Advice | Guides, Developments & Fertility Tips

What is a Satellite Fertility Clinic?

Across the UK there are a number of HFEA licensed fertility clinics with high-tech laboratories at the heart of their success. As the HFEA data demonstrates some fertility clinics are more successful than others. The very latest HFEA success rates can be easily accessed for all the clinics listed here on Total Fertility, when this data is available. The ultimate goal for every patient is to achieve a live birth through fertility treatment. The chance of taking home a baby is a clear priority for patients choosing a successful clinic. Whilst this is clearly the most important outcome, there are a number of other factors to consider when choosing the right clinic for treatment. The location of the clinic can be a hugely relevant and important consideration. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic you could expect to visit your chosen fertility clinic to have scans and consultations with doctors and nurses prior to starting treatment and then several more times during the treatment c…

Male Fertility – What you need to know (Episode 8)

"Being a proud male, and having no kids at the time being told I had testicular cancer was quite scary. One thing I didn’t consider was my fertility. I was desperate to have family and wanted to have kids. These things need some planning. We plan all sorts of stuff in life; buying a house, buying a car, what clothes to wear. We probably don’t give as much thought to planning our families" - Steve Parry - Olympic swimmer & founder of Total Swimming “The difference between boys and girls is that boys are sperm factories, we have all the ingredients in our bodies to make sperm every day of the week. Some days we are good at it and some days we are bad at it. It takes about six weeks to make a sperm and as we get much older the quality does go down. Women are different they are egg warehouses. All the eggs are stored in the ovaries and made ready to go. A woman can’t get more eggs and she ovulates them each month until the supply runs out, so her eggs age with her.” …

Exploring Fertility Treatment Abroad (Episode 7)

"Give yourself the time to make this decision through careful research. Ask about different countries, look into different clinics and find the clinic that suits you best." - Mr George Christopoulos Mr George Christopoulos is the Medical Director of Ark IVF in Athens, which offers individualised, one-to-one, Consultant-led care to international fertility patients. George is accredited as a Sub-specialist in Reproductive Medicine by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London. During his 15-year-long career in the UK, he has worked as a Consultant in Reproductive Medicine at University College London Hospital and he is currently an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London. In this episode we will find out everything you need to consider when exploring having your fertility treatment abroad. We speak to an expert in the field with many year’s experience caring for patients choosing to have fertility treatment outside of the UK. …

Can I currently travel to Greece, Spain or Italy for IVF?

Last Updated: 29th July 2021 With the travel restrictions of the past 16 months impacting travel abroad for ivf treatment, cross border tourism for fertility treatment is starting to gather pace again as Covid-19 travel restrictions from the UK ease. Every year thousands of people travel from the UK to Europe to undertake fertility treatment. The Coronavirus pandemic has placed an enormous strain on travel globally and restricted many peoples’ fertility treatment plans too. Based on The Fertility Tourism Survey 2020 by Andrew Coutts of the International Fertility Company and its 527 respondents across the UK and Europe, people considered the following destinations for fertility treatment: Spain - 23% Cyprus - 15.2% Greece - 14.4% Czech Republic - 14.3% UK - 7.8% USA - 7% Ukraine - 4.8% Difficulties have occurred largely due to the uncertain and changeable nature of the travel and quarantine restrictions put in place by both the UK and destination countries due…

How does IVF work? (Episode 6)

"IVF stands for in vitro fertilisation and what that means is in vitro is something that happens in a test tube or in a petri dish in a laboratory and fertilisation is when a sperm and an egg meet and fuse and hopefully create a baby." - Dr Ally Richardson Thousands of people every year embark on IVF treatment. It can be a challenge, as there is a lot of new terminology to get to grips with in a short space of time. In this episode we look at all the different stages of IVF, and make it easy to understand how general IVF treatment works. To understand more about the IVF process listen to Ally Richardson (@drallyr), who is our guest and a Consultant Gynaecologist and Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery in the East Midlands. She has nearly 10 years' experience in the field of fertility including time spent completing research for her PhD. Ally is therefore well published and has given numerous presentations at both national and international conference…

GP Management of Fertility – when to get checked? (Episode 5)

“I would rather see people earlier than later but it depends on patient factors. So women who are older than 35 years old come sooner, women who have had previous pelvic infections come sooner, if your periods are irregular come sooner, so anything that is not quite right come sooner rather than later.” - Dr Louise Price

The first discussions about fertility usually take place with a GP. General Practice is there to advise and guide you with your fertility. Many people will never need to see a fertility specialist as there are many preventative early measures that can often help you to get pregnant. Dr Louise Price qualified from Bristol University in 2003. She completed 4 years as an Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist trainee before changing career path to become a GP. She has maintained her interest and passion for women’s health and became accredited as ‘GP with Special Interest’ in gynaecology in 2013. She went on to set up a …

