Online Reviews

Hello Elena and Dr Paraschos,

My husband and I wanted to let you know we finally announced the arrival of baby daughter safely into our lives.

She was born on 3/4/2020 at 8:10pm weighing 2.670gms and 45 cms. She is healthy and doing very well. I had a great pregnancy and natural delivery also.

My husband and I wanted to thank you both (as well as the donor) from the bottom of our hearts for all your help throughout our journey, as without you this beautiful blessing would not have been possible. A big big thank you from both of us!!! We will always be very grateful for what you helped us with.

I have attached some pictures of our beautiful daughter.

Much love,
K. and C.
Xox

I’m 41 years old and I did embryo donation at EmBIO IVF clinic in Athens. We needed both donor eggs and sperm donation. My husband has azoospermia, and I had 8 IVF tries in France, sometimes with 10 eggs, other times with 7 eggs, but not of good quality. So in September 2013 I decided for egg donation.

The problem with donor egg ivf in France is that there are not enough egg donors and the demand is great. So you need to wait for 4 or 5 years. It’s more difficult for me, because I needed eggs from a black donor, which was even harder to find. The age limit for donor egg ivf is 42 in France, so when you are 38, you’re practically out of the list (38 + 4 years queue, you do the math).

At Embio Medical Centre all staff are well chosen – the nurses, the IVF coordinators, the secretaries, all were so good. I have a lot of confidence in Dr Paraschos. He is attentive, understanding, he listens, and he does things himself (the embryo transfer, the scans). This is very good. He must go on doing things himself. And he’s tender. He doesn’t hurt you with the vaginal tests, the ultrasound and the embryo transfer. During the embryo transfer you feel no pain at all! And after the embryo transfer, they let you rest as long as you need to, which also felt good.

We had 5 embryos transferred – three embryos on Wednesday, and 2 blastocysts on Friday (2 days later).

I would like to write to say that during my treatment for egg donation, the staff at Embio were professional, caring and attentive to all our needs during what was a very stressful time. Although we were coming from the UK, we didn't know what to expect, but we were made to feel at ease and given clear instructions, both for the trip and for the process of donor egg ivf. The clinic is in an accessible area by metro and a short taxi ride in a nice part of town. Nothing was too much trouble to the staff, they make you feel at ease and all speak very good English. Although the egg donation did not work on this first round, I am definitely going to go back and try for a second attempt.

I’m 42. We were trying and trying and didn’t fall pregnant. We started conventional ivf for 6 times without success, and we decided on ivf with donor eggs. To get a result, to do something to have a family. The docs said we had 10% chance, I said “waste of money and time." All that time we felt like lab mice moving around and around, like guinea pigs.

A nurse I know in Sydney who knew someone who knew things said all the girls go to Greece and have a child and say “I’m pregnant.”

And we thought, hang on, what about Athens? And if you want something, if you search you find it. So we came to Dr Paraschos at EMBIO. Now I just want a result.

We only needed one week, one day with the airplane. But we took one more week. We said, Let’s stay a little bit and then go home. Acropolis was nice, the Acropolis museum, Plaka at night. We didn’t see Athens by night. By then we fell asleep like dead.

We’re cool with egg donation. I I don’t know how other people will be. In Australia it’s so strict. If we did that there, among the egg donation requirements, there’s a law that says if you adopt the other person’s part of their body, the donor egg for example, then you have to accept them to be part of your life. The woman that’s gonna donate goes with you to the clinic and registers to the clinic. From then on there’s no anonymity. That’s why no one does it in Australia. You only do donor egg ivf with relatives. But even if the egg donor is your sister, it’s not right. We want a child that’s gonna grow ours. Anything else is irrelevant.

I don’t know if it sounds cold, but it’s mine and his. Egg donation doesn’t make you part of my family for the rest of my life. Stupid rules, lots of paper work, too. Would you feel that child as your own? I would not. Not under those circumstances.

The egg donation process is not gonna make a difference. Motherhood is all in one who raises the child and who gives birth.

Embryo transfer was very good. No pain. Maybe I was too excited to feel anything. I can’t believe how calm I am. I could easily jump up and down!

Also read, From Melbourne to Athens for an IVF treatment that's worth a try!

A friend recommended Eugin in Spain for my IVF, but I chose Embio in Greece. Even the cost was lower: €4,900 for fresh embryos and transfer, while the ivf cost at Eugin was 7000 euros.

Something else that helped me make my mind for Embio was the communication that we had during the whole process. In fact, I've had a personalized communication with them before, during and after the transfer. I was able to ask anything I was worried about...

On the first attempt, I got pregnant. I'm two months pregnant now, and I can’t wait to reach the end of the first quarter to tell you all about it!

I wish you all to feel the same happiness. Do not hesitate to contact Embio for your IVF and egg donation. They’ll answer all your queries.

I am 45 and I got pregnant on the second attempt with Egg Donation.

I didn't even look for donor egg IVF in Sweden. I had confidence in Dr. Paraschos, I' had heard of him by acquaintances who had their fertility treatment at EMBIO.

I was very pleased with the whole IVF process. I had very good feedback all the way. They are very good at communicating and this is particularly important for us from abroad. The information that you get is very detailed.

All my IVF medication came easily from Greece.

I’m originally from India, but for a long time I’ve been living in Sweden. Being 51, I had no chance for IVF in Sweden, much less for egg donation. The age limit is much lower in Sweden than in Greece.

We had heard about Embio and Dr Paraschos from other people. Dr Paraschos is very good, his work is very good. Also, everyone working at Embio is very good. This is actually our second attempt here. The first was one year ago. We didn’t succeed then, but we’re here again now. Last time we were here for our egg donation ivf we got a very positive feeling about everything and everyone working here. So we feel trust.

On the first day we talked to the IVF coordinator about the ivf medicine. Then we came back and had the ultrascan and talked to the Doctor. Next, my husband came to give the sperm sample.

The transfer wasn’t at all painful. You’re feeling good.

My husband’s Swedish (blond, blue eyes, white complexion), but we chose the egg donor to look like me.

We thought about going to Estonia, India or Shri Lanka, but we’re following our stomach feeling here. I trust this clinic and Dr Paraschos. It’s not just that Greece is closer than India or Shri Lanka. The feeling is good here at Embio.

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!