Baby 2 · IVF · Patient reference

Szabina — Repromeda patient (ex-Reprofit)

Peer reference call with a Hungarian patient mid-treatment at Repromeda (Brno), who started at Reprofit and switched. Conducted in Hungarian by Ádám, with live translation for Andrea.
Conversation: May 28, 2026, 6:00 PM · Page updated: May 30, 2026 4:47 AM PT
Who she is. Szabina, 36, has endometriosis (3 surgeries, one tube blocked, ~0% natural). Started IVF at Reprofit, had a poor experience, and switched to Repromeda — where she's now on her 4th retrieval cycle, long protocol, with 6 frozen embryos and 2 likely on the way. We met her in the Repromeda waiting room and connected on Facebook. This is her firsthand take on both clinics, monitoring, drug costs, protocols, and the PGT-A / sex-selection questions.
Clinic journey
Reprofit → Repromeda
switched after 1 failed cycle
Where she is now
6 + 2
frozen embryos · 4th cycle · day 10
Protocol
Long
Gonal-F 250 + Pergoveris 150
Takeaways that matter for our decision
Transcription notes & term corrections

Auto-transcribed (Whisper large-v3) from a 71-min Hungarian recording, then translated and lightly cleaned. Speaker labels are inferred — Hungarian has no gendered pronouns, so some he/she attributions are uncertain (marked [?]). (to Andrea, EN) marks where Ádám switched to English to translate. Double-check load-bearing numbers (doses, prices, percentages) against the audio.

"pete" / "pounds"eggs / oocytes
"lombik"IVF (lombikbébi = test-tube baby)
"TV card" / "TV"TAJ card (Hungarian health insurance)
"Big Melinda" / "In Vitio"Nagy Melinda (HU IVF figure; "in vitro")
"UNIQA"Unica (clinic)
"matrica"highway vignette (toll sticker)
"Haller Medical / Hattyú Medicina"HU pharmacies that fill foreign IVF prescriptions
"folliculometry"follicle-tracking ultrasound

Full conversation

Ádám Szabina Andrea (to Andrea, EN) = translated to English

Intro & greetings 00:00–00:55

00:00ÁdámHello! Hi Szabina, hi — this is Ádám. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us. This is a topic with so much going on in your head, so many questions at the start, so it's really great we could meet like this. It was funny — I remember you parked next to us, and I remember someone calling out "Szabina." Szabina stuck in my head, "I have an acquaintance named Szabina," and then you answered on Facebook and somehow it came together — "maybe that's the same Szabina."
00:48ÁdámMy wife doesn't speak Hungarian, but she understands a little, so I may translate for her now and then, if that's okay.
00:55SzabinaOf course, of course.

Ádám: their Vancouver (Canada) round 00:56–04:53

00:56ÁdámSo — a bit about us. We tried one round in Vancouver. Andrea's AMH was 1.3, measured last December; we did the cycle in February. Her ovarian reserve [antral follicle count] was four. The medication they gave was Puregon — and what was strange was they kept changing the dose: one day more, the next day less. Very erratic, which is probably not good.
01:46ÁdámWhat happened with us: she got seven eggs [pete], which is relatively good compared to the four — but one grew very big and the rest stayed tiny.
02:01SzabinaAnd in our first round, we were exactly like that too.
02:07Ádám(to Andrea, EN) They got the same results in their first round — one big, all the rest small.
02:13ÁdámSo if you think about it, in a natural cycle there's normally one dominant egg that ovulates. With us it was almost the same — which feels like wasting your money and your time. Out of seven, six developed, but five of those six were so small, weak and poorly developed that there was almost zero chance. There was one good, strong, top-class one — but unfortunately it didn't reach the goal; nothing came of it.
02:57ÁdámSo that's where we are. At first you're optimistic — everyone starts that way. We started with big hopes too, exactly this time last year.
03:13Ádám(to Andrea, EN) They started exactly this time last year.
03:16ÁdámAt first you're very optimistic, then you realize what these statistics actually mean — the time, all the emotions and money. Then you get the real picture. For us the real picture was that we had to leave Canada because it was so expensive. We can see we'd need at least three rounds, probably five is better. I'm from Gyöngyös; we moved back to Gyöngyös for my parents and we'll be here about half a year.
03:54SzabinaAnd you can work from home?
03:57ÁdámYes. I usually start work around this time and go until the afternoon / 3 a.m. [time-shifted to Canada]. I've done it many times — luckily it works. Andrea is at home right now. We already have a little boy, two years old — he was born naturally [Néten]. Andrea is from Hong Kong, I'm Hungarian, we live in Canada, so he's a sweet mixed-race boy. The backstory: we tried for three years and nothing happened. On our last attempt we started IVF in Canada — and that's when the positive test came and our son was born. Now, ideally, we'd like a second child, and we know time is tight, so we're jumping in now. And here we are.
04:54SzabinaAnd how old are you, by the way?
04:57ÁdámI'm 43; my wife turns 40 tomorrow.

