FAQs

A person must meet a few requirements before they can become a surrogate. This ensures that your child and the surrogate are at no risk during the pregnancy. These criteria are:

• Be in good physical health
• Be a minimum of 21 years of age
• Be a non-smoker
• Be willing to undertake fertility treatment

The surrogacy networks we work with, and recommend, ensure the surrogates they work with meet all of these criteria in advance. 

The two types of surrogacy are Full Surrogacy, also known as Gestational Surrogacy, and Partial Surrogacy, also known as Traditional surrogacy. 

Full surrogacy is when the eggs from an intended parent or a donor are used to make embryos for the surrogacy treatment. Therefore, there is no genetic connection between the baby and the surrogate. 

Partial Surrogacy, or Traditional Surrogacy, involves an egg from the chosen surrogate being fertilised using sperm from an intended parent of the baby. In this case, the surrogate and your baby would have a genetic connection. 

Regardless of whether or not you use donor eggs for your treatment, you will still need a parental order. 

Yes, same-sex couples and single individuals can use surrogacy to have a child. However, to apply for a parental order within the UK, a process required to transfer legal parenthood from the surrogate to the intended parent(s), the intended parent(s) must have a genetic link to the surrogate-born child. 

As a specialist fertility clinic, male infertility is just as common as female infertility. What is essential to understand is that despite male infertility being relatively common among our patients, there are many options to combat it. 

We are proud to have helped many couples, single men or those assigned male at birth, who have experienced fertility issues to access treatments necessary to preserve their fertility or start their families. In some cases, these patients require donor sperm for their fertility treatment. In others, our team can use techniques like ICSI to maximise a couple's chances of conception. 

Often there are no symptoms of male infertility, which can be falsely reassuring. If you and a partner have been trying to conceive naturally for more than a year and haven't yet gotten pregnant, you may both want to consider undergoing a fertility assessment. 

Similarly, if you have difficulty with ejaculation or produce only a small volume of fluid upon ejaculation, this may indicate a disorder or ejaculation. Although these may be correctable, it may also help to know that techniques such as IVF and ICSI may help you start your family. 

If you have a reduced sexual drive, difficulty maintaining an erection, pain and discomfort in the testicle area, or a lump or swelling in the testicle area, we advise you to see a Urologist, such as one of our male reproductive specialists. 

Recurrent respiratory infections can sometimes be related to infertility through genetic conditions. If this is the case, we recommend you first see our GP for a thorough examination before you begin your fertility journey.

HS guidance suggests seeing your GP if you have been trying to conceive for at least a year or if other issues contribute to your inability to conceive. These can include: 

• Problems getting or maintaining an erection, issues ejaculating, low sex drive or libido, or other problems with sexual function
• Pain, discomfort, a lump or swelling in the testicle area
• A history of testicle, prostate or sexual problems
• A past groin, testicle, penis or scrotum surgery

In many cases, medical techniques and lifestyle changes can successfully treat or reverse male infertility. In some instances, male fertility problems require medications or surgery to correct the problem. In some cases, infertility can't be treated, and a man cannot conceive naturally. If this is the case, your doctor may suggest you and your partner consider using a sperm donor.

Our experts will provide medical advice on preventing male infertility and the lifestyle changes you can make to improve male fertility. In some cases, your reproductive health can be improved, especially if poor lifestyle choices impact your sperm. Male reproductive health specialist, Dr Vaibhav Modgil, had this advice for those looking to improve their sperm health: 

"If you have a low sperm count because of your lifestyle, the first steps are to wear loose-fitting trousers and boxer shorts, stop smoking, reduce your alcohol intake, avoid gym supplements and maintain a healthy weight and diet to maximise your fertility. 

If you are sexually active, make sure you're regularly getting screened for sexually transmitted infections, as left untreated, infections like chlamydia or other STIs can impact your fertility.

If you work from home, you should also avoid leaving your laptop on your knee or in your lap, try not to carry your mobile phone in your trouser pocket, avoid long soaks in a hot bath, sauna or steam room, and do not use a seat heater in your car because increased temperatures can affect the production of your sperm."

Manchester Fertility offers expert doctors who are leaders in male reproductive health, specialising in male fertility health problems and treating male infertility.

• Mr Vaibhav Modgil - Consultant Urological Surgeon and Andrologist:Vaibhav is one of the UKs highest volume male sexual and reproductive health surgeons. He completed specialist fellowships at the world-renowned University College London Hospitals as well as one of Australia's largest teaching hospitals. He is the male infertility lead at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. Having published widely in the area, he is the specialty lead for male sexual and reproductive health research at the British Association of Urological Surgeons and a member of the specialist interest group in Andrology for the British Fertility Society. He is also the Andrology section Editor for the Journal of Clinical Urology.

• Consultant Urological Surgeon Mr Steve Bromage - Consultant Urological Surgeon , MBBS FRCS (Urol):Steve is an experienced male fertility consultant. He is highly-skilled in microscopic surgery and has been involved in male fertility research, as a member of the British Fertility Society and a reviewer for the International Journal of Andrology.

