Choosing a fertility clinic

For NHS patients

If you are being treated on the NHS, you probably won't have much, if any choice, as to which clinic you attend for treatment.  Your GP will refer you to a clinic, usually at a nearby hospital.  Sometimes Primary Care Trusts or Health Boards have contracts with private clinics, and it may be possible for you to be treated there.  Your GP will be able to tell you if this is the case. 

The Choice of Referral Scheme, which came into effect in January 2006, means you should have some choice of where you are seen when you are first referred by your GP for an outpatient appointment - for specialist tests to determine the cause of infertility, for example.  But your rights under the scheme do not extend beyond this first outpatient referral.

You can find out more about the hospital or clinic to which you have been referred by entering its details in the Find a Clinic section of the HFEA website.  This will show you their success rates for different treatments, and provide more information about the services they provide.  You can also look at the most recent HFEA Inspection Report for the clinic.


For private patients

In theory, you can go to any clinic which treats private patients.  To find out which these are, use our Find a Clinic search, and enter ´private' clinics in the search field.  This will show you all the HFEA-licensed clinics in the UK.  In practice, every clinic has its own criteria as to who they will, and will not treat.  These criteria vary from one clinic to the next.  Some, for example, may have an upper age limit for patients. This is not a legal requirement, nor does the HFEA specify an upper age limit for treatment.  It is entirely a matter for each clinic, and different clinics will have different age limits.

When making a choice about which is the best clinic for you, there are several issues to consider:

  • The clinic's location - how convenient is it for you to go there for treatment?
  • What services does the clinic offer?  Do they offer the treatment that is best for you? What about other services that you may want, such as a support group or free counselling?
  • Are you eligible? Contact your shortlist of possible clinics to find out if you are eligible for treatment there.
  • Success rates. How successful is the clinic treating women in your age group?  And how many women of your age do they treat? Read understanding clinic success rates for more information.
  • Embryo transfer policy ? clinics can replace two embryos at each attempt of IVF (or three if you are aged 40 or over and using your own eggs).  What is the rate of multiple births for the clinic, and how do you feel about this, and the risks associated with multiple births. Read our factsheet Multiple pregnancies: considering the risks.
  • First appearances.  This can be a deciding factor for many patients.  When you contact or visit the clinic, listen to your ´gut feelings' about it, and about the way staff treat you.  Ask the clinic lots of questions, so that you feel fully informed and comfortable with the treatment they are recommending for you.
  • What does the HFEA inspection report say about this clinic?  Our inspection reports are available on this website. They can be very useful in finding out more about how a clinic operates and the type of place it is.

Going to a clinic outside the UK

The HFEA licences and regulates clinics in the UK only.  If you go to a clinic licensed by us, they are bound by our Code of Practice, and we inspect the clinic to check that the services they provide are safe and appropriate. We publish our inspection reports and information about every clinic, its success rates and the services it provides.

Clinics in other countries may, or may not, be regulated to local standards and regulations.  These vary hugely from country to country.

The recent EU Tissues and Cells Directive sets out standards of quality and safety that should be met within countries within the EU/EEA. However, if you are considering going abroad for treatment, we recommend researching the clinic thoroughly and asking them about the standards of treatment and care you can expect. We have produced a list of questions to ask the Clinic, which you may find a useful starting point.

If your treatment will involve using donated sperm, eggs or embryos, ask about:

  • the clinic's recruitment and screening process
  • What screening processes do they carry out on donated sperm to make sure it is free from any infections? 
  • How do they recruit egg donors? 
  • What information will you be able to have about the donor?

In the UK, a donor has no legal responsibility, or rights, towards the child conceived using their donation. This is not always the case in other countries, so you will need to get independent legal advice.

 

Find out more

Last updated: 01 July 2008