Szabina: her situation & endometriosis 04:57–08:19

05:03SzabinaHere in Brno they always look at age, not necessarily AMH — and I think you're still in time. That's my own opinion.
05:26Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She says we might still be on time — that's her own opinion.
05:30ÁdámIt seems your situation was really similar to ours — almost everything happened the same way. And I can see you're already at the gates of success — you're at six. [referring to Szabina's frozen embryos]
05:48SzabinaI hope so.
05:49Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She's close to final success — she has six frozen and two might be coming. (to Szabina) How did things develop for you, if I can ask?
06:05SzabinaIt's a bit different for us, because I have endometriosis. That's why we started — I'd already had three surgeries because of it, and one ovary doesn't work because of the surgeries. At my last surgery they did an egg [tubal/ovarian] test, and it showed that the side that should work, can't — so we had 0% chance naturally.
07:08SzabinaFor that reason it's 0% the natural way — it's closed. So we're around the same place as you. We got into IVF [lombik] relatively quickly, fairly early. I just turned 36 last week, so I'm a bit younger — but because of the endometriosis they said there's no point waiting. I've had this disease for 15 years; my first surgery was 15 years ago. So probably because of the disease, my egg quality [raw: "cancer cells"/"pete"] isn't so good.
08:14SzabinaSo we're a little different in that respect.

Reprofit → switching to Repromeda 08:19–09:08

08:19Ádám / Szabina [?](aside about the camera/screen) — "turn it around" / "I've already turned it around."
08:26SzabinaLast time we started at another clinic.
08:32ÁdámCan you tell us which clinic you started with?
08:34ÁdámAt Reprofit. My cousin — she's around 38 now — had a friend at Reprofit, so we thought, okay, Reprofit. But it's such a big undertaking, and money, that we talked to all the clinics — all the Brno ones, all the practitioners — about 8 clinics over video. And we ended up at Repromeda.

Szabina's bad Reprofit experience 09:08–11:09

09:08SzabinaSo we started at Reprofit, and I don't think it was good. They set up a short protocol for us — "you're young, everything's fine." One [follicle] grew very fast and the rest stayed small. Which is exactly what's happening to you now. At Reprofit I think 8 embryos developed, but all of them arrested on day 6 — they couldn't get a single one to stop [survive to freeze]. We'd told them we definitely wanted PGT — that's why they pushed PGT-A. Maybe if they'd transferred one on day 5 it could have worked, or been a chemical pregnancy. But they wanted PGT-A.
10:17SzabinaAfter the stimulation there was a follow-up consultation we pushed for. And they basically said: "bad luck, this can happen anytime — we wouldn't change anything for the next stimulation, it would all go the same way." They asked, "Do you want to change anything?" We really didn't click with that.
10:53Ádám(to Andrea, EN) They didn't agree with this.
10:55SzabinaThey just said, "oh, bad luck, that's it." And then we felt they just wanted our money, with no real reasoning behind it.

Ádám: their parallel feeling about Canada 11:09–12:08

11:09ÁdámIt's the same with our first cycle — it feels like they just want to get us [our money].
11:13Ádám(to Andrea, EN) We have the same feeling about our first cycle, in Canada.
11:18ÁdámThere was something, but it was very far from ideal. So we were the same — we definitely won't go back to a clinic where we got results like that. Maybe it's something doctors also learn on — the first, second, third [patient]. But we had the same feeling, and it was so expensive we'd have burned through all our holiday savings trying in Canada. They pushed us toward a fresh transfer too. We had three [embryos] on day 3 — two poor quality, one good quality. They told us we were "allowed" three on day 3 for a fresh transfer, but we weren't prepared — we got a call that we had to decide right away, within minutes.
12:35SzabinaThey don't do that here in Europe — only in Hungary. We didn't even start in Hungary, even though it'd be free for us there.

Why not Hungary (PGT, lab rules) 12:49–14:05

12:49SzabinaWe've heard a lot of stories like that. And I'm a healthcare worker myself, so I see a bit of the inside — the legal background. So I firmly said I'd rather pay for it [abroad].
13:23AndreaAnd there's no PGT in Hungary, right?
13:27SzabinaRight, no PGT in Hungary. And they only allow culturing embryos to day 5 — and that's only since last year; before, it was only to day 3. On day 3 they either froze or did a [day-3] transfer.

Choosing Repromeda for the lab 14:00–15:54

14:00AndreaThat's why I picked Repromeda — I thought their lab quality would be good.
14:05SzabinaYes. Our final decision was Repromeda too, because the lab quality is probably the best there. There's an embryologist we consulted and listened to. And it seems the drugs and the people we talked to point the same way. Almost everyone says the same thing: if you take the same injections, the same drugs, this is the lab with the highest added value. Most of the Brno clinics send their material to Repromeda.
14:49Ádám(to Andrea, EN) The Brno clinics send their stuff to Repromeda.
14:52SzabinaExactly — they have the lab.
14:54AndreaRemember we had a discussion where another clinic already said this? We asked one clinic if they had their own lab, and they said no — they send it to another clinic. It was the one with the young doctor: "oh, we send our results to the other clinic." Maybe it was Unica [UNIQA] — maybe they send to Unica.
15:17SzabinaSo there are probably one, two, three [clinics] that know everything, and then the rest. We were torn between the two and decided against Reprofit because we didn't like the people's attitude — that's how we ended up at Repromeda. We could have gotten into Reprofit faster, but we learned from our own mistake that it wasn't a good decision.

