Shared Parenthood

Couples meet with a member of our team to discuss their medical history, evaluate their fertility potential, and understand the process and requirements of shared parenthood.

This consultation is your opportunity to ask your fertility consultant any questions about your results, treatment plan or next steps. We recommend coming prepared so you can make the most of your appointment.

Both partners will be invited to a fertility test, which is a in-depth look at their overall fertility health.  The test includes AMH blood tests, pelvic ultrasound scans, blood pressure and height and weight checks for both partners.

Additional blood screening tests and enhanced screening for the partner donating eggs will also be undertaken.

Donor selection can evoke various emotions and psychological considerations. We will provide a session with one of our dedicated counsellors before treatment commences to help navigate the emotional aspects and guide the decision-making process.

The partner donating eggs for treatment will proceed with ovarian stimulation which involves using tailored doses of fertility drugs to help produce mature eggs.

A ‘trigger’ injection of fertility medications is administered to assist with the final maturation of eggs and loosening of the eggs from the follicle walls.

Around 35-38 hours after the ‘trigger’ injection, egg collection takes place in our clinic theatre under ultrasound guidance. The eggs are retrieved from the follicles where they have been growing. Before the egg collection you will be sedated by an NHS anaesthetist.

The sperm sample from your chosen sperm donor is washed and prepared. It is then either added to the eggs or a single healthy sperm injected into the egg using Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), approximately four hours after egg retrieval.

We monitor your eggs for signs of fertilisation. This usually occurs 16-18 hours after insemination.

The created embryos are placed in an incubator where they grow in the lab for the next two to five days. Our embryologists keep you updated on the progress of your embryos and advise when your embryo transfer will take place.

Your embryos will be frozen and stored, ready to be transferred under ultrasound guidance into the uterus (of the partner who will carry the pregnancy) by our fertility consultants in our specially-designed embryo transfer room.

Any remaining good quality embryos that are not transferred are frozen and stored. Frozen embryos can be used in subsequent cycles if the first cycle is not successful or for sibling pregnancy.

You can take a home pregnancy test around two weeks after your embryo transfer. During this time, you will be supported by our clinic midwife. If your test is positive, you will be booked in for your early pregnancy scan about three weeks later.