UKD – University Fertility Center Dusseldorf (UniKid)

Very competent team! Thank you dear Unikid team, we have now become parents. We would particularly like to thank Dr. Thank you to Julia Bugler. Ms. Dr. Bugler calculated everything exactly and supported us very professionally with the ICSI. So everything worked in a very short time and after the first attempt.
Communication with Unikid was great for me, praise to the reception: I always received a call back after my email.

As part of our fertility treatment, we turned to UniKid. It was important to us to have the best medical and scientifically based care. For this reason we decided on a university clinic rather than a private doctor’s office. Gynecologist friends congratulated us on this step, as the UniKid is said to have an above-average success rate.

Yes – it is not always possible to reach us by phone (emails were ALWAYS replied to within a few hours)

Yes – the doctors rotate and you get to know different contacts.

But for us this was of secondary importance. Almost all of the nurses and doctors were professional, friendly and looked after us well. In particular, the tight, daily timing of the treatment worked without any problems. Prescriptions and treatment plans were always provided quickly and at short notice.

Conclusion: We wanted to have our treatment carried out in a university clinic and therefore in a clinic with an above-average probability of success. The negative reviews on the subject of a lack of empathy and organization initially unsettled us – but we cannot confirm them (we were encouraged and looked for a way forward even in the event of unsuccessful attempts).

We are happy about our pregnancy and keep our fingers crossed for all couples on this journey.

Preface
An unfulfilled desire to have children is an emotional issue. Once you start wanting children, it seems like everyone around you gets pregnant with ease. You see strollers everywhere on the streets, and while you’re happy for others, you ask yourself: Why not us too?

Some couples have medical reasons for not getting pregnant, others are actually able to conceive naturally and yet the wish remains unfulfilled. Before the treatment, it was clear to us that medicine can only help to a limited extent; anything beyond that remains a small miracle. There is no guarantee that your wish to have children will come true. Despite good conditions, we didn’t get pregnant for years, which is why we decided to have an initial consultation with UniKid.

UniKid – initial consultation
We pointed out from the start that we were self-payers and asked for comprehensive information about all possible examinations. The process was explained to us, including doctor rotations and options such as (hyper)stimulation, punctures, IVF and ICSI. We agreed and started treatment with UniKid.

UniKid – treatments
In the beginning everything was new, unfamiliar and uncertain. We quickly discovered how many couples, including very young ones, who want to have children are being treated. We also often saw tears. We never had a really good feeling there. We experienced an emotional roller coaster ride over several stimulation cycles for egg retrieval. From an unexpectedly large number of good eggs to no eggs at all, the process was always psychologically stressful. In addition to the emotional sensitivity of the topic, there was also the pressure of expectations that you perhaps unconsciously impose on yourself. I would have liked this emotionality and vulnerability to have been treated more sensitively, but unfortunately that was rarely the case. We were treated according to formula without any individuality.

The puncture to retrieve eggs takes place under general anesthesia. It is a small procedure that each patient has a different level of respect for. Some of the experiences my wife had to make were all the more incomprehensible to me: patients were rudely asked to go to the toilet again or ordered in a harsh tone, which was completely inappropriate for the sensitive situation. (Attention: This is our subjective perception of the situations that we or my wife experienced there!) Unfortunately, positive moments remained the rare exception during our treatment period from March 2022 to July 2023. Ultimately, what felt like an assembly line process without individuality and empathy led us to stop treatment at UniKid and put our trust in another clinic.

Change of clinic
Here, too, we gave the same information at the beginning: We are self-payers and would like to be informed about all the options so that we can decide for ourselves what we should and should not spend our money on. Here we were told about studies whose existence was never mentioned at UniKid. The entire process was very individual and appropriate to the sensitivity of the topic. For the first time, we really felt advised, were able to weigh up options and make decisions – accompanied by an empathetic team and two well-coordinated doctors.

