Making the First Appointment

Following a referral from your GP, you will be asked to attend an outpatient appointment at the hospital to see a fertility specialist. They will be responsible for determining the cause of your fertility problem and the course of treatment most appropriate for you.

Where applicable an appointment will be made for a sperm test (semen analysis) prior to your first visit so that the results are available at your consultation.

Once your treatment plan is in place, an appointment will be made for you to attend the Assisted Conception Unit. This may be an individual meeting or involve a group presentation which is run by a senior fertility nurse.

The purpose of this visit is to give you information you will need and to let you get a feel for the Unit and meet the staff who will be involved in your treatment.

The decision to proceed with treatment is yours and if you do decide to go ahead a further appointment with a nurse will be made.

At the next appointment, we will do the following:

- go through with you the details of your specific treatment
- take some blood from you for viral screening
- ask you to sign consent forms for your treatment which will be explained to you in detail
- answer any questions you may have
- give you a prescription for your fertility drugs

You will then be ready to start your course of fertility treatment.

Support and Counselling
Fertility treatment can be extremely emotionally demanding, and it is important to understand the problems and difficulties which can arise, including the possibility that the treatment may not work.

The main reasons why IVF/ICSI might fail are;

- The ovaries might not respond to medication
- Very rarely the ovaries may not be accessible for egg collection
- An egg collection may not produce any eggs
- Eggs may fail to fertilise
- Fertilised eggs may not begin to grow properly
- The embryo may not implant in the uterus and a menstrual period occurs

To this end, our staff aim to support and guide you through important decisions with warmth and care. We believe that having the right information can help our patients through their treatment cycles; we are always happy to answer questions and can also offer you emotional support through our free counselling service.

This service is available as soon as you become a patient at the ACU and for up to a year following the end of your treatment. You may see the counsellor with your partner or on your own – whichever you prefer – at any time before during or after your treatment. Seeing our counsellor provides an opportunity to talk through your feelings and concerns with someone who is highly experienced in helping infertile patients, but not directly involved in your treatment.

Confidentiality
Counselling services are confidential; the counsellor will not write down any information about the session on your medical records, but they will note that they have seen you for counselling.

Implications Counselling
If you are considering one of the following:

- egg sharing
- treatment involving donated eggs
- treatment involving donated sperm

The counselling service is made available to you to discuss the implications that may arise from being a donor or from receiving donated eggs and sperm (gametes). There are complex issues involved in sharing, donating or receiving donated gametes, so the ACU insists that you see a counsellor before you consent to treatment.

The counsellor will explore these issues with you in confidence, without judging you or offering you advice. It is your decision. Please do not worry – your appointment for implications counselling is not part of any screening or assessment process.

Patient Support Group

As we know how emotional and stressful preparing, ending, or just going through treatment can be we have recently formed a fertility support group to cover the central Birmingham and West Midlands area. It is a small informal get-together and is open to anyone interested in sharing fertility related information with or from others on "The Great Fertility Rollercoaster Ride". So come along and have a chat. 
We meet on the first Thursday of the month 7-9PM and the QE Leisure Club "The Morris Centre".   
For more information on dates or venue contact us through the "contact us" section (top menu above).

Funding
As we are an NHS hospital your initial consultations and diagnosis are free of charge, as are follow-up consultations after your treatment. Some patients may qualify for NHS funding of their fertility treatment. NHS funding is organised by your primary care trust, who will decide if you qualify for funding. It is important to be aware that each primary care trust sets their own criteria for funding and some do not offer funding for fertility services at all. Check with your GP to see if funding is available in your area.

If you are not eligible for NHS funding we will provide you with an up to date list of charges at any visit to the ACU so that you are fully aware of the cost of treatment before you decide to proceed.

It is important to note that if you are funding the treatment yourself, you will be asked to pay at your consent signing appointment, prior to the start of your treatment.