Quad Rant, Author at Herts & Essex Fertility Centre https://hertsandessexfertility.com World class fertility centre. Outstanding success rates. Mon, 19 Aug 2024 12:12:03 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.11 Egg Freezing and the impact of age on fertility – by Dr Praveena Pai https://hertsandessexfertility.com/egg-freezing-and-the-impact-of-age-on-fertility-by-dr-praveena-pai/ Tue, 16 Jul 2024 07:36:09 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=5609 The impact of age on fertility and why egg freezing might be a good option if you want to start a family later in life.

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]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.12.31.png Surrogacy on BBC NEWS and BBC Breakfast https://hertsandessexfertility.com/bbc-news-and-bbc-breakfast-talk-about-surrogacy/ Wed, 29 Sep 2021 20:16:33 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3423 The number of parents having a baby using a surrogate in England and Wales has almost quadrupled in the last 10 years, new figures show. Parental orders, which transfer legal ...

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The number of parents having a baby using a surrogate in England and Wales has almost quadrupled in the last 10 years, new figures show.

Parental orders, which transfer legal parentage from the surrogate, rose from 117 in 2011 to 413 in 2020.

Two-thirds of applicants are now mixed-sex couples often in their 30s or 40s.

The report is by the University of Kent and My Surrogacy Journey, a non-profit organisation that supports surrogates and intended parents.

To read the BBC News post, please click here]]> National Surrogacy Week 2-8 August 2021 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/national-surrogacy-week-2-8-august-2021/ Mon, 02 Aug 2021 16:06:25 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3282 As National Surrogacy Week is drawing to a close, we would like to leave you with a few thoughts and helpful tips on Surrogacy, the most selfless and life-changing gift ...

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]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/image001.jpgAs National Surrogacy Week is drawing to a close, we would like to leave you with a few thoughts and helpful tips on Surrogacy, the most selfless and life-changing gift of all. Surrogacy describes the arrangement made when a woman agrees to become pregnant and have a baby for another couple. The woman having the baby is called the surrogate and the couple who will become the parents are known as the intended parents (IPs). Surrogacy is often the only course of action available to women who are unable to carry a baby to term themselves, and to same-sex male couples.   Finding a surrogate To find a surrogate can be a difficult start to this complex, long and challenging journey but there are fantastic surrogacy organisations available to help with this process. The responsibility for finding a surrogate lies with the IPs as fertility clinics are not allowed to find a surrogate on behalf of any couple/individual. However, these surrogacy organisations who specialise in helping IPs find a surrogate, also offer additional services to support throughout the journey.  The services vary greatly depending on the organisation. So it’s always best to check what professional support you will receive. It’s also key to consider things such as legal advice, choosing an experienced clinic, emotional and professional support, and how your journey will be managed including supporting the surrogate. * My Surrogacy Journey – www.mysurrogacyjourney.com * Brilliant Beginnings – https://lnkd.in/e_WAJav2 * Surrogacy UK – www.surrogacyuk.org   Finding an egg donor Once you have your surrogate and need donor eggs, we can offer you fertility treatment and help you to find a suitable donor so please contact our Egg Donation specialist, Caroline Cayley on 01992-785060 or caroline.cayley@hertsandessexfertility.com  “I can honestly say that it’s both heartwarming and humbling to be part of such a personal arrangement and to help grow families through Surrogacy,” says Sarah Templeman, Nurse Manager and Head of Egg Donation & Surrogacy at Herts & Essex Fertility Centre.]]> World Embryologist Day https://hertsandessexfertility.com/world-embryologist-day/ Sun, 25 Jul 2021 14:59:45 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3269 A Day in the Life of an Embryologist by Laboratory Director Lucy Richardson-Dunn An Embryologist’s preparation for the working day starts before we even leave the house – when getting ...

