Anova Fertility (Waterloo)

My experience at Anova Fertility Clinic has been one of the most distressing and irresponsible healthcare experiences I’ve ever had. I started with this clinic in July. As someone new to fertility care, I trusted them to guide me. Instead, I was met with silence, confusion, and constant neglect. After cycle monitoring and my husband’s sperm analysis, we heard nothing. No results. No explanation. No next steps. We waited for weeks, then realized that unless we repeatedly followed up, nothing would happen. It felt like we were running their clinic for them. When we finally had a phone appointment with Dr. Dixon, it was shockingly unprofessional. She joined 20 minutes late and actually said we were “lucky” she wasn’t hours late. The call itself was vague, rushed, and dismissive. We were told to lower our expectations and strongly implied that a natural pregnancy would not happen. Fifteen days later, I conceived naturally. That pregnancy unfortunately ended in a chemical pregnancy, which was emotionally devastating, but it also raised serious concerns about how casually and confidently such discouraging conclusions were given. After that, instead of clarity or care, the clinic began pushing expensive tests and IV infusions with no transparent explanation of benefits, risks, or costs. When I directly asked why IV infusions were necessary, especially when nothing in my bloodwork showed a clear need, the response was essentially that IVs are faster than pills. That felt far more like sales pressure than medical advice. I repeated another cycle in November. Since then? Complete radio silence. No results shared. No diagnosis explained. No care plan. We were vaguely told there is “male and female factor infertility” with zero detail or accountability. Yet after the cycle was done, no one ever followed up. At every stage, We had to chase them, We had to beg for appointments, We had to push just to see a nurse practitioner because the doctor was “unavailable” This clinic lacks communication, transparency, ethics, and basic patient care. Fertility patients are vulnerable, emotional, and hopeful, and this clinic treats them like numbers in a system designed to keep them stuck, confused, and spending money without answers. We have moved our care to another clinic, and the contrast is staggering. The level of organization, transparency, and basic competence elsewhere made it painfully clear how dysfunctional Anova’s care truly was. Even during the transfer, Anova failed yet again, delaying my medical records, causing unnecessary setbacks and stress. A final reminder of the clinic’s consistent lack of accountability. If you are considering Anova, be extremely cautious. Ask hard questions. Get everything in writing. Better yet, seek care elsewhere.

My experience and conclusions are in line with reviewer The Cottage below - avoid. I first became a patient with Anova in 2021 and over the last four years the nursing, admin, and other frontline staff have consistently been kind, patient, and compassionate. Unfortunately, I lost trust in the clinic and ultimately chose to seek care elsewhere. If you value transparency, accountability, good communication, and informed decision-making, avoid this clinic. There were problems in communication, billing, basic testing, attention to detail in the medical history, and informed consent that predated the events that finally ended my trust in the clinic that are too numerous to included in a Google review. Among them, double-billing and missing receipts; I asked to be put on the OHIP funded round waitlist in December 2023, but they failed to do so; wrong appointment locations; outdated and inaccurate information about donors; contracts were nonsensical and irrelevant to my situation (and more). In October, I had an adverse reaction to a medication in what should have been my first transfer cycle (in a follow up call about my care, Dr Dixon said I never should have been on that protocol in the first place, and blamed Dr Giffin for that error). An alternate care plan that I was glad to have and felt optimistic about continuing was then established. A few hours later, the nursing team called and told me I had continue the protocol that had harmed me if I wished to continue with the transfer that cycle. This was communicated to me through nurses at the end of the day, followed by a voicemail and an email that I experienced as patronizing and dismissive. In later conversations, Dr Dixon and Dr Giffin blamed each other for what happened, with no one taking responsibility for the mistakes. The chaotic decisions and poor communication disrupted my care, caused further unnecessary delay, and added to my costs (I was charged $1000 for 'choosing' to cancel the cycle that Anova so comprehensively messed up). I feel like a fool for wasting so much time and most of my savings with a clinic that (at a leadership and system level) is deeply dysfunctional. The clinic replied to my review posted on the North York location about a week after I last discussed the many problems encountered. The clinic can't give me back my wasted time and opportunity, but the 'well wishes' without any effort at repair is yet another symptom of their dysfunction.

We have had a terrible experience with Anova. At no point did anyone simply sit down with us to explain the range of available treatment options. They seem to push people toward IUI and IVF just through lack of sharing information about other, less invasive (and less expensive) interventions. They also charge significantly more for each round of IUI than the fertility clinic we are switching to ($1000 per cycle at Anova compared to $675 at the new clinic). They say $500 of that is for cycle monitoring, however OHIP covers cycle monitoring, so I'm not sure how they even get away with this. They are not transparent that you will have to go to Toronto for certain services, or if you need anything done over the weekend, or if their other sites are booked. And they do seem to overbook themselves. This month, I had to call them repeatedly because no one returned my calls (their voicemail says they will contact you within 24 hours). I called them 3 times over 48 hours only to finally be told that all their sites were fully booked for cycle monitoring going into the weekend. This would mean that we missed an entire IUI cycle just because they overbooked themselves. After pushing back, I was given a same-day appointment in Guelph, but they were running very late and I had to wait 40 minutes beyond my scheduled appointment time for a full bladder ultra sound (you try holding a litre of water in your bladder for an extra 40 minutes -- it's awful!). It took nearly 2 hours just to get bloodwork and an ultrasound, something that typically takes about 20 minutes. Apparently this stellar service is what I paid them $500 for. I genuinely believe being a patient of Anova has unnecessarily prolonged our fertility journey. It has certainly added significant stress and frustration to an already emotional and tender journey. They didn't give us enough information to make informed decisions, it's easy to fall through the many cracks of their system, and they overcharge. I STRONGLY recommend you find a different clinic.

After having a few unpleasant experiences at other clinic locations, I honestly had to push myself to give it another chance and I’m so glad I did! ❤️ From the moment I arrived, the staff here completely changed my perception. The front desk team member was extremely helpful and polite, clearly explaining the next steps and being fully transparent about procedure costs. The person who did my blood work made me feel comfortable and even made me laugh, something I didn’t expect during such a stressful process. Lastly, the nurse who explained the treatment plan, medications, and overall goals was incredibly supportive and informative. That clarity and care gave me so much confidence and understanding of what’s being done. Thank you to the entire team for restoring my trust and making this experience such a positive one! You truly make a difference!

Anova is with you until the end. We started at Juno Fertility which then became Anova, and they were nothing but helpful throughout the whole procedure prior to and after IVF. We have primarily been at the Waterloo and Guelph locations, but we did go to the Toronto location for a few appointments and the actual IVF procedure to take place. Dr. Giffin and the Anova staff have been extremely helpful and informative with this whole process. We never experienced any issues at either location that we attended. The IVF procedure was fairly quick, and everything we needed for the prep prior to the procedure, the Anova Team was there for us. I would highly recommend Anova for any and all your fertility issues, as they have helped us when all odds were against us.