Family AFFAIRS
ESTABLISHED OVER 30 YEARS AGO, LONDON FERTILITY CENTRE IS ONE OF THE OLDEST INDEPENDENT IVF CENTRES IN THE UK, AND OFFERS GAY MEN AND LESBIANS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO START A FAMILY
ABOUT LONDON FERTILITY CENTRE (LFC)
Our clinic on Harley Street was founded by Professor Ian Craft, one of the pioneers of fertility treatment. With over 30 years of excellence, LFC has pioneered many assisted conception techniques and continues to remain at the forefront in the development of fertility treatment.
When you visit London Fertility Centre, you will have access to the best minds in fertility treatment as well as “state of the art” reproductive technology to ensure you have the best possible chances of a successful outcome. Your care will be personalised to meet your individual needs throughout your entire fertility journey from initial assessment, diagnosis and through to treatment.
LFC offers the most advanced treatments and techniques to enhance your chances of becoming pregnant, including IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation), ICSI (Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection), IUI (Intrauterine insemination), PGD/PGS (genetic testing), egg and sperm donation, egg, sperm and embryo freezing and surrogacy programs.
The specialist team of Doctors, Nurses and Embryologists will undertake a thorough assessment of you and your partner’s fertility, before developing a personalised treatment plan that gives you the best opportunity to have a baby.
If you are in a same-sex relationship and want to have a family, LFC can help you achieve this. With many years’ experience in helping both male and female same-sex couples to have children, LFC has the knowledge and understanding of your unique needs.
EDUCATIONAL MEETINGS FOR GPS
LFC hosts regular educational seminars for GPs. These are designed to inform and support GPs about the developments in fertility treatment as well as introduce them to the services LFC offer in this specialist field.
EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND SUPPORTIVE COUNSELLING
The process of fertility testing and treatment can often be a stressful and an emotional time. Everyone can be affected differently, but many people experience common emotions such as anger, envy, guilt, loss of control, social isolation, anxiety and low self-esteem.
It is strongly recommended that anyone undergoing fertility treatment attends at least one counselling session at the start of treatment. LFC offer two complimentary counselling sessions, before, during or after treatment. You will find out more about the emotional processes involved in fertility treatment and realistic expectations of outcomes, both physically and emotionally.
Fertility counselling is designed to provide support to help you gain insight into fertility issues. It will not advise or guide you in any way and you can choose to have counselling together with your partner or separately in a confidential setting.
THE FOUR TYPES OF COUNSELLING LONDON FERTILITY CENTRE OFFERS ARE:
SUPPORTIVE COUNSELLING
This provides you with general support during difficult time in the fertility treatment process, such as at times of anxiety or stress, or if an unsuccessful outcome is reported. Many patients find that exploring their feelings and developing coping strategies can be beneficial. If for any reason you require more specialised counselling or support, you can be referred to a specialist in that area.
IMPLICATIONS COUNSELLING
Implications counselling helps you to understand the implications of having fertility treatment - on yourself, your family and for any children that may be born as a result. There can be emotional, relational, legal, financial and social
implications, and counselling helps you explore these so you can make well-informed decisions about your treatment options. If you are using donated sperm, eggs or embryos, or if you are having treatment using a surrogate, implications counselling is a compulsory part of treatment. Patients wishing to undergo egg freezing with the view to using cryopreserved eggs for treatment in the future are also required to receive implications counselling.
THERAPEUTIC COUNSELLING
Therapeutic counselling is there to help you come to terms with any difficult fertility situations and gives you long-term support if you find fertility treatment distressing or are facing the difficult situation of having to accept that fertility treatment may never achieve the desired outcome.
ASSESSMENT COUNSELLING
If one of LFC’s doctors has concerns about your or your partner’s emotional or psychological wellbeing, or the welfare of any resulting children, they may refer you for assessment counselling. This is to assess your readiness for treatment and awareness of the implications of treatment.
LFC also hosts a fertility support group, Fertility Circle, which enables patients to meet at the clinic once a month to confidentially share their experiences.
“With many years’ experience in helping both mAlE AnD FEmAlE sAmE-sEx couples to have children, LFC has the knowledge and understanding of
your unique needs”