My sperm was good, good mobility, good quantity, but my partner did not have enough eggs due to premature ovarian failure. It has taken us 3 years trying unsuccessfully, and we had an insemination. All stimulations did not work.

We were registered on waiting lists for egg donation in France in 3 different hospitals close to where we live. You have to wait for 3 years for a donor free of charge. If you find the donor yourself, the waiting time will be reduced by 6 months.

At 38 and 39, we said we could not wait, and hospital TOURS 37000 mentioned two countries for egg donation, namely, Spain and Greece. The doctor there referred us to EMBIO clinic, because she had the opportunity to visit this clinic herself.

We sent emails to two clinics in Spain and two in Greece. We had quotes from 7000 to 10,000 euros in Spain, and from 4000 to 5000 euros in Greece. We had contacts with EMBIO (in Athens) and Iakentro (in Salonica).

I immediately rejected Iakentro, because they required a cash payment, which is prohibited by French law. We cannot pay more than € 3,000 in cash to a professional.

We planned to stay for 7 days, although three days were enough for the egg donation treatment.

My partner has a retroverted uterus and so the embryo transfer really hurt.

During the embryo transfer, 3 doctors in France took 45 minutes to 1 hour each to get the embryos into the right place in the womb. Dr Paraschos only took 3 minutes, as he realized the situation himself, and used a shaped tool to reach the bottom of the uterus.

I will never forget this common sense solution, and how Dr Paraschos has invented these tools by which he can see and reach the bottom of the uterus. It seems incredible how French doctors never thought of such things!

We had 6 embryos initially and 4 good embryos on the day they were transferred. The doctor said that, normally, there only remain one or two.

The relationship with the doctor is very good. You get the feeling of being treated personally in a private office, always in the presence of your IVF coordinator who speaks French excellently, on a PhD level.

We forgot about Spain because it was twice as expensive and we also had to pay for the cost of donor’s treatment. Once we realized we could not make external transfer and should pay cash, we had the choice between the two Greek hospitals.

Our choice was made in the process of 30 emails exchanged with Elena, the IVF coordinator, for 7 months. She was so involved in her responses that there could be no better choice for us. We knew we wouldn’t go anywhere else but Embio, even if we could find a cheaper clinic.