Fertility guide for male couples & single men

Fertility guide for male couples & single men

Surrogacy expertise and UK donor eggs for surrogate use.

If you are in a gay relationship and ready to have a family with your partner, or are a single man and want to have a baby, you can have gestational or straight surrogacy treatment at Manchester Fertility.

Surrogacy is a very personal and sensitive journey for everyone involved. We have many years of expertise supporting couples, men and their surrogates through treatment, ensuring it is a positive, informed and inclusive process.

Gestational surrogacy treatment

Gestational or ‘host’ surrogacy uses donor eggs to help you have your baby.

You can choose your ideal egg donor from our UK donor egg bank. The donor eggs are then fertilised with your sperm.

The best embryo is transferred to your surrogate, who carries the baby and gives birth for you. Your surrogate is not biologically related to your baby. 

Our donor egg bank
Gestational surrogacy treatment

Straight surrogacy treatment

If your surrogate is happy to use her own eggs to help you have a baby, you will have what is known as Straight Surrogacy treatment.

Your surrogate will undergo IUI or IVF with us and her eggs will be fertilised with your sperm.

You and your surrogate are the biological parents of your baby.

IVF Treatment
Straight surrogacy treatment

Do you already know your surrogate?

Many couples and men find their own surrogate, often a friend or family member who is willing to help.

This can make treatment even more special, but it also has unique implications.

Although Manchester Fertility does not find you your surrogate, we are highly experienced in helping couples and their known surrogates through the treatment process, providing tailored support and guidance that is essential when you have a family with the help of someone you know.

Do you already know your surrogate?

Our support: What you can expect

Finding a surrogate

If you need help to find a surrogate, we can put you in touch with COTS, an organisation which helps to match surrogates through its Triangle scheme. We will also advise you on the different stages of treatment and what your surrogate can expect. 

Surrogate health checks

Our fertility specialists will meet with you and your surrogate. We will need to make sure your surrogate is healthy and is able to carry and give birth to your baby, and that she understands what is expected of her.

Counselling

All patients and surrogates undergo counselling, separately and together, with our expert team before treatment starts. It is crucial that everyone understands the implications of surrogacy before proceeding with treatment.

The importance of legal advice

Surrogacy involves complex legal issues, including the fact that your surrogate is the legal mother at birth regardless of the type of surrogacy treatment, and the need for Parental Orders for you and your partner to become the legal parents of any child born.

All patients and surrogates must take independent professional legal advice before treatment can begin. 

We can put you in touch with a Laytons, a specialist legal parenthood firm who can provide you with relevant and practical advice.

The importance of legal advice

Learning Centre

Find out more about using an egg donor to have your family and our LGBT expertise in the blog section of our Learning Centre.

Learning Centre
Learning Centre

FAQs

How can I get an appointment with Manchester Fertility?

You do not need a referral for an appointment with us. You can self-refer.

How do we find the best fertility clinic for us?

Firstly visit the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s website (HFEA) for a list of registered clinics local to you. Then ring up the fertility clinic and ask for brochures or information, or visit the clinic’s website. Don’t be afraid to go and tour the clinic. At Manchester Fertility you can book in for an informal, free 'one-to-one' appointment so that you can come and visit us, our friendly team will be on hand to answer any questions you might have.

How much does IVF or fertility treatment cost?

IVF costs vary depending on which clinic you choose. You will need to pay for the initial consultation, any pre-treatment tests or scans, and then for the actual treatment itself and any necessary medications. For more details, see our prices page

I’m in a same-sex relationship and we would like to have a family. Can you help us?

Yes, we welcome many same-sex couples through our doors for pregnancy help, in fact we have a great reputation for it - whether you need treatment with donor sperm or donor eggs. For information about the fertility treatments we offer to help you, visit our donation section

I already have a child but I am having problems getting pregnant again. Is there something wrong with me?

Secondary infertility – the inability to have a second or third child despite have a successful pregnancy before – is not uncommon. But you may be worrying over nothing. Remember, infertility isn’t defined until you have been having regular, unprotected intercourse for up to two years without falling pregnant, so it could just be that this time it’s taking longer than before to conceive. Your age could also be a factor, remember that fertility starts to decline from age 30 onwards and even more so from age 35. But if you think you need fertility help, don’t hesitate seeing your GP or contact us,

Can I get IVF treatment on the NHS?

The provision of IVF treatment varies across the country, and often depends on local NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) policies.

ICBs may have additional criteria you need to meet before you can have IVF on the NHS, such as:

  • not having any children already, from both your current and any previous relationships
  • being a healthy weight
  • not smoking
  • falling into a certain age range (for example, some ICBs only fund treatment for women under 35)

Ask your GP or contact your local integrated care board (ICB) to find out whether NHS-funded IVF treatment is available in your area.

Do you offer fertility treatment via the NHS?

No, we do not offer fertility treatment on the NHS as we are a wholly private fertility clinic. However certain Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will consider allowing you to transfer the funding for your NHS IVF cycles to us. If you’re eligible for fertility treatment on the NHS, you may be able to Transferring your NHS funded IVF treatment unit but would firstly need to discuss this with your CCG.  More information can be found from Fertility Network UK.

I want to get pregnant but I’m over 40 years of age, can you help me conceive?

Yes. However, you need to consider the fact that live birth rates for older women in their mid-40s, who wish to use their own eggs to conceive, is generally extremely low. Your options will include ovarian stimulation, and intrauterine insemination or IVF. Dependent upon your individual case, you may need to consider using donor eggs to get pregnant. For more details, call us on 0161 300 2737. You can also read our Guide for Women over 40.

What hours are you open?

Being flexible with our opening times is vital for our patients at Manchester Fertility. We always aim to see you at times convenient to you. Our current opening times are shown on our contact page. You will always see the most appropriate staff member for your needs.

What is the EmbryoGlue Treatment you offer?

EmbryoGlue is not a treatment we charge extra for – we use it as a supplement to the culture media used in the development of your embryo in our laboratory. We started using it because studies have shown it helps improve the chances of pregnancy by encouraging your embryo to implant successfully. It is a culture medium that mimics the natural molecules and fluids you’d find in your own body if you were going through pregnancy naturally.

Your embryo is placed into the EmbryoGlue just prior to transfer – and the properties it contains helps the embryo ‘stick’ to your uterus. Once an embryo transfer is carried out, we can never guarantee it will successfully implant for pregnancy – but 13 separate studies have concluded that the use of EmbryoGlue, thanks to its high levels of hyaluronan, increases both clinical pregnancy rates and live births. And so we now use EmbryoGlue for all embryo transfers at no extra cost to you. For more information about EmbryoGlue, you can visit this link.

"We will be forever grateful to you for making our dreams come true."

Louisa and Matthew, Apr 2018