpful she has been even when we have randomly contacted her on a weekend. 
Good luck to anyone considering this process and using Ruth. We are extremely grateful for her help as she has given us something we never thought we would be blessed with. 

​Hey there, peeps! It's Emily, the Social Media/Blog Manager!

I've never written one of these before, mainly because I leave the medical stuff to my mother and the conversational stuff for my father. But this time, the topic is somewhat of my department.
It's Pride Month! And being in the community myself, I feel it's super important to make sure we acknowledge the struggles of the community so we make sure we don't repeat the same mistakes of history gone.
Now, where do I fall in the LGBT alphabet? Well, I'm the 'A' - Asexual. This means I don't feel sexual attraction, nor do I feel the need to do the deed. This is something that took me a little while to realise, but that's what being Queer is. Learning who you are until you know and feel comfortable with a label. Of course, you don't have to label yourself if you don't want to, and there's nothing wrong with that. Kudos to all Queer folk regardless!
Both my parents have been very accepting, and even if they don't fully understand it, they love me regardless. Of course, this isn't the case for a lot of people - including some good friends of mine. And if you're out there reading this, please know - there is ALWAYS going to be someone who loves you for you. 
Now, back on track - right! So, being in the community, I see a lot of what goes on and the struggles a lot of us face; such as family building. And at IVF Treatment Abroad, we've always believed that all our patients should be treated equally, and we always will, regardless of your gender, race or sexuality. There is no judgement from us - we are a safe space for you, and we will always support you on your journey.
Unfortunately, due to country laws, we are limited on who we are able to treat. However, we are constantly looking to expand our services to include ALL kinds of LGBTQ patients, and give you all a better, cheaper, and safer experience as you work to increase your family. There are many options out there, but what we want is to make sure that we provide the best possible service to you while reassuring you that you are in good hands, and have the best care available. Just as we would any other patient.
It's time to celebrate who you are, folks. This month belongs to us, no matter what anyone else says. We live as our own people, and are allowed to live as who we are. Always be proud, and always know that we are supported by so many. I love y'all.
PEACE OUT!

​Just for clarity, in the instances we talking about we are looking at patients traveling abroad, either for IVF or Egg Donation.
I suppose, technically we are an agency, but I intensely dislike that title when it comes to our services as it seems so impersonal, something which we are most categorically not.
There are basically two types of agencies out there looking to assist you on your IVF journey. Those that can advise from a medical standpoint, and those that provide emotional support (but in most cases not medical) because they themselves have been on their own IVF roller coaster.

When I Googled IVF Agencies, you either end up with the clinics themselves, or you get a corporate entity that's affiliated with clinics in 30 or 40 different countries. And you never, ever are given prices on the website. You have to call them to find out what they charge on top of the clinic's costs, but is a fairly safe bet that it will be in the thousands. 
The chances are, that this type of company will look at your medical history and advise the type of treatment/s necessary, and offer a selection of clinics to consider. Then it will be down to you to do the real leg work and research the clinics themselves. Why are you paying them a large sum of money, when you are putting in all the effort? How on earth can they give you the personalised attention that you need when they are offering such a large selection of clinics? Easy answer; they can't!
And because they are dealing with so many different countries, can you be sure that the information you are being given is correct. Clinical protocols, rules, and laws are forever changing;  anything from needing a permit between a certain age group to a country raising its upper age limit for treatment, and the chances are, that it will be you who will have to navigate your way through these obstacles.
The second group almost certainly will be able to empathise with your situation as they will most likely have been on their own IVF journey, and will be able to impart valuable knowledge about their own experiences. This is good as we also recommend speaking to our own past patients if you use our services. They can also explain their experiences of the clinic or clinics that they might have attended and what was good about them, or perhaps not so good.

Most of the above are happy not to charge for the information and help that they give you, but some of them do, and remember, you are highly unlikely to get any medical advice. And if you do, please bear in mind that what may have worked for them, won't necessarily work for you, and it might be detrimental to your health.
We came across one such UK company, that if you took them up on an initial consultation, their promotional videos, assistance locating a clinic abroad, and all the other things that they offer, it would come to between £3,000 and £4,000. Now that is if you took them up on every single one of their offers, and it is highly unlikely that you would need that, but still, it's easy to get caught up and treatment is expensive enough. On top of that, there is no medical advice and they are only available during office hours.

Now take a look at what we offer and decide for yourself if I am good value for money:
- A fertility nurse specialist since 1992.
- Working with clinics abroad since 2004
- Personally co-ordinating and supporting you throughout your treatment and beyond.
- Able to make medical decisions outside clinical hours.
- Available seven days a week, 365 days a year.
- Prescriptions arranged with home delivery if needed.
- Vast knowledge of protocols and laws of foreign clinics.
- Member of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology)
- All inquiries are answered within 12 hours (during the day, within an hour).
- Past patient chats.
- Most donor types available on a one-to-one basis (no egg sharing).
- Proven donors.
- All clinics personally vetted.

But there is so much more than just the hard medical aspect. My husband and I were lucky enough to have our daughter through natural means, but to me, this was never just a job. I can never fully appreciate what you have to go through, and I would never try. But when patients ask me to be a Godparent I feel that I have instilled enough trust in my abilities to have scratched the surface.
So how much would this level of expertise and care be worth to you?