IVF treatment

The first step in the IVF process is a consultation with one of our experienced and dedicated fertility specialists – you’ll discuss your health and medical history and the options for your IVF treatment. You might also need some fertility tests, which will help us personalise your treatment plan.

You’ll then take a course of fertility drugs to help stimulate your ovaries, to help you produce mature eggs. You’ll have a specific and tailored course and dosage of fertility drugs, personalised for you.

During the ovarian stimulation phase, we monitor your progress closely to determine the best time for your matured eggs to be collected, and you’ll be told when to take a drug to trigger ovulation. A typical ovarian monitoring phase is 3-7 days.

Once ovulation has been triggered, your eggs will be retrieved. at your fertility clinic. If you’re also giving a sperm sample, we usually collect this at the same time.

The sperm sample will be prepared and added to the extracted eggs. We then monitor the eggs closely, looking for signs of fertilisation. If the eggs are fertilised, we then grow the embryos in the lab until they’re ready to be transferred into the womb or frozen for transfer in a later cycle.

When the embryos are ready to transfer, you’ll come into the fertility clinic, and the embryo will be inserted. It’s a straightforward procedure that only takes around 15 minutes, and usually there’s no need for sedation.

After embryo transfer, you’ll need to wait for around 12-14 days to find out if your IVF treatment has been successful. This period, often referred to as ‘The Two Week Wait’, can be challenging and it can seem like it takes forever to pass – remember that we’re here to help and support you.

You can take a home pregnancy test around two weeks after your embryo transfer. If your test is positive, you’ll then be called into the clinic for an ultrasound scan to check for a heartbeat. Throughout this stage, we’ll be here to support you.

According to the HFEA, birth rates from IVF in the UK have steadily increased over time with the average birth rate per embryo transferred standing at 24% in 2018, compared with just 7% in 1991.

In 2019, the years of study in HFEA Statistical release published in 2021, they found:

• Birth rates for patients under 35 were 32% per embryo transferred
• Birth rates for patients aged 35-37 were 25% 
• Birth rates for patients aged 38-39 were 19%
• For women 43+ birth rates were below 5% 

Of course, the likelihood of success with IVF varies person to person as everyone’s needs are individual. One thing you can be sure of is that our teams at Care Fertility will do everything we can to give your best chance of having a baby. You can find out more about IVF success rates at Care here.

As with any medical procedure, there is an element of risk with IVF. These risks include:

• Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (when ovaries become swollen and painful)
• Stress
• Egg-retrieval procedure complications
• Multiple births (the likelihood of having twins is higher with IVF)

At Care the health and comfort of our patients is of the utmost importance to us. We do everything we can to minimise risk during IVF, and we offer support throughout your fertility journey.

Patients undergoing IVF are required to take a few different medications throughout the treatment process; these drugs are associated with some potential side effects. However, for most, the chances of starting a family through IVF far outweigh the possible side effects. Some possible side effects include:

• Abdominal pain
• Mild bloating and/or cramping
• Breast tenderness
• Headaches
• Constipation
• Mood swings

For more detailed information on costs at Care Fertility, read our guide to IVF costs where you can find fee schedules for our different clinics, or read understanding IVF costs for more in-depth information.

Your treatment plan and associated costs will be discussed at your consultation – you can book your consultation with one of our doctors here.

The first successful IVF procedure was carried out in 1978. Professor Simon Fishel, who founded Care Fertility, was part of the UK team who pioneered IVF. Since then over 5 million babies have been born worldwide thanks to IVF.

IVF science has advanced very rapidly in recent years and our teams at Care Fertility have been at the forefront of these developments, helping to pioneer ever more effective treatments. We are very proud to know that because of our work, there are more than 50,000 Care babies in the world today.