The Instituto Bernabeu – Alicante was established in 1985 and is a private clinic. In 2022, they performed 5,708 treatment cycles including frozen transfers, making this one of the larger IVF clinics in Spain. 40% of the treatments were egg donation cycles and 60% were IVF cycles using own eggs. The Instituto Bernabeu group has eight clinics: seven clinics in Spain (Alicante, Madrid [2 clinics in Madrid: Ayala Street and Velazquez Street], Mallorca, Albacete, Elche, Cartagena, Benidorm) and another one in Venice (Italy). The Alicante IVF clinic has parking on-site with access for the disabled, Wi-Fi and an on-site pharmacy. There are three laboratories and two theatres and nine en-suite single recovery rooms.
At Instituto Bernabeu, there is also, the Poor Responders Independent Unit where you can be treated for early ovarian failure. There, you will be able to benefit from a range of diagnostic tools such as lab tests, 4D ovary and uterus scans, genetic marker tests, prognosis report, and Array-CGH. Read more about diagnosing and treating premature ovarian failure (POF) at Bernabeu here.
In order to ensure the correct state of health of the mother and the baby, Instituto Bernabeu maintains an age limit, following the recommendations of the main international scientific societies. Patients who are treated at this clinic cannot be older than 50 in case of IVF with own eggs. If the patient is 50 years old and until she turns 51, provided her good health has been confirmed, embryo adoption treatment can be performed in which embryos are not generated, but the patient adopts an existing one. This avoids the ethical dilemma of having created embryos in excess that will never be suitable for transfer.
Before any treatment, it is the responsibility of the highly specialised medical team to assess the correct state of health of the future mother in the face of pregnancy. For 45+ patients, there will be tests run to assess feasibility before deciding on your treatment:
- Electrocardiogram
- Mammography
- Report from your GP reporting general health status
- General analysis and serologies
- Rubella antibodies (IgG)
- Measles Antibodies (IgG)
- Cytology
- Blood type
- Complete thyroid profile (TSH and Anti TPO)
- HbA1C
- Spirometry.
- Echocardiogram.
- A report from your obstetrician confirming that you will take care of the proper monitoring of your pregnancy.
Medical Team at Instituto Bernabeu
Dr. Rafael Bernabeu
The Medical Director is Dr. Rafael Bernabeu MD, PhD. He graduated in 1980 and since 1984 has specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology working in many international clinics throughout his career. He holds many different professorial offices including the Director of the Reproductive Medicine Professorship in the medical school of the University Miguel Hernández in Elche. He has published over 150 papers and speaks at international conferences regularly. He is a member of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), and many other societies including the British Fertility Society. At Instituto Bernabeu, there is a team of 27 doctors and those who care for international patients all speak fluent English. There are 23 embryologists and 5 of them are also ESHRE accredited embryologists.
There is an international department that speaks English and many other languages. Their role is not just translation, but to offer patients guidance and reassurance throughout their stay at the clinic.
You can feel exceptionally safe at Instituto Bernabeu. The clinic has various ISO accreditations – ISO UNE-EN ISO 179007:2013, UNE-EN ISO 9001:2015, and UNE-EN ISO 14001:2015 as well as other accreditations including Spanish and European healthcare quality standards e.g. SEP stamp EFQM (the European Foundation for Quality Management), SEP International (Sanidad Excelente Privada nivel Internacional), QH Quality Healtcare ** (2 stars) Reconocimiento QH, and EMQN Performance Certificate – External quality assessment (2023).
In November 2021, Instituto Bernabeu received the ASEBIR national award for its research on the non-invasive technique of embryo genetic diagnosis (niPGT-A). This is the most important award in assisted reproduction in Spain awarded at the 11th Congress of the Association for the Study of Reproductive Biology. The work has been developed in the genetics laboratory whose scientific director, Dr Belén Lledó, is the main author of this research, in collaboration with the embryology and IVF laboratory. This is the third time the clinic has received this award, having already obtained it in 2009 and 2013.
What’s more, since 2003, one of the Instituto Bernabeu clinics, the clinic in Cartagena, has been a pioneer in the use of the most advanced technologies. You can read more about Innovation at Instituto Bernabeu Cartagena here.
Instituto Bernabeu Treatment Options
Instituto Bernabeu offers the following therapies:
- IVF with ICSI
- Egg donation
- Embryo donation
- Donor sperm
- PGT-A
- Assisted Hatching
- Egg and sperm freezing
- Embryo freezing
- Primo Vision
- ROPA method.
If you’re looking for ovarian rejuvenation treatment, you can also find it at Instituto Bernabeu. Read more about intraovarian administration of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) at this clinic. There is no egg-sharing treatment at Bernabeu. However, a minimum of 8 quality eggs for donor egg treatment is guaranteed for you. On average, 12 eggs are collected from each egg donor.