There are three key factors our andrologists will look for when analysing your sperm, these are: 

• Sperm motility: Sometimes referred to as mobility, motility measures how well your sperm can move. Slow-moving sperm or sperm with poor movement may struggle to reach an egg.
• Sperm morphology: Morphology is the shape of your sperm. When examining your sample, we check to see if your sperm are abnormally shaped as they can have difficulty penetrating or reaching the egg.
• Sperm count: Your sperm count measures how many sperm you have in your semen sample, if there are too few sperm, or no sperm at all, this could be cause for concern.  

Any combination of these things may indicate an underlying fertility condition, which our specialists can work to diagnose. 

Many factors can impact your sperm health, such as what you eat or drink, the amount you exercise, if you smoke, drink alcohol or take recreational drugs. Although your body produces new sperm every day, these sperm will take around three months to mature. As your body is constantly replenishing your sperm, you'll need to be making positive lifestyle changes for at least three months to see the benefit to your sperm health. 

A few changes you can make are: 

• Being More Active and Improving Your Diet
• Drink Less Alcohol and Don't Smoke
• Avoid Environmental Stressors 
• Look After Your Mental Health and Avoid Stress

When you receive the results of your semen analysis, your consultant can advise you on any changes you can make to improve your sperm health, where possible. 

Usually, sperm density ranges from around 15 million to over 200 million sperm per millilitre of semen. If your sperm count is lower than 15 million per millilitre, we would usually classify this as a 'low' sperm count. However, lifestyle changes are sufficient for some people to raise this number. 

Sperm disorders are considered the most common cause of infertility in men and are defined as poor-quality semen, the fluid containing sperm that's ejaculated during sex. There are many possible reasons for abnormal semen, including; environmental factors such as smoking or alcohol, a varicose vein around the testis (varicocele) or a previous infection. Sometimes there can be a very low sperm count or no sperm at all in the ejaculate. In these cases, there may still be healthy sperm in the testis that can be retrieved.

Usually, there are no symptoms of abnormal sperm counts. However, some people have related reproductive issues and present with the following symptoms:  

• Problems with sexual function — for example, low sex drive or difficulty maintaining an erection (erectile dysfunction)
• Pain, swelling or a lump in the testicle area
• Decreased facial or body hair or other signs of a chromosome or hormone abnormality

Yes, men, too, can be affected by unexplained fertility. In the UK, unexplained infertility accounts for around 1 in 4 cases. This is when no cause can be identified in either partner. If a cause for your fertility problems has not been found, talk to your doctor about the next steps. The NICE has guidance with more information regarding unexplained infertility.

If you are found to have an issue with your fertility, our team of male reproductive health specialists will be able to diagnose the cause and advise you on the next steps for your treatment.

You may be diagnosed with a sperm disorder, which is by far the most commonly diagnosed cause of male infertility, followed by structural problems. Sometimes we cannot find a reason for male infertility, which we usually categorise as unexplained infertility. A sperm disorder could be caused by a diverse range of reasons, such as:

• Prescribed drugs such as chemotherapy
• Recreational drugs (cannabis, cocaine),
• Smoking or excessive alcohol intake
• Hormonal imbalances (thyroid/ prolactin)
• Previous testicular infection, injury or surgery
• Raised scrotal temperatures, including varicoceles or recent febrile illness
• Genetic problems

Male reproductive health specialist, Mr Steve Bromage, had this to say on correctable causes of male infertility- "One of the commonest correctable causes for male infertility is a varicocele. These often cause no symptoms and can be missed unless properly examined by a male fertility expert. There are many men that I have seen who have undergone IVF treatment with their partner who could have had sperm production improved by varicocele treatment and may have conceived naturally following this or had better chances of success with IVF."

Obstruction to the flow of sperm can cause infertility and may be due to infection, surgery, injury or genetic concerns. This includes patients who were born with blocked ducts or missing tubes.

If you are assigned male at birth (AMAB) and have transitioned, or are planning to transition, hormone replacement therapy and genetic affirmation surgery can affect the quality of your sperm.

You'll get an accurate measure of your sperm count on a typical day when you undergo a semen analysis. Our embryologists measure not only the morphology (shape) and motility (movement) of your sperm but also the number present in your sample. 

Usually, sperm density ranges from around 15 million to over 200 million sperm per millilitre of semen. If your sperm count is lower than 15 million per millilitre, we would usually classify this as a 'low' sperm count. However, lifestyle changes are sufficient for some people to raise this number. 

Sperm disorders are the most commonly diagnosed cause of male infertility, which may result from environmental factors such as smoking or anatomical factors such as a varicose vein (varicocele). There may also be structural problems or other characteristics that cannot be diagnosed – which we usually categorise as unexplained infertility.

Male infertility is diagnosed by performing a full assessment of a man's fertility to treat the root cause of the concern through a series of tests we call a Male Fertility Assessment.

A Male Fertility test or assessment is exactly as it sounds ‒ we assess both your sperm health and your general fertility. The process includes the following: 

• Semen analysis
• Testicular ultrasound scan
• Hormone blood tests (FSH, LH & Testosterone), if necessary
• Height, weight & BMI
• Blood pressure
• Consultation with Male Reproductive Health Specialist

This will give our specialist male reproductive health consultant a broad understanding of your fertility and inform them of any further testing or treatments you may want to consider. 

Often, there will be more than one underlying cause behind a couple's fertility problems, so it's always best to consult with a professional and try several different tests to determine the cause of infertility.