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]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image006.pngA Day in the Life of an Embryologist by Laboratory Director Lucy Richardson-Dunn An Embryologist’s preparation for the working day starts before we even leave the house – when getting ready for work we need to make sure we avoid anything scented on our bodies because the smells can affect the precious embryos in the lab – so no perfumes or aftershaves for us! We arrive at the clinic around half seven in the morning where we change our clothes into our scrubs, carefully tying our hair back in hats and donning special footwear specific for the lab, before thoroughly cleaning our hands – even prior to COVID, the Embryologist must follow a rigorous handwashing routine before, during and after our clinical work. Upon entering the lab, we will switch our low level yellow filtered lights on and check all of our critical equipment. All our equipment is monitored using an alarm system which is operational twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and linked to our Senior Embryologist’s mobile phones so we are constantly able to monitor our equipment even after we leave the lab for the day – nonetheless, we will meticulously check and clean all of our equipment to ensure it’s ready for us to handle eggs, sperm and embryos safely. One of our first jobs of the morning will be to look at the eggs we collected the day before to assess for signs of fertilisation. Yesterday, we would have either added sperm to our eggs to inseminate them via IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) or used very fine needles connected to a high powered microscope and micromanipulator to inject sperm directly into the eggs using either ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) or PICSI (Physiological Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection). This is an exciting part of the day for us! Once we’ve checked our eggs we get to enjoy another special part of the day – calling our patients to let them know how many eggs have fertilised, talking them through the next stages in embryo development, the plans for embryo transfer and giving them the opportunity to ask any questions they may have. Around the same time, we’ll be checking our embryos ahead of embryo transfer – another exciting time for us! The embryos which we have grown in the lab for five days are now known as blastocysts. We will determine how advanced they are and take a detailed look at two different cell structures – the first being the Inner Cell Mass (ICM), which are the cells that will ultimately contribute to the fetus and the Trophectoderm cells (TE), which will go on to form the placenta. The lab at Herts and Essex were pioneers at blastocyst culture, and using many years of experience, we will determine which will be the strongest embryo to be returned to the uterus and which embryos will be suitable for freezing, or ‘vitrification’. We are incredibly proud of our freezing and thawing success rates – around 95% of our embryos will survive this process. When it is time for transfer later in the day, we will use a glass pipette to carefully move our embryo into a new dish using our state of the art witnessing system for extra security for our patients. Embryo transfer is a super special time – we are able to spend time with our patients and show them their embryo on a screen that links to a microscope in our lab, so what our patients see is exactly what we see down the microscope in the lab. We will also give our patients a photograph of their embryo – what we always hope will be the first photo in their new family scrapbook! At around about 9am (yes, this is all before 9am so far!) we will start to see patients in our operating theatre for egg collections. It can be a scary time for our patients so it’s so important to us that we spend time with our patients before their procedure so that they know their eggs and future embryos are in the safest of hands! At the same time, we will be ‘washing’ sperm samples to isolate up to a 150 million of the strongest sperm to be used later on in the day for either IVF, ICSI or PICSI. Some patients will be using frozen eggs, frozen sperm or frozen embryos for their treatment so in the morning we will also be removing them from the freezer, which are large containers full of liquid nitrogen which keep our eggs, sperm and embryos safely frozen. Working with liquid nitrogen can be extremely dangerous so we have to undergo a lot of specialist training to do our job. Throughout the day, we’ll also be seeing patients for their semen analysis, or sperm tests. Some will be considering trying to start a family and having some initial checks, some will be looking at treatment options, some may be wanting to freeze sperm samples ahead of medical treatment or gender reassignment. But irrespective of the reason for testing, as an Embryologist we will spend as much time as the patient needs to help them understand their results and how they may be able to look at lifestyle adjustments to help improve sperm quality. In the early afternoon, it is time for us to help sperm and egg meet! This may be through IVF, ICSI or PICSI but after the procedure, the eggs are returned to our high tech incubators overnight. All of our job is highly pressurised – but when you so desperately want the best outcome for every single patient, you may well find yourself thinking about those eggs and willing them on, long after you have left the lab in the evening. As well as lab work, we will be helping patients source donor sperm, move sperm and embryos into our clinic from other clinics as well as monitoring our results, performing audits, reviewing new scientific advances – in addition to meeting and greeting our beautiful babies! Sadly, COVID has meant that the latter has been put on hold but we still cherish every positive outcome, every single much loved baby born and cannot wait until we can have lots of cuddles back in clinic! A day in the life of an Embryologist can be stressful but as a team we come together to overcome challenges, to make what might seem impossible happen and we are content that we are small cogs in a big wheel that is fertility treatment. Best job in the whole world!]]> COVID-19 vaccines, pregnancy and breastfeeding https://hertsandessexfertility.com/covid-19-vaccines-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding/ Fri, 14 May 2021 12:00:48 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3092 See the latest guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/coronavirus-covid-19-pregnancy-and-womens-health/covid-19-vaccines-and-pregnancy/covid-19-vaccines-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding/

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]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/image001.jpghttps://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/coronavirus-covid-19-pregnancy-and-womens-health/covid-19-vaccines-and-pregnancy/covid-19-vaccines-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding/]]> Mental Health Awareness Week https://hertsandessexfertility.com/mental-health-awareness-week/ Thu, 13 May 2021 11:38:42 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3156 As you may have seen on social media and in the news, this week is Mental Health Awareness week. Whilst its great to bring the topic of mental health to ...