In-clinic ultrasound monitoring matters 15:54–17:36

15:58ÁdámA lot of people in Facebook groups say there's a feeling of being rushed — I think you'd confirm that.
16:05SzabinaAbsolutely. And you probably saw in the group that I wrote several times that I go out [to Brno] for the ultrasounds myself.
16:17Ádám(to Andrea, EN) Multiple times — she goes [in person].
16:19SzabinaI thought, that [remote monitoring] isn't good at all. People start to wonder how much benefit these things really have. And now that we hear you're a healthcare worker, you probably feel even more strongly how important these measurements are.
16:38SzabinaBased on the scans they adjust the medication and make changes — and time the egg retrieval. It's very important that as many [follicles] as possible are mature when they're collected — not just the dominant one or two, but that all of them reach a usable stage.
17:05Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She says what's really important in the measurements is that they can gauge the extraction date from them.
17:14ÁdámRight, that's why we talked about this — they have to track every single [follicle], because if they dose correctly they'll mature properly.
17:23Ádám(to Andrea, EN) That's why the second ultrasound matters — not day 6 or 7, but day 9 or 10.
17:33ÁdámThen it's usually just a few days to the egg retrieval, right?

Folliculometry, who to trust, day-7 in Budapest 17:36–19:34

17:36SzabinaYes. I've been to many places for these folliculometries [follicle scans], to many doctors — and I honestly can't name more than one or two you can really trust. So far I've always been home [in Hungary] for the day-7 scan and went out [to Brno] for the rest.
18:09ÁdámIn Budapest, right?
18:11SzabinaYes.
18:14ÁdámSo day 7 always in Budapest, the rest you travel out. You didn't even go out for day 6?
18:20SzabinaThis time we had a day-7 peak. I went, exceptionally, for day 6 because it was a public holiday — so busy. But at least the traffic was good; you could really move on the highway.
18:34SzabinaI was there yesterday too — back and forth — it was a great day to drive.

Travel logistics to Brno 18:51–19:37

18:51Ádám(relaying) Andrea asks: where do you usually fly into for Brno, or do you drive straight there?
19:00SzabinaWhen I go for an ultrasound it's on working days, so I go at the same time. I ask for a slot like noon or later. When we had to go on a Sunday, they only have [reception] in the afternoon there — open only until noon. So we'd go out the day before.

Trigger timing, overstimulation history 19:37–24:05

19:37ÁdámHave you ever had to do the trigger shot a bit earlier or later?
19:50SzabinaNo, only on the last cycle. On the last one — we had about three [cycles] by then — the trigger was pushed a day or two later.
20:05SzabinaThat's usually how it goes for me. At Repromeda they told me right away that the short protocol wouldn't be good for me, and we should try the long protocol. And it works. On the first stimulation I had two follicles. The next month, another stimulation, two more. Then I felt I needed to rest — Christmas was coming — so two cycles were skipped, then we continued in February, and got two again.
21:06SzabinaI slowly built up on the Gonal-F injection, and in the March cycle I think I reached 300 — and they overstimulated me. That wasn't fun. It turned out later I almost ended up in hospital.
21:45Ádám(to Andrea, EN) In retrospect they realized she almost ended up in hospital.
21:53SzabinaThen they advised waiting a month and resting. But at home, my doctor — the nurse — advised waiting at least two, ideally three months.
22:16AndreaSo is her family doctor in Budapest also kept informed of this process?
22:16Ádám(relaying) She's asking whether you go to Budapest for an ultrasound or somewhere else.
22:37SzabinaI found her [this doctor] by accident, when I got sick once. I suddenly needed a doctor, and across Budapest she was the one with an appointment the next day. According to them she's not the one who does the ultrasound — but I'd been to her several times and had a very good experience.
23:10AndreaSo it was partly a consultation too.
23:10Ádám(relaying) Andrea asks if the female doctor is also a kind of consultant.
23:21SzabinaShe did the ultrasound. She used to work at a clinic [in "Shota" — clinic name unclear]. She told me she'd seen many overstimulated patients lying flat, and how hard it is to recover from overstimulation. That's why she said she'd definitely watch closely if we start too early, because the risk of overstimulation rises if you don't rest enough.

Offer to share the good doctor's name 24:05–25:00

24:05SzabinaMaybe I can write down her name — five good things to say about her?
24:10ÁdámOh, thank you so much — yes, she can write up the name, that would be great. We don't have anyone at the moment; we're building things up here. We had our first conversation on Monday.
24:28ÁdámSo we have to be prepared for anything — like you said, anything can happen. [Family anecdote:] someone of ours worked in Hungary and was overstimulated — all kinds of problems, lethargy, depression. You have to read up on it, because the outcome can be very harsh, even fatal.
24:57SzabinaYes — I felt that at Repromeda too. When it turned out [I was overstimulating], I just messaged the coordinator, and she'd already spoken to the doctor — we were immediately in contact. You could tell they started flagging it with a "red light" so they'd pay more attention to me.
25:25Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She felt they really pay attention — "red alert," act quickly.
25:36SzabinaThey told me to rest more, so two cycles were skipped — and now this is the 4th collection cycle with Repromeda.
25:49ÁdámSo you're on the 4th now.
25:52SzabinaYes.

