Dr Natalia Szlarb graduated 2002 at the Pomeranian Medical School in Szczecin. Afterwards she obtained a medical resident place in Germany where she finished her training in gynaecology and worked as a medical director of gynaecology. In 2011 Dr Szlarb obtained her PhD diploma in Immunology in the United States of America. Since 2013 she has been working in Spanish Fertility Clinics and now at UR Vistahermosa. Dr Szlarb speaks fluent English, Polish, German, Spanish and Russian.
1. What made you come to Spain to work as a Fertility Specialist?
I choose Spain, because thanks to the advanced laws about Reproductive Medicine in Spain, it is one of the European countries with more treatment options. Everyone can get access to treatments of Reproduction Medicine regardless of where they come from, if they are married or not, their gender, or sexual orientation. Unmarried couples, single women and female couples can become parents thanks to all the different treatment options clinics like ours, UR Vistahermosa, can offer them.
2. What would you recommend patients who are thinking about going abroad for a Fertility treatment, but don’t know where to start?
First, I would recommend getting a second opinion, through a first consultation via video call or at a Fertility Clinic abroad. You already know what your doctors at home think and can offer you, so now it is time to discover what treatment options there are outside your country. In a first free video call with a previous online questionnaire, we always get to know the patients and their story, afterwards we explain what treatment and test options we can offer them, we also answer all the questions they have, so once they have all the information they need, they can take the best decision comparing all the different possibilities.
If you are interested in a first free consultation with Dr Szlarb or another Fertility Specialist, please don’t doubt to contact us here
3. What is better: frozen or fresh eggs?
Both are good, it normally doesn’t matter. It was also confirmed by several studies, that proved no statistical differences in fertilisation rates between vitrified and fresh oocytes. At our clinic we work the technique of vitrification that significantly minimises the cellular damage. The HLA Vistahermosa Reproduction Unit is one of the centres in Spain to first abandon, years ago, the classic freezing method to only use the vitrification of embryos.
4. When would you recommend a treatment with egg donation?
I would recommend a treatment with egg donation for patients at any age, who have a low ovarian reserve, genetical problems or for those who have been through many unsuccessful IVF-treatments in their home country. It is a treatment with eggs from an anonymous donor, who undergoes many tests and protocols before being able to donate. Thanks to that this treatment has high success rates and is an option I often recommend.
5. What makes treatments with egg donation at UR Vistahermosa special?
HLA Vistahermosa is a private hospital with a lot of tradition and experience. At the UR we do not only offer patients the most advanced treatment options and techniques and a team of experienced Fertility Experts, but also all the conveniences a private hospital can offer them: analytics, tests, scans, dietitian and much more, without having to leave our facilities.
6. What do you think about Epigenetic?
I have seen it in many cases of treatments with egg donation. There have been cases where one donor donated twice, for both an English and a German patient. In the case of the German patient, the baby looked like a perfect German citizen and in the case of the English patient the baby looked like a perfect English citizen. So yes, I believe that the birthmother has an influence on the phenotype of the baby. An important part of the treatment with donor eggs is the very critical search of the donor, where we literally look for the patient’s “twin”, to assure from the beginning a very similar phenotype. There are several studies and continuous advances on the topic that give further explanations. We also have to remember that it is the environment a baby grows up in, that make them into the adult they will become one day, not the eggs.
7. Embryo donation, who would you recommend it to?
I would recommend it to strong independent single women with a wish of motherhood or couples who have been through many unsuccessful fertility treatments. Embryo donation is one of the treatments with higher success rates. We usually transfer a single embryo, because the success rate exceeds the 60% in a first attempt regardless the woman’s age. The only requirement is to have a normal uterus and have good health.
8. What do you love most about your job?
My Patients. I just love to make dreams of motherhood come true. I love to my patients achieve their desired pregnancy and their smiles once they hold their baby in their arms.
If you would like to have a first free consultation with Dr Szlarb or another Fertility Specialist at UR Vistahermosa, please don’t doubt to contact us here
