Gaia FamilyReviews of gaiafamily.com

Gaia are so friendly, welcoming and kind! We were so so excited to hear about Gaia when we attended a open evening at Bourn Hall Wickford. It is the most amazing gift that Gaia can give to a person/persons, they put fertility treatment in reach for people who thought they had no possible way to ever get the fertility treatment they need to start their dream family. They email me regularly just to catch up, they’re always so friendly and kind, they also sent me a goodie bag with a book, pregnancy test, choccie and a note pad in which I appreciated so much! We’re so glad we found Gaia!

The concept of Gaia is great, however don’t go into it blindly. My partner and I (both women) saw Gaia being advertised on social media. We’re at the start of our fertility journey & so have been looking for the most cost effective / least stressful route we can. Ideally we’d like reciprocal IVF but are also considering classic IVF for reference. Neither of us have fertility issues. Gaia sounded great initially (love the concept), but after doing some digging into it - it became clearer that the service is not without its flaws. If we were to have 2 rounds of reciprocal IVF for example, the baseline cost of this treatment would be circa £18,000. If we were successful via Gaia after 2 rounds, we would end up paying £344 a month for 8 years. Total repayable would be over £38,000 with interest added. TWENTY GRAND in interest over 8 years (the cost of FOUR rounds of reciprocal IVF). If you need 4 rounds of IVF via Gaia, you will end up paying close to £700 a month for 8 years - total repayable close to £65k! Now if we were to go directly to the SAME clinic, they offer a 0% interest payment scheme. If the rounds fail, you will need to pay them all back granted, however the cost works out significantly less. 2 rounds of reciprocal IVF directly with the clinic costs £220 a month over 36 months, with 0% interest. 4 rounds, £440 and so on. It feels disingenuous from Gaia’s part that they dress themselves up as a lifeline for those that can’t afford to have IVF, but in reality, their service is only helpful if your rounds end up being NOT successful. Which of course is not the outcome anyone who is going through IVF hopes for. If you ARE successful, you will pay over the odds in interest rates and basically be struggling to pay your child off for 8 years. Gaia - I understand you have to make money somewhere as you cover those that don’t have to pay it back - but COME ON. Twenty grand in interest in just 2 rounds of IVF? Even though it’s legal, it’s one of the most unethical things I’ve ever come across. If you’re reading this and considering Gaia… just make sure you read the fine print and do your own research with your chosen clinic directly. Edit after Gaia responded: -> Gaia, the fact that your interest rates are not fixed is even more unethical. This means that someone with a poor credit rating or a lower salary will likely have to pay even more back than what I quoted above, to offset the risk to your lenders! We were quoted 19% interest (100k joint household income and near perfect credit history). This begs the question, how high do the interest rates go up to?! I would imagine those that need your service the most, pay the most. It’s great that you offer a no fee early repayment option, but honestly please think about your business model and its purpose. If your customers could afford to pay for IVF in one lump sum, they wouldn’t be using your service. Therefore I would imagine those that take advantage of this benefit are a TINY percentage of your customers - basically those that have known fertility problems and have a very low likelihood of getting pregnant (and therefore want to go via Gaia so they might not have to pay for failed rounds). However, the average joe is likely to use Gaia because they can’t afford the treatment cost in a lump sum and see it as a way to pay back their treatment monthly. So early repayment, whilst honourable, is genuinely irrelevant and not something that can justify your mega high interest rates. Once again, 0% interest is great whilst you’re having the IVF, but the ultimate aim of IVF is to have a child. If this happens, you’re then stuck with 8 years of mega high interest rates and piling debt. You’re kind of achieving the opposite of what I guess you set out to do - you’ll end up with customers that are subconsciously worried about falling pregnant due to the extortionate monthly costs and huge interests rates! Isn’t that totally unethical?

Using Gaia was the best decision my wife and I made. We were struggling to save up the £9000 that it was going to cost for our treatment - we are doing shared motherhood. It was also incredibly hard knowing that if the treatment failed, all the money we had saved would be lost and it would be an unknown period of time having to try and save again. Gaia meant that we were able to pay a fraction of the cost upfront, safe in the knowledge that if it failed we wouldn't pay anything further. The process from start to finish was extremely straightforward and payments were quick to be made to our clinic. Anything that we had already paid for that was included in the Gaia plan was quickly reimbursed to us without any issues. Lucy and Stella were fantastic and made the process nice and easy. We are only just starting our treatment but I know that we will definitely use Gaia for any further rounds. Thank you!

Gaia is amazing. The representative I spoke to was very friendly and thorough. After I submitted all of the necessary documents, they made the payment to my chosen clinic the next day. I would recommend them to everyone. Massive thank you to Gaia

I haven't started my treatment yet but till this point I'm very happy with Gaia family. I don't have words to express my gratitude and I'm sure with their help I will have my baby soon. The communication have been excellent, Lucy and Stella are amazing ladies and I feel their support 100%.. Let's start this journey together.

We found Gaia at the perfect time for us in our fertility treatment journey and it has been such a great help. There is so much information available on the website and the initial application process was very straightforward. The team are absolutely fantastic and will answer any questions you may have. The energy that they bring to the process is amazing and makes it feel like a very personalised experience. They will also check in on you during the process which really reinforces that they are there to support you and get to the ultimate end goal of a successful IVF round. Having other same-sex couple friends that would like to begin their journey of starting a family, I will definitely be recommending Gaia to them.

Gaia is a unique charity that helps tailor my dream to become a mother. They have the most caring, creative, genuine and reliable team who is supportive. Gaia is a patient focus centre that is committed to highlight patient goals, and medical history for their treatment plan. Without Gaia I'll be lost because I've used all my savings for IVF in the past and now I'm staring a new treatment plan with the support of Gaia family. My consultant is one of the most caring person I've ever met, she will be in my heart forever. They are always ready to answer any questions if your unsure about treatment programs from fertility clinics. I'll update you guys on my progress in becoming mother. Thank you Gaia mother earth for creating calm within me and for existing. Anastasia

The timing was so fortunate for us, we needed Gaia when they were new on the funding scene for Fertility treatment. Other companies did not feel right for us but once we got our plan from Gaia we knew this was the one. We were comfortable with the plan, it made sense and with or without a successful outcome we felt that we were the ones winning. Knowing exactly what we are paying before treatments and after if successful outcomes were to happen. The customer service is also worth noting, Lucy is absolutely on the ball with everything and always so thoughtful and caring. I hope as many people as possible get to find and use Gaia's services in their hopes to grow their family.