We appreciate that this can be a very stressful time and that, making the decision to contact us can be hard enough. But talk to us. We are discreet and friendly and have some excellent people in our team who can discuss things with you at the start.

The female will receive a pelvic ultrasound scan to check the uterus is ready for treatment. If appropriate, the male partner completes a semen analysis. This will be more in depth than the semen analysis the male partner may have previously completed and will ensure our team are certain about sperm quality before embarking on treatment. On the same day one of our consultants will see you to talk through the scan and semen analysis results, take your medical history and discuss the details of the treatment they are recommending for you. This will include the realistic chances of treatment success, risks of treatment, and medication side effects.

If following your initial consultation both you and the consultant are happy with the agreed treatment plan the female contacts the centre on the first day of her next menstrual cycle. Our nurses will discuss with you any commitments you have in the next 3 months which we need to arrange treatment around and then plan your treatment dates. You’ll receive a phone call once this has been done at which point a nurse consultation will be booked.

Within 3 weeks of the start of the female’s menstrual cycle both partners will come in to meet one of our nurses to discuss the treatment plan and dates, complete treatment consent forms, and be taught how to administer the various medications. There is plenty of opportunity for you to ask any questions you have about your treatment and this appointment usually takes around 1.5 hours.

Once down regulation medication has been commenced the female will receive a base line scan. Routinely 3 further scans will be completed once the female has begun taking ovarian stimulation medication. This allows our medical team to monitor the female’s ovarian response and increase or decrease medication doses dependent on the findings at each scan. Our nurses will talk you through the findings at each scan and advise you accordingly. Scans are usually completed early in the morning so that the delivery of more medication can be arranged that day if required.

On the day of egg collection you go straight to the Day Surgery Unit. The consultant completing your egg collection will see you to answer any final questions. The female will be prepared for the procedure. We complete all egg collections under general anaesthetic which provides reassurance to patients that they will not experience any discomfort or anxiety during the procedure. Our embryology team will bring the male partner to the centre to produce his sample for treatment. Once the egg collection procedure has been completed and the female wakes up the Day Surgery nursing team will look after you and the embryologists will advise how many eggs have been collected.

Your eggs and sperm will be mixed by our expert embryology team and placed in an incubator. Dependent on the sperm quality the ICSI procedure may be required in which sperm are injected into eggs. If you require this procedure it will have been discussed with you at your initial consultation. The embryology team telephone you over the coming days to advise on the fertilisation of your eggs and provide updates on the development of your embryos right up until the day of embryo transfer.

You attend the centre for a 30 minute appointment. You will discuss the quality of your embryos with the consultant and the embryologists and then move to the procedure room where the most appropriate embryo will be transferred into the female’s uterus. The consultant will give you advice for the period following your embryo transfer and there is further opportunity for you to ask any questions you have.

Our nurses are always available to answer questions and provide support throughout what can be a very challenging period waiting for the outcome of treatment. Two weeks following your embryo transfer the female will complete a pregnancy blood test. Routinely we receive the result within a couple of hours and our nurses telephone to advise you of the outcome of treatment. If treatment has been successful an early pregnancy scan will be booked for around 3 weeks time. If, unfortunately, treatment has not been successful you will be offered the opportunity to discuss the next steps with one of our consultants at a follow up appointment and you can also be booked an appointment with our counsellor who can provide support.