Online Reviews

I got pregnant with no menstrual cycle!

I had polycystic ovaries and was under birth control for six years. "Since you don’t have a period, it’s difficult for you to get pregnant and have a child," my gynecologist had said. At that time I had stopped taking the pill for two and half years and had free intercourse with my husband for six months, almost every day, or every other day. My period came all of a sudden after 4 months and only once. And so in the beginning I didn’t realize I was pregnant. I hadn’t menstruated for three months. And then I only had one single drop of black blood for one day and I conceived! And never saw any blood ever since. I conceived a child with no period!

The hCG test was wrong!

I had had an hCG test with another doctor, and had come out with a wrong result. I have a thyroid condition and I had a thyroid scan. As soon as I did the scan, I started vomiting. On the first couple of days, I thought it was the Thyroid scintigraphy. But the vomiting wouldn’t stop. So here I was taking the hCG test once again two weeks later. There had been a lab mistake. I was pregnant.

You have to have an abortion!

I go to my gynecologist, I’m telling him I’d had a thyroid scan, he examines me and finds that indeed I was pregnant. He closes the monitor, so I wouldn’t be able to see the baby, and turns to me and says: "We need to arrange for the abortion."

My eyes are full of tears. Because I had the thyroid scan and the scan drug had entered in my system (something like radioactive iodine), he said that the child would be affected. As we learned in the process, the amount of radiation was the same as when you put the mobile phone to your ear. I had a feeling that the child as healthy as could be. Whatever it is, I want to go ahead and have a nuchal translucency, I said. "I will not take that risk,” says the gynecologist. “Either you have an abortion, or go find another doctor.”

Pregnancy after a Thyroid Scan

I looked for another obstetrician and found Dr Paraschos. I emailed him the thyroid test results and asked him what I should do from then on. We set up an appointment after 2 days. After he examines me, he goes, "In taking over now, and there's no way anything happens to the child!" He just saw me quite often, to check the baby’s development. Every week we had an ultrasound, whereas normally, I would have had it once a month. After we did the NT and saw everything was OK, I calmed down.

Motherhood is the best thing in the world

I felt complete. I cannot describe this feeling. Amazing moments, very strong emotions. And to think the other gynecologist wanted me to have an abortion! And now I see my boy and say: "Dude, you're a joy to us all!”

After birth my polycystic ovaries were gone!

I kept my child. I heard not my mind, but my heart. After giving birth I now have a normal period. And I do not have PCOS anymore. Birth helped with the thyroid, too. It got smaller.

During pregnancy every 45 days I was tested for my thyroid levels. Since the 8th month my thyroid reached normal levels. "To stay there, it is advisable to keep taking the pills," my doctor told me. Anyway, pregnancy eventually changes everything. Pregnancy hormones do wonders.

At 44, after three long years of trying to have a child, we felt like we were running out of options. We had attempted IVF four times in Australia, but my body never produced more than a single embryo. Three of those cycles had to be cancelled, and the one time we made it to an embryo transfer, it was unsuccessful. The emotional toll was immense.

A doctor finally recommended we look to Greece, which offered a solution to a concern that weighed heavily on us: privacy. In Australia, egg donation is not anonymous. We knew of a story where a donor later decided she wanted her child back, and that uncertainty was something we couldn't live with. For us, building our family is a personal journey, and we wanted to protect that privacy.

What truly guided us to emBIO in Athens was my sister. She came to this very clinic, and today she is happily and healthily pregnant with triplets! Seeing her success and how well her babies are growing gave us a confidence that no statistic ever could. We knew we were following a path that had already led our family to joy.

From the moment we walked in, the emBIO clinic felt right. It is a modern and welcoming place, and the staff treated us with such kindness. We had a specific concern about Thalassemia and wanted to ensure our donor was not a carrier. The team took this request seriously, giving us peace of mind.

The whole process was managed with care. I started my treatment in Sydney and traveled to Athens for the final steps. It took about four weeks to perfectly synchronize my cycle with our donor's, a bit longer than my sister's, but the team handled everything. When the day for the transfer arrived, the procedure itself was quick and surprisingly simple—it felt much like a routine Pap smear. After such a long and difficult road, we finally feel that we are in the right hands.

We’ve been married many many years. I’m 50 now and we’ve been trying since I was early 20’s. We’ve done many IVF treatments in Australia with my own eggs at Monash IVF in Melbourne, from 30 to 40. At 40 I fell pregnant with my own frozen embryos with twins, but I miscarried.
I gave up for 10 years and then I saw Mary Coustas, I’ve come to Greece to try and get pregnant with donor eggs. I didn’t know about donor egg IVF until Mary Coustas went on TV and did the documentary.

Then I went back to Monash IVF and they said 45,000 Australian dollars to bring eggs for me from an American egg bank. Or I have to find my own donor eggs in Australia, which could take up to 2 years. And a lot of red tape, social working. And you have to advertise. And then I did some research for surrogacy and adoption, but we were too old, because 40 is the cut-off in Australia.

You wait about 10 years and then, if you’re lucky, they may give you a child, because people don’t give up children for adoption anymore.
Surrogacy is even worse. More paperwork. Even the biological mother can change her mind last minute and she can keep it, even if it’s our embryo.

And on the birth certificate it’s her name, not ours. And they have to have contact till 18. Surrogacy is real bad.
So I got desperate, and then I saw Mary Coustas, I googled, ‘where is the best fertility clinic in the world’ and Greece came first, then Spain.