Result
As said in the foreword: There is no guarantee of success! Medical support can help to better understand and optimize the process to increase the chances.
Additional investigations revealed a genetic constellation (KIR genes) that may prevent pregnancy. We would be lying if we said we were hopeful until the end. But in the end, literally the last egg cell, in combination with drug suppression of the immune system (due to the KIR genes), took its chance and led to a healthy pregnancy, which has now progressed into the 6th month.

Never lose hope!

I’ll keep it short:

– waited a whole three months for an appointment with a certain doctor and the appointment still took place with another one (online) and 45 minutes later
– Despite submitting numerous findings and documents, we noticed that the doctor hardly looked at them at all
had information about our case
– Making appointments via email (it doesn’t work over the phone at all) takes far too long and is definitely counterproductive for such therapy

We decided to stop the therapy there and not continue it. I hope that the reviews can make a difference so that many couples are spared such disappointment.

Organization and administration is a disaster. Appointments are simply passed on to other doctors without informing or asking. Complaints are ignored. Unfortunately I can only report negative things here and we therefore decided against treatment in this clinic.

In this way I would like to share my absolutely positive experiences with Unikid and encourage all couples who are looking for good, reliable, competent and emphatic fertility treatment.
We were treated there for the first time four years ago and have had a healthy child for three years. Now we are there for the second time and are again very satisfied with the treatment. All employees, from registration, blood collection, the laboratory to the doctors, are always friendly and very empathetic as well as absolutely competent. Sufficient time was always taken during consultations with the doctor, everything was explained in detail and people were always responded to very emphatically. I can only recommend it to all couples without reservation.

Our experience at Unikid in a nutshell:
– 3 failed attempts with nothing to show for except psychological trauma
– 1 year lost due to lack of interest to try and find a cause of the infertility, clueless and disinterested they send the patient to unnecessary surgery (*we seeked 2nd opinion abroad and simple medication fixed “the problem” quickly)
– No thourough examinations and consideration of all possible parameters before the treatments, basically pumping you sith hormones, going in blind and seeing what happens, filling the quota and their budgets
– No personal approach or a thought-through treatment plan, no interest in a positive outcome. One is just a number on an assembly line and treatments are not adjusted to each patient’s body and fertility profile
– Unprofessional and careless staff with no empathy and awareness of the physical and mental toll these treatments take on a couple
– Loss of documentation and loss of computer data at one point; snappy, frustrated nurses
– No explanation and no follow-up on patients
– Each time we got a different doctor, most of them have a very negative approach making you ask yourself – why am I even trying?! One doctor seemed especially annoyed and burned out
– Culmination was ending up in a hospital for an urgent surgery, trauma and loss of capacity to continue trying elsewhere.
We strongly regret wasting our 3 financially supported attempts and 3 prime years on such an institution!
Statistics show that most couples give up after max. 3 attempts due to high strain, so how about taking your jobs seriously and trying at least to make an effort for a positive outcome and an empathic, humane and positive approach towards patients?!

Good from a nursing perspective. Doctors are always in a hurry, unfortunately many doctors don’t really speak German. My wife was there for a check-up because she became pregnant. First of all, this is wonderful. At the next appointment 3 days later, they give her an appointment slip and say in 2 days we have to terminate the pregnancy. Then you will
out without getting any information at all. I think that says it all. Then you find yourself at home with a wife who has collapsed. No empathy from the doctor. For me it’s just a clinic that prints money

We went to many, many fertility clinics. Nobody managed to get me pregnant. Only the Unikid team managed it after 9 years of wanting to have children and undergoing treatments. Our son is now born healthy and we are overjoyed. The Unikid team is absolutely up to date with the latest technology. The laboratory is impeccable and the medical assistants are great. Luckily, after 7 years of wanting to have children, we switched to Unikid and tried again. We were received very empathetically and with absolutely perfect expertise, as my case is not the easiest. We would like to encourage all married couples and can only recommend this clinic and we would also like to tell everyone not to give up. It’s worth taking this path, which is definitely difficult. Here you are well looked after and everyone is very empathetic. Thanks to the whole team.

Reachability by phone is absolute chaos.
But we always get back to you straight away via email

I’ve felt really comfortable there so far, everyone is super nice and friendly and I can’t understand the bad reviews