Where Szabina is right now (day 10) 25:53–26:16

25:53ÁdámThen I understand you just had your day-10 scan?
25:59ÁdámOr day 9.
26:01SzabinaToday I'm day 10.
26:03ÁdámToday you're day 10. (to Andrea, EN) So she just did the second ultrasound yesterday.
26:12ÁdámWell then, this is a huge success story — congratulations.
26:18SzabinaIt doesn't feel like that at all. It feels like it's really dragging on, and we hadn't planned it this way.
26:31ÁdámYes — as I read, it's "the chance of a lifetime" thing for everyone. I think it's the exception when it works in one shot and everything comes together. You read stories like that, but I think it's one in ten.

Advice: rest a lot 26:47–27:52

26:47ÁdámFrom day 10 [down to 9] — is the whole thing hard, very hard, brutal?
26:54SzabinaYes. What I'd advise for your fifth round: you have to rest a lot. The first year I was like, "I'll take it easy, it'll be fine" — I kept working, and it didn't succeed. So last summer I changed jobs. Now I can manage going out [to Brno] because I started working as a sole entrepreneur — I'm a health trainer. Before, I was employed; now I have my own business.

Ádám: their family / parental-leave context 27:52–29:34

27:52ÁdámOur son was born — Andrea worked from home until the 7th–8th month of pregnancy, luckily. Then our son was born, I was home with the baby on my leave, but meanwhile my workplace closed, unfortunately. In Hungary they pay a similar [parental] benefit for 9 months to a year, so it was fine until then.
28:28ÁdámAnd then you have to get the child used to it. Breast milk is very good for the baby — at least a year of breastfeeding, or a year and a half. The baby gave us a lot of worry — he was tiny, premature-ish ["a baby in a month"]. In the first month we were so careful we barely dared to sleep — afraid he couldn't turn his head, or might slip down. We had drastic fears in our heads, so we hardly slept that first month.
29:07ÁdámAfter that Andrea stopped working, and we kept trying — we kept telling ourselves of course it'll work, but it didn't. And now we're here, and the doctors are telling us not to wait any longer. We got into the first round and you can really see there's no point waiting — it only gets worse. After a while you only spend money and hormones and stimulation, and the chance gets very, very small — almost zero.

Why they'll travel from Hungary; in-clinic monitoring 29:45–30:15

29:45ÁdámSo right now Andrea is 100% focused on this, and my job [time-shift] is to work from 5:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. We got the confidence and courage that we wouldn't slack on going to Pest [Budapest] for an exam — but you gave us the strength that if you make the trip [to Brno], we think we will too.

Cost comparison: driving to Brno vs. Budapest 30:15–32:27

30:15ÁdámI like driving. I calculated it'd be around 30–40,000 HUF round trip out there — and a prescription/visit would cost similar in Pest anyway.
30:32SzabinaI think it's actually less driving. I don't know your car's consumption, but I buy the 10-day highway vignette [matrica] for the year. For 10 days, the Slovak + Czech vignettes come to about 10,000 HUF, plus about half a tank of fuel — our [car] uses quite a bit less. So in cash it actually comes out less to go out [to Brno].
31:22Ádám(to Andrea, EN) It's like they'll go here [Brno], because it's around 35–40,000 [HUF].
31:30ÁdámAnd that's all-in, right?
31:36SzabinaYes, all-in — plus the highest quality monitoring you can get, where everything is measured and named. Last March/February the doctor sat down after the day-11 ultrasound and counted, millimeter by millimeter, how much each [follicle] had grown each day during the previous stimulation — counted it four times. From that she planned the exact day for the retrieval. It's very thorough work.
32:27SzabinaWhereas when someone goes to a home ultrasound, I send it in, then just call the coordinator — do this, change that. I feel that in person they pay much more attention than through the coordinator.
32:53Ádám(to Andrea, EN) In person they pay more attention than just through the coordinator.
32:56ÁdámI'm 100% sure of that.

Coordinators 32:58–33:53

32:58SzabinaDid you get a coordinator?
33:03ÁdámWe did — we got Adéla, the English-speaking coordinator. And I heard so many Hungarian voices in the waiting room, it was like only Hungarians were walking around — at least for a week.
33:18SzabinaSometimes I feel that too.
33:20Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She feels the same — it feels Hungarian. (to Szabina) And are you with the Hungarian coordinator?
33:27SzabinaYes.
33:28ÁdámShe's the Hungarian coordinator. And how do you feel — are you satisfied with her?
33:35SzabinaYes. I don't know if you saw — she was out [wearing a mask / away for a week].
33:44SzabinaI have a [different] coordinator; you can meet her. But Adéla is highly regarded.

