Complete & Affordable IVF Treatment

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.

1. Check Eligibility Criteria

Before we can begin your Essential IVF journey, you will need to check your eligibility via our website or by calling our New Patient Coordinator team. If you need tests to see if you meet our eligibility criteria, your New Patient Coordinator will arrange these. Female tests include an AMH blood test and pelvic ultrasound, and for a male, this includes a semen analysis.

2. Consultation with a Senior Fertility Nurse

A senior fertility nurse will take a full medical history and discuss the results of your tests so we can personalise your IVF cycle for your best chance of success.

3. Ovarian Stimulation

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

4. Egg Maturation

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.

5. 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.

6. Insemination of Eggs

The sperm sample is washed, prepared and added to the eggs.

7. Fertilisation

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

8. Embryo Culture

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 process of your embryos and advise when your embryo transfer will take place.

9. Embryo Transfer 

Our embryologists will select an embryo, which is transferred under ultrasound guidance into your uterus by our fertility consultants. Embryo replacement will take place in our specially-designed transfer room.

10. Vitrification

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.

11. Pregnancy Test 

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 pregnancy confirmation scan at 6-7 weeks of pregnancy.

There are some risks associated with IVF treatment.

• Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: When ovaries overreact to the fertility drugs needed to produce mature eggs. 
• Multiple pregnancy or birth (twins, triplets or more): If more than one embryo is transferred, there is an increased chance of a multiple pregnancy.
• Ectopic pregnancy: There is a possibility that during embryo transfer, it could travel to the fallopian tube instead.
• Possible birth defects: Further research is still being carried out to substantiate these claims.

Patients should consider these risks, and they will be discussed at your consultation. 

Time off work is a very individual decision, based on how you are feeling. Many of our patients like to take some time off after egg retrieval and after embryo transfer for instance. The best advice is to follow the guidance given by our team about rest periods, activity and your normal routine.