A typical IVF journey

Private and NHS-funded patients can be seen at most of our clinics. NHS patients will need to wait for their referral letter to come through before treatment can start. If you're a private patient, you can contact us at any time without needing to see a GP first.

Most fertility journeys with us start with some fertility tests, to help us determine the best course of treatment for you. We may be able to use the results of NHS tests if they were done in the last 12 months.

Specialist counselling is available at any stage throughout your treatment. Fertility treatment can be both physically and emotionally draining and counselling provides additional support should you need it.

At your treatment planning appointment, we'll explain your treatment in full and take you through your regime of fertility drugs and how to use them. You'll have the opportunity to ask any questions you have before treatment starts.

We'll also go over the legal aspects of treatment. You'll need to officially consent to treatment to ensure that parenthood is recognised legally after treatment. We use an online consent form which you sign electronically after watching some videos. If you're funding your treatment, this is when you'll pay.

Your treatment will start on the first day of your next period. You'll need to call us at the clinic to let us know and to receive instruction to start your treatment plan.

At the start of your treatment, a daily injection is used at home to stimulate follicular growth within the ovaries. This increases the number of eggs that are collected.

In most cases, this is a 14-day course of hormone medication.

A second daily injection is then added at home to stop natural hormone production and control when your eggs are released. This ensures that the eggs are available for collection during the egg retrieval procedure.

Pelvic scans will be performed to check the development and growth of the follicles in the ovaries. This will determine when the eggs are collected from the follicles. Once your follicles are ready, you'll take a trigger injection to mature the eggs ready for collection.

36-40 hours after the trigger injection, you'll have your egg collection procedure. A needle is gently guided through the vaginal wall to capture the eggs one by one. You will be sedated for this part of the procedure to ensure no pain or discomfort.

If you're treatment uses a fresh sperm sample, this will need to be produced on the same day as your egg retrieval. If you're using frozen sperm, from a donor, for example, this will be thawed on the same day.

Your eggs will be washed and assessed by an embryologist. Following this, healthy eggs are mixed with sperm and left to fertilise the egg naturally.

Fertilised eggs are left for five to six days to develop into mature embryos. These are monitored using an EmbryoScope™ which helps us select the strongest embryos for transfer. Any remaining viable embryos can be frozen and stored for future use.

If you're having a fresh cycle embryo transfer, we'll call you back in once your embryos have reached the blastocyst stage. During the procedure, a thin catheter is used to deposit the embryo into the uterus.

We advise that all patients wait the full two weeks before taking a pregnancy test. This is to avoid getting a false negative. We appreciate this can be difficult - you can call us at any time with any concerns you have.

If your treatment has been successful, we'll schedule a scan at the clinic between 6-8 weeks. If everything looks good, you'll be discharged to your GP. If the result is negative, we'll arrange a follow-up consultation to talk through your options moving forward.