Overnight stays / retrieval logistics 33:53–37:13

33:53Ádám(relaying) Andrea asks: do you not sleep over in Brno when they do the egg retrieval, or do you arrive the day before?
34:11SzabinaSince it's almost always in the morning, we do it the same way every time — we go out the day before and sleep there, because it's much calmer. No stress about being late. The exact time is calculated precisely, so there's no need to stress.
34:42ÁdámAny suggestion on how you handle it — one day before, two days before, flexible timing?
34:55SzabinaNot always — when the last scan gives the final word, that's when we go down [for retrieval].
35:01ÁdámIs it an Airbnb, or what do you recommend? Is there a hotel there?
35:08SzabinaWe've stayed in two hotels, both about 10 minutes by car from the clinic. These are the logistics that matter for us too. Many people in the group rent an apartment — if you travel with kids it's more practical, but we haven't tried it.
35:43ÁdámAs I think about it, you have the day-6 scan, then day 8–9, so it's back and forth — you don't have to sleep there. And then you go [stay] exactly one day before the retrieval.
36:03SzabinaYes. And after the retrieval we usually come home.
36:08Ádám(to Andrea, EN) They go one day before extraction, and the same day. (to Szabina) You come home on retrieval day, right?
36:14SzabinaYes.
36:15ÁdámI think your husband drives.
36:17SzabinaYes.
36:21ÁdámI figured it doesn't make sense to stay until day 2 — it's not that long, 2–3 days.
36:34SzabinaFor me it's longer because of the long protocol — retrieval is usually day 13–14. So if it's closer it may be worth staying; if it's farther, maybe not as much.
36:56SzabinaI saw it's 30–40,000 HUF per night for the rental. Adding it all up, I don't spend that much on fuel.
37:04ÁdámYes — and once you've done the drive once or twice, the route's routine, right?
37:13SzabinaAbsolutely.

Easy driving / construction small talk 37:13–37:43

37:24SzabinaI know exactly which gas station to stop at.
37:28Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She knows exactly which gas station — easy driving. So much construction now too. (to Szabina) Amazing how many new roads there are around Pest and Gyöngyös.

Which doctor 37:43–39:24

37:43Ádám(to Andrea, EN) Which doctor does she have? (to Szabina) Which doctor are you with, if we can ask?
37:53ÁdámWe're with Dr. Filková — she's around 50.
37:58SzabinaLet me check — I'll grab the paper, I was there yesterday; her name's on it. Off the top of my head… no — she's Lucia Sobová.
38:13Szabina(to Andrea, EN / aside) I'm with her — Lucia Sobová.
38:16ÁdámDid you find it on the paper?
38:17SzabinaThe thing is, Repromeda works so that I'm always with someone else for the ultrasound — whoever's on the clinic [ambulance] rotation does it. But there's a dedicated doctor who owns the strategy. I just happened to meet her in person yesterday because she was at the clinic.
38:54ÁdámWe have Alena Filková as the [strategy] doctor.
39:01SzabinaAnd she sets the strategy; the coordinator is probably a nurse. Our coordinator, for example, was originally a midwife.
39:15Ádám(to Andrea, EN) The coordinator is originally a midwife.
39:24ÁdámPeople assume there's some healthcare background, because this is an important topic — you have to be precise and jump quickly, since things happen on Saturdays and Sundays too.
39:41ÁdámI imagine that's a challenge even on weekends?
39:44Szabina(to Andrea, EN) Yes, they work on holidays too.

Prescriptions in Hungary 39:49–46:21

39:49ÁdámDid you change these medicines [get them filled] in Pest? Did a [female] pharmacist write them for you?
40:03SzabinaI do it [myself]. There's Haller Medical — I read about it. I was there for an ultrasound. If I email them, they write up the drugs within 24 hours. There's another, Hattyú Medicina [Swan], where you don't even have to show up — you send an email and they prescribe.
40:46ÁdámSo "Haller Medical" and "Hattyú Medicina."
40:50SzabinaYes. There's a drug-registration fee, but it's always cheaper than [full price].
40:57SzabinaBut I don't know if you'll have a TAJ card [raw: "TV"] here, or how that works?
41:03ÁdámAndrea would need it. I don't think they'd write these drugs onto my TAJ. So at the moment we don't have one. It's more complicated for us — as a Canadian she can only stay 90 days, so we're working on a residence permit for a longer stay. If we get that, maybe we can work on a TAJ-card case from there — but we don't have it yet. The first round is full price [no subsidy], and then, well — it stings a bit, obviously, but it's still much better than Canada.
41:41SzabinaBut you don't have to fill it in Hungary, do you?
41:50ÁdámIf we're here half a year and the TAJ card or similar comes through in the meantime, I think we could. But before that — if you start in February, the Hungarian system works so that a foreign prescription is accepted with the original stamp.
42:18SzabinaI think we did the same in the first round — bought everything at full price.
42:27Ádám(to Andrea, EN) They bought everything at full price in the first round.
42:29SzabinaWe were still clueless. Then I printed the prescriptions they'd emailed, the pharmacy ordered against that, and when we went out [to the clinic] they gave us the original stamped prescription, which we had to take to the Hungarian pharmacy — because they have to register it with the original foreign prescription and keep it for 5 years.
42:57Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She got the prescription, printed the email, they ordered the medicine; then she went back to Brno, got the stamped original, and dropped it at the Hungarian pharmacy.
43:08ÁdámBut the first round you paid at Brno for it? (reconsidering) Actually the first round you're describing was probably at Reprofit.
43:21SzabinaAt Reprofit, yes — that's where we paid, on the spot.
43:26SzabinaNo — we bought the medicine at home, but I wasn't registered for the Hungarian prescription yet, so I could only buy at full price. They emailed us the stamped one, but I don't think it's valid if the stamp is [only] on the email.
43:57SzabinaBut at a normal pharmacy — probably a smaller, family-run one — I think it's totally fine to bring the original prescription after the fact, so I don't think it'd be a problem.
44:23Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She thinks it'll be fine.
44:25ÁdámFor us the first question is whether we have the card and the registration — then we'll know. Until then, that's how it works; we're totally on the same page.
44:38AndreaDo you have a sense of the price difference? She first had the short protocol, later the long — I think long is more expensive.
44:38Ádám(relays Andrea's question to Szabina in Hungarian)
44:46SzabinaNo, no — I paid full price first, then later got it cheaper. It may not be apples-to-apples because the protocol differs.
44:57Ádám(to Andrea, EN) Just the difference between discounted and full price — how much cheaper if you can get it registered on the Hungarian system?
45:06SzabinaIt's about half — half the price.
45:08Ádám(to Andrea, EN) Wow, that's a lot.
45:11SzabinaRight now I just paid 1,200 EUR for 6 days [of meds] — so ~2,500 EUR is close to half a million forints.
45:28SzabinaOur first short protocol was 500,000 HUF for the drugs. Now with the long protocol I got 3× more medication. [Discounted it came to] 300,000 HUF — and that was half the full price.
45:50Ádám(to Andrea, EN) So she got 3× the medication of the short protocol… and the discounted price was half.
45:55ÁdámSo 3× the medicine, but cheaper per unit than before?
46:02SzabinaNo — but this time I was smarter and signed up for the subsidy/support every time. That was half the price.
46:10Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She gets the support this way — big difference.

