Female couples

At this appointment you will meet with one of our doctors who will describe in detail the shared motherhood procedure; what to expect throughout the process; success rates for your own particular case and the expected outcome.

As soon as you and the doctor have decided that shared motherhood is the right option for you both, we begin to prepare you both for your upcoming cycle. We will also ask that you complete certain tests which are a requirement by legislation prior to treatment commencing.

It is mandatory that any individual or couple who is exploring the option of shared motherhood, attend for implications counselling with our specialist fertility counsellor. This is to ensure you have fully explored and discussed all aspects of this treatment with someone who has a wealth of experience and specialist training in the field of fertility counselling.

As you will require the use of donor sperm in order to have your treatment, this can be arranged for you by our donations coordination team. The sperm donors are screened to the requirements of the EU Tissues and Cells Directive and meet all of the standards that we require here. We use 2 sperm banks, Cryos International and European Sperm Bank,

During an IVF/ICSI procedure the donating partner will take medication to stimulate the growth of follicles in her ovaries. She will undergo an egg retrieval procedure during which each of those follicles are aspirated to try and obtain as many eggs as possible. The donating partner will be ready to go home on the same day and should be fit to go about her life as normal the following day. The eggs will be fertilised using ICSI and donor sperm selected by you earlier.

Once your blastocysts are created and frozen we can begin planning your frozen embryo transfer cycle. Embryo transfer is a simple procedure lasting only a few minutes. It does not require sedation and is comparable to a smear test in terms of invasiveness. During this procedure the embryo is placed directly into the uterus of the recipient partner by means of a catheter by the doctor. Any embryos which are not transferred will be kept in storage for you at ReproMed.