Want to discuss a particular treatment? Contact Instituto Bernabeu
Instituto Bernabeu Recovery Room
Instituto Bernabeu Success Rates 2022
In 2022, the egg donation clinical pregnancy success rate was 50.3%. For IVF with own eggs, the clinical pregnancy success rates was 49%. The breakdown of the clinical pregnancy success rates using own oocytes per patient’s age was as follows:
- women under 35 – 54%
- women aged 35-40 years old – 43.3%
- women over 40 years old – 15.1%.
Also, in 2022, the frozen embryo clinical pregnancy success rate was 38.1% and the embryo donation clinical pregnancy rate was 40.2%.
Fertility experts at Bernabeu, bearing in mind the well-being of both the future mother and the baby, usually transfer one embryo at a time (SET – Single Embryo Transfer). In 2022, on average, they transferred 1.04 embryos with fresh transfers and 1.1 embryos in frozen embryos. The multiple gestation rate in 2022 was 6.2% in cryotransfers, and 3.3% in fresh transfers (donor and own eggs). The doctors at Bernabeu recommend and practice transferring embryos at their blastocyst stage for best results.
The clinic is regularly audited and submits its results to the Spanish Fertility Society (SEF) for verification.
Need more information on success rates? Contact Instituto Bernabeu
Instituto Bernabeu Laboratory
Cost of Treatments & Guarantee Program
Costs will vary depending on each patient and their particular situation as each treatment is personalised. However, as an indication, the advertised price of egg donation is 7,500 Euros. This includes donor medication and stimulation, egg retrieval, ICSI, assisted hatching, time-lapse embryo monitoring and culture to blastocyst. The cost of the first consultation is 140 Euros.
If your embryos require testing prior to embryo transfer, the pre-implantation embryo tests (PGS/PGT-A/CCS) will cost you 550 Euros. You will pay 400 Euros per additional embryo.
The advertised price of IVF treatment using own eggs is 5,000 Euros per cycle. This includes ICSI, assisted hatching, time-lapse embryo monitoring and culture to blastocyst.
Instituto Bernabeu welcomes lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples who wish to become parents via ROPA (shared motherhood/reciprocal IVF). You can undergo this treatment for 5,500 Euros or choose ROPA Guarantee Program for 16,450 Euros. This guarantee program includes:
- 3 treatment cycles
- all frozen embryo transfers
- 18 months validity upon signing
- reimbursed 100% if no pregnancy is achieved after 18 months
- three cycles of IVF/ICSI, as well as all the transfers of frozen embryos resulting from treatments during the validity of the guarantee
- personalized evaluation of your case; exquisite and personalized healthcare environment
- ultrasound controls, analytics, revisions, and fertility treatment tests
- previous endometrial scratching to facilitate embryo nesting
- all the processes of the In Vitro Fertilization laboratory (GERI time-lapse incubator, long blastocyst culture and PGS/PGT-A/CCS genetic study of the embryo under medical indication)
- embryo vitrification and custody of frozen embryos during the guarantee period
- use of donor sperm in each cycle
- in cases requiring biopsy, the analysis is also included
- includes testing for COVID-19 during reproductive treatment, as many times as needed, while the guarantee is valid
- one session of additional therapy, either acupuncture or massage, around the time of embryo transfer.
- first early pregnancy scan
- free private pick-up service on your arrival at the airport to transfer you to the clinic or your hotel in Alicante, Madrid, or Palma de Mallorca.
Are looking to just freeze and store your oocytes? You may be interested in social freezing that includes oocyte retrieval, cryopreservation and 2-year storage a the price of 2,000 Euros. For every additional year, you will pay 300 Euros.
The clinic also offers a “pregnancy guarantee“. This is a guarantee of a normal pregnancy or a 100% refund. Contact the clinic directly for further information about the guarantee and any terms and conditions associated with it.
For help understanding IVF costs abroad, use our IVF Cost Calculator. More information on egg donation in Spain is also available.
Need more information on the pregnancy guarantee? Contact Instituto Bernabeu
Who Attends?
Of the people who attend the Instituto Bernabeu in 2022, 40% were from Spain, 20% from Italy, 11% from the UK, 8% from Germany, 5% from Ireland, 5% from France, and 11% from other countries in the world.
From the staff
Personalised procedures, particularly in cases of poor ovarian response, implantation failure and repeat miscarriages mean we are a leading European centre in the field of Reproductive Medicine.
We are the first centre in Europe to offer a 100% viable pregnancy guarantee or money back package. Over 30 years, we have achieved more than 12.000 births and cared for patients coming from over 63 countries. Each of our six clinics are equipped to perform the most advanced treatments
Clinic Location
The clinic is located 1 km from the centre of Alicante. There is a free chauffeur pick-up and return to the airport service.
