FAQs

Currently, Essential Fertility offers Essential IVF, Essential ICSI and Essential Egg Freezing. Our Essential IVF & ICSI treatment is available with donor sperm.  

• Essential IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation): 

IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation) is a treatment for fertility problems. The technique occurs outside the body, where eggs are collected from a woman's ovaries and fertilised with sperm in an embryology laboratory to create embryos. The fertilised eggs (embryos) will develop in our specialised incubators for up to five days. The strongest embryo is selected to be transferred back to a woman's uterus to develop.

• Essential ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection):

For couples where male factor infertility is present, Essential IVF with ICSI will be performed. ICSI is a fertilisation technique used in IVF which involves injecting a single healthy sperm into each mature egg to maximise the chance of fertilisation in couples. ICSI is the most common treatment for male fertility problems as the sperm directly fertilises the eggs. Therefore, issues with sperm motility (movement), sperm morphology (shape), or number (low sperm count) can be overcome, giving men with sperm problems a chance to become fathers. 

• Essential Egg Freezing: 

Our all-inclusive package for egg freezing is a perfect way for women to protect their future fertility by freezing eggs at a more affordable cost. For women who want to have a baby but are unable to try for one at this time, Essential Egg Freezing allows them to freeze their eggs while they are younger when their ovarian reserve is higher and egg quality is better. It involves cryopreserving eggs using vitrification (fast freezing).

If you do not meet the criteria for Essential Fertility treatments our fertility experts will explain all the options available and recommend the best treatment pathway for you.

To ensure we provide the best possible experience for our patients, we have state-of-the-art facilities in South Manchester, accessible by car, train, and plane, a stone’s throw away from Manchester Airport. At our clinic, everything from the reception areas to our consulting and treatment rooms on our dedicated ward offers comfort and relaxation during your treatment visits.

Your treatment will happen in one place; you will not be asked to visit multiple sites for treatment.

Your Essential Fertility journey can start with just five simple steps.

1. Your Essential journey starts by checking your eligibility via our website.
2. You will then speak to one of our friendly, knowledgeable New Patient Coordinators, who can answer any initial questions, outline the costs of treatment, and discuss the available treatments with you.
3. Our team will arrange your initial appointments at a convenient time for you. These will include fertility tests to check if you are eligible for treatment. The tests can be carried out at any of our centres across the UK.
4. You will then attend a consultation with one of our experienced senior fertility nurses to discuss your test results and plan your treatment.
5. With the completion of your treatment paperwork you're ready to begin treatment and you'll meet your dedicated patient advisor.

If you meet all the requirements outlined by Essential Fertility but need to delay your treatment, you can resume within six months of your consultation without retaking your initial screening tests, as long as you remain within the age limit upon resuming. If you restart treatment more than six months after your consultation, we require you to undergo and finance these tests again to determine whether you are still eligible to proceed.

Egg Freezing can be offered to women of any age. Although information from HFEA, the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, does suggest that age can impact the quality and quantity of eggs.
 
At Essential Fertility, we provide this service for patients aged 35 and under, as outlined in our eligibility criteria. If you are over 35, you may still be offered alternative treatment options via Manchester Fertility. 

The Essential Egg Freezing treatment package was developed to ensure high chances of a patient getting sufficient eggs to freeze in a single cycle. If you do  require additional treatment cycles for any reason, your fertility nurse will always discuss your options with you to ensure you are happy to proceed. 

1. Check Eligibility Criteria:

Before we can begin your Essential Egg Freezing journey, you we need to check your eligibility via our website or by calling our New Patient Coordinator team.

2. Initial Investigations, Scans & Counselling*: 

Egg freezing starts with pre-treatment tests to assess your fertility to make sure that egg freezing is right for you. Tests include measuring your ovarian reserve, which indicates the number of eggs in your ovaries and your likely response to the stimulation needed for egg freezing. 

*If you would like to see a counsellor to discuss any egg freezing implications, we will arrange this for you.

3. Consultation with a Senior Fertility Nurse: 

Your fertility consultant will take a full medical history and discuss the results of your tests. We will explain your likely chances of future pregnancy so you can make an informed decision.

4. Consent: 

You will complete consent forms that give your consent for us to collect, freeze and store your eggs. Your consent forms detail how long you wish to store your eggs and what should happen to your eggs if something happens to you.

5. Ovarian Stimulation:

The first stage of IVF is ovarian stimulation. This involves using tailored doses of fertility drugs to help produce mature eggs.

6. Egg Maturation:

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

7. Egg Collection:

Egg collection takes place in our clinic theatre under ultrasound guidance. Before the egg collection, we provide you with a sedative. The eggs are retrieved from the follicles where they have been growing.

8. Egg Cryopreservation: 

Your eggs are cryopreserved in our laboratory using a technique called vitrification, a special fast-freezing method which ensures high survival rates for frozen eggs. Our Essential Egg Freezing package covers storage costs for one year.

Yes, Essential Egg Freezing starts with pre-treatment tests to assess your ovarian reserve and ensure that egg freezing is right for you. Tests, including an AMH blood test and ultrasound scan to give an indication of the number of eggs in your ovaries, can be conducted at one of our convenient locations across the UK.

The current legal storage limit in the UK is 55 years; however, you will have to renew your consent to store every 10 years.  There is also a £385 storage cost per year, but with our Essential Egg Freezing package, the storage cost is included for the first year.

When you are ready, your eggs will be thawed and fertilised with partner or donor sperm by the ICSI technique.  If you need donor sperm, we can offer you a wide selection of profiles via our sperm bank, Semovo.