Szabina's exact protocol & doses 46:21–48:18

46:21ÁdámWhat drugs / what protocol did you get? Maybe you could share the protocol.
46:27SzabinaYes, I can open it — it just came today. Here's the email. It's a short protocol.
46:49SzabinaThe first is Gonal[-F] 250 IU and Pergoveris 150 IU. I can tell you because it's right here — the full price of the Gonal is 99,000 HUF. Pergoveris I don't have [the slip], but I remember it's around 100,000 HUF.
47:30ÁdámAnd how many units in this — the 99,000 HUF one?
47:36SzabinaIt has 900 units.
47:41ÁdámOh, exactly like what we paid for — 900 units.
47:45ÁdámAnd I dose 250 units/day of Gonal. (to Andrea, EN) She takes 250/day.
47:52ÁdámSo that's about three or four days' worth.
48:02SzabinaThat's enough for four days.
48:04ÁdámAnd you don't take Pergoveris [in addition]?
48:07SzabinaNo, I do take Pergoveris too.
48:09Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She takes Pergoveris too.
48:11SzabinaI dose 150/day.
48:14ÁdámSo it's the same — Gonal 250, Pergoveris 150.

Short vs. long protocol nuance 48:18–49:32

48:18SzabinaYes — but I did get a [priming] medication to start in the previous cycle. That's why it's "long." I add that from day 22.
48:35Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She uses that from day 22.
48:39SzabinaSo that's how the "three 8s" [dosing] works out.
48:41ÁdámOur doctor suggests starting with short, and the second cycle may be long.
48:45Ádám(to Szabina) But initially yours was long, right? It was strange for us — our first conversation, on FaceTime with the doctor, she looked through all our documents and suggested the long protocol at that first call. Then once we'd decided on Repromeda, they emailed that the doctor had changed her mind and was now recommending the short for the first round. So we're going in order now, but from the conversation it sounded like it'd be a test cycle: we'll see how Andrea reacts, and then we might also be recommended long.
49:26ÁdámBy the way, the embryologist also said she'd recommend long for us.

The embryologist's views (ICSI vs. natural, PGT-A skepticism) 49:32–53:36

49:32ÁdámBy the way, is there a clinic like "Battyányi Medical" or something — some IVF clinic?
49:40AndreaNo. There's no such thing.
49:44ÁdámShe's an embryologist at an IVF clinic. She did an [procedure] and told us there's no point — it's like trying something blind: you take one [sperm] out of a million but don't know if it's good or bad, so you just pick one and use it. She thinks that if the male side is strong, the natural [conventional IVF] way is better, because then the male side is stronger. So there are all kinds of views on natural vs. ICSI that we heard from the embryologist.
50:26SzabinaYes — but here at Repromeda we asked for the sperm package, and they advised it too. It's an additional sperm selection — a magnetic method [MACS-type] — they remove [poor sperm] and work with what remains.
51:07SzabinaThe thing is, they don't do sperm selection in Hungary.
51:13ÁdámThey don't do that, they don't do PGT-A — they limit your options, right?
51:19ÁdámYes, for us [in Canada] these things were "super-luxury" category — we didn't have any ICSI [XC?] or extras like that. Here it's almost a baseline. There wasn't a huge difference, I think. But when they called us a week ago, 6 were viable — so they think it's natural and works pretty well in our case.
51:50SzabinaYes, absolutely. At times like this the egg quality [raw: "pet/dog quality"] becomes the key thing — because we always start at 8–10 and only two remain.
52:10ÁdámDid they do PGT so they can see the development? (to Andrea, EN) Andrea asks if you chose PGT so you could see the embryo's development.
52:19SzabinaNo — but they send it [the report] later. So we don't see it live. When they freeze them, we get the date they arrived [at the lab] and what development stage they were at.
52:41SzabinaThey were frozen, and then [some] arrested.
52:44Ádám(aside / unclear: "look up … in the lab works")
52:46ÁdámThis embryologist is interesting to us — she says she may have learned things in the older system. What she says is interesting, but sometimes we get confused between what she says and what our doctor says. For example, she tells us this is a long protocol; the doctors say it's short. She may be right; it may be a doctor thing — short first, then long.
53:14ÁdámBut about the embryo, she told us she thinks PGT-A is over-used, especially if there are few embryos. She says that as an embryologist, the most important thing is to follow the embryo's development constantly with the time-lapse camera — and she says she can see whether the embryo is good or bad. That's what she tells us.
53:36SzabinaYes — and the Czechs, where there is PGT, always say there can be a beautiful embryo, but if the DNA status isn't there, a child will never be born.
53:51AndreaI know that.

