Hysteroscopic Surgery Athens, Greece

Absolutely amazing clinic. My baby daughter has only recently arrived. They are completely focused on providing individual, personalised care from the start. I cannot thanks Penny and the team for making our family complete!

I am 47 years and had always dreamed of having another baby. Right from the beginning the clinic was very helpful and provided me with detailed information on the IVF process. I was assigned a personal IVF coordinator (Anna Karamitrou) who was very helpful and was always there for me if I had any questions or doubts. Also at the clinic, there was professional support and it was clearly explained what the next steps would be, this was very comforting and reassuring. I was pregnant at the first attempt and am now the proud mother of a beautiful and healthy son. I would like to thank the entire staff and Anna in particular for her endless help and devotion. I would definitely recommend this professional clinic.

I started my fertility journey back in 2019 in the UK with three rounds of unsuccessful IUI treatments in UK. I was advised to look at maybe using an egg donor due to my age and this would increase my chances of success. Unfortunately, the prices in the UK were astronomical and this would’ve meant that for me it would not have been possible. However, when investigating worldwide I came across Pelargos IVF and Harry Karpouzis MD. Scientific Director Pelargos IVF in Athens and Institute of Life. This is one of the largest and most advanced Assisted Reproduction Units in Greece. It was established within the premises of “IASO”, the largest Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic in Greece. Of all the fertility clinics I looked at, this was by far the best and most traceable. I looked at reviews and peoples comments that had been there before for treatment and felt very confident in my choice. From all information and communication from my first contact in November 2019. I was made to feel very included and informed. Every single question or query that I had was answered very quickly. Costs were exactly as explained from day one with no additional costs that were ever undisclosed. They even guarantee two embryos which on my first attempt I did have, but unfortunately only two. In my first round of IVF in February 2020, I had the two embryos implanted, unfortunately, this was unsuccessful. The great communication continued and we discussed what we could change to make the chances of success better this time. I felt included every step of the way, understanding every stage with ease, even through the hard times of a failed attempt, the start of a pandemic and the COVID-19 testing: we were able to get another egg donor that would hopefully be more compatible and harvest the eggs by April which was amazing. Out of 10 eggs that were harvested, 7 reached the embryo stage. These were 5-day blastocyst. This was amazing after only getting two the first time around. With the lockdown starting at this time and travel being difficult from the UK they were frozen. As soon as we were able to downcycle me and arrange travel together with accommodation we were able to go ahead again in August 2020. The week before I was due to travel everything went wrong, a scan appointment with the radiographer at Harry’s request revealed a large fibroid. The scan showed that this fibroid was on the outside of my uterus. The fibroid was large 12.5 cm x 13 cm. I immediately contacted Harry who said he wanted to look into things, but would get back to me immediately, a phone call a few hours later confirmed that it was fine to go ahead with the implantation. He felt the fibroid, would not affect the chances of pregnancy, he would prefer it removed but it was my choice. However, a successful pregnancy for me might prove painful and challenging. The choice at this point was whether to go ahead now or get the fibroid removed. With seven embryos I decided to go ahead and take the risk with the support of Harry. This wasn’t the end of my problems as at this point my mother who was due to travel with me had a fall and broke her wrist she was unable to accompany me but luckily my auntie stepped in and took her place. I had two of the seven embryos implanted made a point of resting for four days after implantation before travelling home. To my immense joy, this was successful and I was able to see a positive result on a home pregnancy test within 10 days. I then had the pregnancy confirmed with two blood tests a couple of days apart. This confirmed I was indeed pregnant. I had an early scan at seven weeks to confirm everything was okay and whether there were one or two embryos. Where am I at now? I’m 47 years old, and I am very pleased to let you know I have a beautiful healthy baby boy born 7lb 14oz in May 2021. With 5 embryos still frozen and further opportunities to increase my family availability. This is all thanks to Dr. Harry Karpouzis and the Pelargos IVF team at the Institute of life facility, Iaso Hospital in Athens, Greece. They will always hold a special place in my heart, “thank you guys so much, I might even see you again.

At the beginning of my IVF journey, I messaged several different clinics/doctors, as it's always good to have some comparison. From the responses I got, and after the initial message exchanges, it quickly became clear Dr. Bazeos would be my best choice - he always replied promptly to all questions I had, in a logical organised manner. There was no pressure to decide 'here and now'; I could ask questions and Dr. Bazeos always answered, even though he had no guarantee I'd choose to do the treatment with him! He also speaks excellent English, which was important to me. I had the treatment (IVF) in the IASO hospital in Athens. I was surprised how big and busy the hospital is. Sometimes there were small delays probably because of the number of patients, but it didn't really matter because I was on holidays anyway. In a way I was reassured I made a good choice - so many other people were having treatment at IASO as well! I had 4 appointments during the 2-week period of taking hormonal injections. Dr. Bazeos always answered all questions, even though sometimes he was super busy, and was always happy to help if I needed anything (e.g. finding medication). Then, there were the most important parts - egg retrieval, fertilisation and embryo transfer. After each stage, with every little success, I was more and more optimistic the IVF would end in a pregnancy. I was extremely happy each time I learned something went well, and so was Dr. Bazeos – I am sure he has done thousands of IVF cycles before, but he seemed genuinely happy for me & always wished me good luck. And now the best part – I am pregnant!!! 😊 It is, of course, still early, and I realise things can go wrong, but still… This was my first IVF cycle and I’m so happy I chose Dr. Bazeos. He is a very knowledgeable specialist & I fully trust his decisions. I’d definitely make the same choice if I had to do it again.

I had a good experience with Dr. Bobotis at this clinic. He was able to start our appointment on time and was very friendly from our first contact. He also clearly explained my entire procedure and proved to be a reliable professional.