When I started this blog there were many things I didn’t know and whilst I am still relatively speaking an amateur at this whole thing I do feel that I have learnt so much and usually I have had these lessons the hard way.  This is my main motivation why I continue to write.  I have no idea if anyone is reading or if anyone ever will but I hope that I am able to make a few people’s journey just a little easier because of what I have been through.  I also hope that these IVF clinics start to take just a little more responsibility for the moral obligation they have in the role they are playing.

I won’t say it is all clinics at all because so far my ‘new’ clinic has been nothing but transparent and professional and my Doctor in the UAE has been very supportive of me and my journey all the way through, but my ‘old’ clinic has time and time again demonstrated that they are in this for the money and that it is purely a business to them and each patient a business transaction!

I never thought I would go public with names for reasons both good and bad but as I sit here tonight faced against yet another hurdle in my journey over finances with my ‘old’ clinic I come very close to disclosing who they are and making a formal complaint about them to HEFA (the UK governing body).

I wrote in the ‘Moving my most prized possessions‘ post about how it has only come to light now but that my ‘old’ clinic has been charging me £80/round more than they should be.  They told me that no matter if a round went ahead or not they had to charge me £80 as this is the money they paid to HEFA on day 2 of stimulation.  It is only when I switched clinic that I was told by my ‘new’ clinic this was not true at all!

I would like to think that ‘old’ clinic made an honest mistake but when I go as far as to think that then it begs the question of  ‘are they really experts in this whole IVF/egg freezing process’? because if they were surely they would have known there was no HEFA fee on egg freezing except if/when the eggs are used!

So giving ‘old’ clinic the benefit of the doubt that this really was an honest mistake, you would think once they admitted their wrong doing they would be keen to settle the overcharged amount with me asap to close this issue!  Sadly this is not they case.  Now they are saying that they will only refund me the £80 for the rounds that were NOT purchased as part of a package.  When I challenged this I spoke to a different member of staff (the initial member has left the company – turnover in this clinic seems to be exceptionally high!) who said that HEFA fees are NEVER part of a package, either way she will only refund me where they can see that HEFA fees have been paid separately.

I have had to spend hours going through emails, finding receipts to prove that intact i have paid £80 HEFA fees for all 19 rounds.  The other alarming factor is that they only seem to think I have done 18 rounds with them.  I have done 20 (see all rounds documented under ‘my journey’) but one was cancelled before it started so I didn’t even tell the UK clinic about this one so for their purposes I have done 19 rounds with them and their documentation can’t even tell them that!  It is a real worry!

I am going to give them another few days but we are talking about the difference of about £500 pounds here for a mistake they made for wrongly charging me and probably many other patients.  I am not asking for any more than they wrongly charged me, I could be asking them for three years worth of interest on the amount they wrongly charged me!  I am not sure why I am the one who is having to dig through emails and paperwork when they were the ones that made the mistake!

I have expressed that I hope they have contacted all the other patients affected with their error.  I have been told they have done but I honestly wouldn’t hold my breath.  So I will see what happens over the next week but I am at the point that if they don’t pay me what is due to me I think I am going to seek legal advise.  This clinic has take advantage just one too many times!