PGT-A debate continued 53:53–55:33

53:53ÁdámYes, that's what we think too — that's why we're a bit doubtful. The most important thing is a healthy child, so we're on that side of the decision. But it was interesting to hear, from an embryologist, that with enough consistent data you can say whether it's good — and if it's not good, it won't implant anyway.
54:28SzabinaWell, okay — but if that worked, Hungary wouldn't have a ~20% success rate while PGT countries have ~60%.
54:39Ádám(to Andrea, EN) With PGT it's ~60% success; in Hungary only ~20%.
54:45SzabinaOn the other hand, the numbers show only about 20% [of embryos] pass PGT.
54:56Ádám(to Andrea, EN) 20% pass PGT.
54:59SzabinaAnd a lot of [the cost] isn't just the embryo work people hope for — it's usually accumulated [drug] cost, and a hormonal build-up for the woman. To be so aggressive on a blind spot — I think it's a bit of a shame, pointless to go in blind.

Nagy Melinda / biopsy reliability 55:33–58:11

55:33ÁdámI don't know if we still have time — she showed me something quite interesting. Let me share my screen. (screen-sharing fumbling: "Messenger… here it is… window.")
56:02ÁdámSo there was an interesting thing she talked about — I don't know what you, as a healthcare worker, think. I just shared my picture. If you see it — it's still 9 a.m. in Vancouver for me.
56:23ÁdámThey call her "Nagy Melinda" [raw: "Big Melinda" — Nagy = "Big"].
56:27SzabinaYes, I know who she is.
56:31SzabinaI know who she is. That's her.
56:33ÁdámI went to university in Pécs, and a friend there told me [Melinda] is an external advisor, so she can tell you if something's good or bad. There's a picture on the webpage — it says that in a biopsy they remove part of a single cell.
57:27ÁdámYou can see it here — biopsies remove a few cells, and they classify it mosaic, euploid, or aneuploid. It matters a lot where the biopsy is taken from: if it comes from a spot that happens to be good, it'll show good; if from a bad spot, it'll show bad; in between, it'll say mosaic. That's why she [the embryologist] thinks PGT isn't fully reliable — the result really depends on the sample location.
58:03SzabinaI think it's true — but I don't think it's black-or-white.

"PGT is the global gold standard" 58:11–59:22

58:11ÁdámYes, yes. We also believe PGT is a gold standard worldwide. I'm in 10-some forums, and everywhere — whatever country — they all talk about PGT as a basic thing.
58:31Ádám(to Andrea, EN) I've shared her [Melinda's] theory and what we think. But it depends a lot on the outcome — if you don't have enough [embryos], it might be too risky to do it.
58:43Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She says it really depends on the outcome — for example you have 6, so you can relax. But imagine someone with one or two: then a biopsy, a freeze, a re-freeze, a thaw…
59:09SzabinaIt plays on your mind — if you start with so few, you might say "let's leave it, there's a higher chance something goes wrong."

Szabina's PGT odds; mosaic embryos 59:22–61:13

59:22SzabinaBut there are 8 in [my] package, and they say that out of 8, usually 3 pass PGT — and of 3 good-quality PGT-tested embryos, 98% are born.
59:54AndreaThere's lots of anecdotal evidence that even the mosaic ones are worth it — they correct themselves over time.
60:03Ádám(to Andrea, EN) She thinks some of them are mosaics, and that's what they discard. It's sad that could be the reason, because it makes it [the count] look bad.
60:16SzabinaBut here in the clinic, if there's a mosaic, there's a consultation where they assess it — they don't just say "don't implant a mosaic." It was in the consent form.
60:35Ádám(relaying) She says we read it in the form. What do you think?
60:41SzabinaIt becomes a discussion — they tell you the pros and cons. It depends on what cell mutation they find — the risk, whether they're viable, how much they can improve. It really depends which chromosome is involved.
61:04ÁdámYes — for us, for example, I don't think we'd discard a mosaic.