Finding My Fertility – The Big Picture (Episode 4)

I could either sit there and think about what I’d not got, what I had lost, and the list felt very very long…. or I had the choice of thinking of what I had got, being grateful, and what I could do, what was possible for me. - Claire Lomas Claire Lomas’s (@claire80lomas) life turned upside down on 6th May 2007 when she became paralysed from the chest down in a horse riding accident. Claire fractured her neck, dislocated her back, fractured ribs, punctured a lung and got pneumonia. Luckily the neck fracture didn't damage the spinal cord but the dislocation to the vertebra T4 left her paralysed from the chest down. Claire was a Chiropractor and top level event rider when this freak accident left her unable to do the things she loved. Although Claire was determined from the start to make the best out of the situation there were plenty of days Claire struggled to even get the motivation to get out of bed. She discharged herself from hospital after only 8 weeks, did a l…

Living with Infertility (Episode 3)

It’s a very isolating experience to go through infertility, and it changes you so much when you are going through it. When I was doing my treatment it was like holding my breath. - Nikki Turner Nikki joined the Oxford Fertility team in 1995 as a fertility nurse and has worked at Oxford fertility for all of her career. Nikki has over 25 years’ experience caring for people with fertility difficulties and has led the nursing team in Oxford since 2015. Nikki always realised she wanted to have children herself but knew she may face fertility challenges as her husband Russ had previously had a vasectomy. They knew they would probably need to embark on IVF treatment to fulfil their dream of having a family. Nikki and Russ started their 1st cycle in 2000, and went on to have 3 cycles before welcoming twin girls in 2002. The fertility journey is not always smooth but Nikki gives us a unique perspective both as a patient and a fertility nurse. Listen …

Understanding Home Fertility Tests

Home Fertility Testing has become increasingly popular in recent years. Many of the commonly undertaken fertility tests are now available over the counter or purchased online. The marketplace is overflowing with different options from predicting ovulation to assessing your partner’s sperm using a smartphone. We look at some of the commonly performed tests and try to help you understand when home fertility testing has a place. In the UK around 80% of couples will conceive within a year of having regular sexual intercourse when a woman has regular menstrual cycles. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends beginning fertility diagnostic tests at this point if there has been no success after a year of trying to conceive. It is important to obtain as much information as possible about your fertility if you are having difficulties conceiving. Many people are checking their fertility early by using fertility tests that can be performed at home, rather than…

Covid-19 – Fertility, Pregnancy and Vaccination (Episode 2)

There has been a lot of rumours and misinformation about the vaccine and fertility. There was a Facebook post that got widely spread via social media channels about the vaccination causing infertility. There is absolutely no evidence that this is true. - Dr Ken Hodson Dr Ken Hodson (@ken_hodson) is a Consultant Obstetrician and Maternal Medicine specialist at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Ken is the Head of the UK Teratology Information Service and has been working very closely with public bodies to ensure that the Covid-19 vaccination schedule for fertility and pregnant patients is carefully considered. In this episode we look at the current evidence behind the Covid-19 vaccination schedule for those trying to conceive or undertaking fertility treatments. We also look at the effects of Covid-19 on pregnancy and whether or not you should have a Covid-19 vaccination if you are pregnant. Listen to the Podcast …

Getting A Head Start In Fertility (Episode 1)

…and then the doctor turned to me and said, “Jenny you’ve got a low ovarian reserve, which basically means you don’t have that many eggs”, and that was such a shock, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and remember trying not to cry. - Jheni Osman Jheni Osman (@jheniosman) is a science journalist and presenter. She has written and spoken about fertility for Science Focus and BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth. Jheni has two daughters born via IVF. In this episode we speak to Jheni Osman who has experienced first hand the challenges of trying to conceive and the ups and downs of assisted conception. Jheni is a science journalist who is not only passionate about the subject but also helping to make it easier for those going through fertility difficulties to get a head start by understanding what it all means. We are going to delve into the mind of Jheni who lived and breathed fertility for many years but came through it and was successful. Jheni has written the …

The Total Fertility Podcast with Dr Ed Coats (Teaser)

Our aim is to make your fertility journey a little bit easier. For anyone who has been going through fertility struggles or is facing difficulties getting pregnant, then our podcast is here to help you. - Dr Ed Coats When we came up with the concept of Total Fertility we wanted to try and level the playing field and make it easy for you to access important fertility information in one place. Whether you are choosing a fertility clinic for the first time, finding out about your entitlement to NHS funded treatment or exploring your fertility options we try to provide this. Over the next few months our first podcast series will look at how to get a head start with your fertility. We’ll be chatting with experts in their fields and tackling many of the difficult issues surrounding fertility treatment today. We look at Covid-19 vaccination and the current advice for people trying to conceive and explore the very basics of what an IVF cycle involves. We’ll…