So I googled, ‘Greece fertility treatment’ and Embio came up. Embio looked much more professional than the other Greek clinic and I sent an email to the IVF coordinator. The same night the IVF coordinator sent me an email straight back explaining the treatment to me. I got a shock that she answered back so quick.

And Dr Thanos Paraschos said, “any questions, ask IVF coordinator, and you are welcome at my clinic.”
And he sent lots of information, links about Embio.
And I spoke to the IVF coordinator nearly every night for 2 weeks. I asked her lots of questions and she answered everything. She was fantastic. She gave me the courage to take this leap of faith. And then she sent information, which tests for me and my husband to take in Australia to speed up the process and make it a lot easier for us.
 

We only had to fly over for the semen collection and the embryo transfer. All done in one week. In 3 appointments. Monday, first consultation, Wednesday, sperm collection, Friday, embryo transfer. This never would have happened in Australia. And I don’t believe anywhere else. And it’s also very cheap here compared to Australia. Then we stayed for another 4 weeks, for sightseeing. Athens is very lovely. We were not stressed. It was all done in a week. Very happy with the clinic, the IVF coordinator, and Dr Thanos Paraschos!

I've been talking to EMBIO for a while because I wanted to know a lot about IVF treatment in Greece and because it's so difficult in the UK with my age (47) to get pregnant. Their IVF coordinator has been very good, she talked me through everything, step by step, and I started the treatement at home. It was very helpful, so I didn't have to waste a lot of money in Athens staying at a hotel, and the treatment went on as soon as I got to Athens. I had donor egg ivf with my partner's sperm. This is my first IVF, and I tried with donor eggs to improve my chances of getting pregnant.

Dr Paraschos and everyone else there is welcoming, is good, they way they talk to you, they relax you. I emailed them like 2 in the morning, bless them.
And then they're always replying me asap. The IVF coordinator helped me to find a hotel to stay, which was very good.

I recommend this to anyone of my age to come and TTC at Embio in Athens.

I tried in Australia for three and a half years. I had two failures/transfers.

Whilst I was researching to find another IVF clinic, I realised that Greece is among the world leaders in IVF. They are world leaders and they should be definitely congratulated. They are at the highest level. I can compare Australia and Greece, having been through both experiences. And you can say that Greece are world leaders in IVF.

As I researched I was very impressed with the esteemed Dr Paraschos who has collaborated and worked with Hammersmith University, and his decision to come to Athens and direct EMBIO fertility centre. What was I was impressed with was the professionalism and prompt replies from EMBIO that cemented my decision to come to Greece as soon as possible. Not only did the midwife that I corresponded with and Dr Paraschos showed exceptional professionalism, but they also had a unique empathy with the situation I was in, me and all the women in the world. This is very rare to find in the medical field, to be professional, but feel empathy and have real understanding of what a patient wants and is really going through. And they gave me more than 100% support during the whole process.

Dr Paraschos and IVF Coordinator corresponded asap. Not only did they impress me with their system medically, but they also went out of their way to ensure that my arrival in Greece was going to be an easy process as well, and offered to even help with arriving, accommodation and everything else that you need.

Having arrived at the EMBIO Medical Centre I was equally impressed and reassured with the outstanding advanced medical facilities and technology. The service and care has left me lost for words and I congratulate them sincerely.

I have no hesitation in recommending to anyone anywhere in the world to come to EMBIO and see the great work at first hand and I wish sincerely all the best, because I understand there are many people like me out there. Don’t be scared, and if you have the capabilities, this is definitely worth a try for something sacred that you are all looking for.

I stayed for 11 days in Athens. It s important to stay for at least a week for your body to relax, then go through your transfer, then let your body relax again and get on your flight. It’s a very long flight from Australia (16 hours). If you’re coming from a very distant destination, it’s important to take at least a week for your body to relax and unwind. And you can also experience the unique beauty of Greece.

We’ve been for the scan today and its triplets!

How it all started…
I’m 47, I wanted a baby and my eggs weren’t good enough, so I needed an egg donor.
In Australia egg donation is not anonymous. The donor is part of the baby’s life and the name goes on the birth certificate and everywhere. We wanted it to be anonymous.

Anonymous Donor Egg IVF at EmBIO

The IVF coordinator at EMBIO was great. Answered all questions, clarifications, she was really good.
It’s a very good clinic, everything, staff, facilities, procedures.

The embryo transfer wasn’t painful, it was uncomfortable, ’cause you have a full bladder and they’re putting things inside.
Four embryos were transferred.

I started taking the drugs in Australia. This was our 1st  cycle. We had to go through the Australian IVF system, and we got referred so we got the prescription from them. They took over monitoring when I came back.

For the whole procedure we needed to stay 5 days in Athens, but we chose to stay some more days for the blood test. It’s a long trip to have for just a few days. We went to the Acropolis, Monastiraki…

Dr Paraschos was like being part of the family, was very nice. They make you feel comfortable while you’re there.

The triplets must have felt it, too.
 

Good news I am having twins, both heart beats are normal!

All the experience was excellent. Correspondence was brilliant. Dr Paraschos was very good, friendly, putting people at ease, because it is a very anxious procedure to go through. Even during the procedure all the staff was brilliant. Very good service.

Now I feel excited and looking forward to the twins. I will recommend Embio to anybondy who can go to Greece.