"Save mosaics for last" 61:13–62:17

61:13ÁdámWhen people sit back, it might be the last one [chance], when everything else is done. We're like that too.
61:21Ádám(to Andrea, EN) They're the same — you can keep it frozen, and at the end, when there's no other chance, you use that one.
61:27SzabinaBecause it turns out the basic [prenatal] test at week 10 shows the same thing anyway. The week-10 genetic test is almost more fundamental than the day-5 one.
61:39ÁdámWell yes — because by then it's the child's own profile being checked, the gene/DNA status.
61:49ÁdámI think if someone does a [P]GT test on the embryo, it's also worth doing the big genetic tests [in pregnancy]. There's a lot of variation that happens after day 6. So we're sure if we get to that point, we'll definitely do it.

Emotional weight; protecting the pregnancy 62:17–63:43

62:17ÁdámI remember when [a family member's child] said, "we're so grateful you were so good to us in this last moment." I said, "okay." And then I prepared everything: "okay, we'll do this tomorrow morning." It was a huge experience. After that — you can't imagine — we wear a mask everywhere, so as not to get sick. Andrea had a work trip to Toronto, a four-hour flight; I said no, no, no. You won't fly five hours in December — everyone knows about turbulence. Everything was handled like a delicate egg. But obviously it's a huge thing. We're so happy to have one, because last year we thought we'd never have a child.
63:37ÁdámIn other words — they're working a miracle here in Brno.
63:43SzabinaYes, it seems so.

Boy or girl? Sex-selection question 63:45–66:24

63:45ÁdámThen we hope there'll be something that can be accommodated. Would you prefer a boy or a girl, or is it completely the same?
63:55SzabinaOf course it's the same — but I'd prefer a boy, so he doesn't inherit this endometriosis.
64:03ÁdámInteresting — we tested everything, and when we interviewed the clinics we had questions based on ChatGPT, so nothing important would be left out, since neither of us is in healthcare. I directly asked everywhere whether it was possible — not bluntly, but whether there's any way. For example: we have a son, it'd be good to have a daughter now. We think it's a bonus either way — it doesn't matter, as long as the baby is really born.
64:41ÁdámIt was very interesting that some clinics explicitly said no, no, no — Czech rules apply, EU rules apply.
64:51SzabinaThat's true.
64:52ÁdámThat's true — but if there's a small gap, I feel… if you say you've reached a certain risk threshold, and there's the report, and you see the third number [chromosome] is such-and-such, then you can say "that third number is my lucky number." So [a clinic] didn't say "boy or girl," but imagined it could happen that way. At least that's how we understood it. I don't know if you've heard of this.
65:24ÁdámIn the Repromeda group I've read several times that when the lab sends the PGT result —
65:34Ádám(to Andrea, EN) — they're asked to either put XX or XY on it, or leave it off.
65:40ÁdámI'd like it on there, so we can prepare a bit more mentally. So it's not a problem to at least put it on the report?
66:02SzabinaNo. You can ask them to put the gender on it. In theory you can ask — but in theory you cannot ask which one to choose [to implant].
66:16ÁdámIn theory, yeah. But was it them [Repromeda] who said "my lucky number is three," or was that another clinic — maybe [IVF] Cube?
66:24AndreaNo — I think it was IVF Cube in Prague that said "you say your lucky number is three, and then if that's…"

Anecdote: friend's US egg-freezing 66:24–68:25

66:32ÁdámInterestingly, similar topic, a bit different — Andrea has a friend, a Hong Kong / Hong Kong-American friend; they went to the same school in Hong Kong. Very interesting: she worked at a tech company in San Francisco, and it was free for the women to freeze their eggs — a kind of employee retention, so good employees would work as much as possible for the company. She got it free at 32. She didn't know if it was good or bad, but everyone around her did it. So these healthy 32-year-old women froze their eggs.
67:25ÁdámYears later there was a partner/husband, and they said they'd make embryos from these — and right away there were six wonderfully healthy, PGT-tested embryos in one go, graded best to worst, all good for someone so young. He directly asked them to implant the second-strongest.
67:50ÁdámIn America that's possible — there's no problem with boy or girl. He asked for the second one because he knew: he was ~35, young, a good [embryo] batch; he knew the second child would come when he's ~38, a bit older — so [save] the strongest for the second child, not the first. That's how it was for them, I don't know if you can relate.
68:22SzabinaYes, everyone does it their own way. By the way, my friend is doing egg freezing right now — social freezing; she hasn't found a husband yet.

Greece / Cyprus pricing aside 68:42–69:35

68:42SzabinaEgg freezing.
68:46SzabinaMy brother followed an influencer who went to Greece and did it there.
68:51ÁdámOh, I saw that too. It's interesting — we're talking prices, and Greece seems like the best price. You just have to fly there; that's the problem with Greece.
69:05SzabinaYes — and Cyprus advertises itself a lot. All the IVF clinics where you can choose [sex].
69:22ÁdámI think there are three places in the world: America, Cyprus, and maybe Thailand — where you can choose.

Closing 69:35–70:44

69:35ÁdámWell, we don't want to take more of your time. Thank you so much, Szabina, for talking with us and sharing your experience. This is a huge thing — it gave us a bit of confidence on a lot of points. If you could send the [good] nurse's availability, I think we'd definitely reach out, and see how far she can take us. And good luck to you here with the second — your two embryos.
70:15SzabinaGood luck.
70:35ÁdámOkay, so we'll keep in touch. Thank you again, Szabina — have a nice evening.

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