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]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Mental_health-awareness-week-copy.jpgContinue reading this post from TwoDadsUK]]> Our journey to have a family started 11 years ago https://hertsandessexfertility.com/our-journey-to-have-a-family-started-11-years-ago-we-naively-thought-it-wouldnt-take-us-long-to-become-pregnant-but-two-years-quickly-passed-without-any-success/ Fri, 30 Apr 2021 14:09:43 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3165 "My AMH level was below 0.1 so I hardly had any eggs. We were shocked"

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]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Egg-donor-post.pngHerts & Essex Fertility Centre for never giving up on us. We are eternally grateful for all the hard work the clinic put into helping us and one day we will tell Kiki our story of how she came into the world. So, that’s our story... I hope it has given you an insight into what we as patients go through. One day we will tell Kiki that there was a lovely lady who helped to make our dreams come true by helping us finally become the family we had always wished for. I think if you want something enough you will try your best to get it. I would wholeheartedly recommend anyone to use a donor if there’s no hope of using their own eggs or sperm to achieve the family they dream of.]]> After I had my own children and realised how easily I could help others to have a child, there was no stopping me https://hertsandessexfertility.com/after-i-had-my-own-children-and-realized-how-easily-i-could-help-someone-else-to-have-a-child-there-was-no-stopping-me/ Wed, 31 Mar 2021 12:31:46 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3105 Egg Donation through the Eyes of an Egg Donor.

The post After I had my own children and realised how easily I could help others to have a child, there was no stopping me appeared first on Herts & Essex Fertility Centre.

]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Egg-donor-post01.jpgTell us about you and your family.
Our journey started about 10 years ago when my partner and I decided we want a family. As we were in a same-sex relationship we knew that we needed fertility treatment but we didn’t know where to go or how to start so we asked our GP about options but they could not help and to be honest, they didn’t offer any suggestions either, which was quite disappointing at the time as you would hope to get some advice from your GP. Nevertheless, my Mum spoke to a friend at work who recommended the Parenting Magazine and Herts & Essex Fertility Centre was in the magazine so we contacted the clinic straight away. At our first appointment, we heard about the Egg Sharing scheme where you get an IVF cycle at no cost if you donate half of your eggs so for us it was a no-brainer. Our first round of IVF did not work but luckily the second round worked. We transferred two embryos, which developed two boys, our non-identical twins, who are now nine years old.
How did you decide to become an egg donor?
After I had my own children and realized how easily I could help someone else to have a child, there was no stopping me. I have done at least ten rounds of egg donation and I believe ten babies have been delivered from that. I ended up in hospital twice with hyperstimulation and once I had to get a catheter for a few days but that was not enough to stop me from doing it again. The way I look at it is, what are two weeks of discomfort, being hormonal, and a bit of pain if you know you are going to help someone get a child. Once it’s done, it’s done. Whatever I went through, it was so worth it. When I found out that you can make ten families I wanted to hit that goal. As soon as I was ready to start another cycle, I called the clinic and said “I’m ready to go again”. The clinic thought I was crazy but it was nothing for me. I would do it again today if I could but apparently, I’m too old now.  I’ve donated to single parents, couples, straight, gay, anyone and everyone.
How did your partner/family feel about it?
My partner and my family have always been fully supportive of me being an egg donor. They all think it’s an amazing thing to do. When I was going through the treatment you have to inject yourself in your tummy and I even got the twins to inject me because they knew their life cycle and know they came from a sperm donor so I wanted them to be a part of it. I did all the treatments and donations while I was doing physical jobs and raising the twins. It’s just something I did, nothing major. This week, my dad found a note in my mum’s car with the starting date of my treatment, July 2012 and it feels like such a long time ago, I can hardly believe it but I never did it for any other reason than to help people.
What are the criteria for becoming an egg donor?
You have to be fit and healthy, under the age of 35 and they check your family background for hereditary illnesses, they test your AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) to check your egg reserve, your BMI (Body Mass Index) which should be under 34, blood tests, urine tests and so on. Nothing too scary.
What’s the difference between egg donation and egg sharing?
Egg donation is when you donate your eggs to someone else for compensation of £750. Egg sharing is when you get your IVF treatment cycle at no cost when you donate half of your eggs to the clinic.  I’ve done both, egg sharing and egg donation.
Talk us through the process of being an egg donor?
When I felt ready to start another cycle, I called the clinic to book an appointment and started the process from when I was having my period. The process is pretty straightforward - I went for an initial scan, started the injections when my body was ready for stimulation, I had a few more scans, took the prescribed drugs, they checked the follicles, and then we waited for egg collection day. I have always been very open about it at work so everyone knew what I was doing so if egg collection fell on a working day for me, they would give me ‘special’ leave so I never had to use my annual leave for it.
How long is the process from beginning to end?
Approximately 2-3 weeks max depending on the egg development. I never took any extra time off work as I didn’t feel the need for it so I just carried on as before.
What was the most challenging part of the process, both physically and mentally?
Once it didn’t work so it got pulled and it absolutely broke me. This was the only time I struggled with it mentally. I sobbed as I felt like I let the recipient down and I felt guilty. Mentally, out of all the treatments, this was the only one I struggled with. Once they got 32 follicles and another time it didn’t work at all so you just don’t know how your body will react.  Physically, towards the end of the process, I had a really sore armpit, of all places! It was probably swollen glands but that’s how I knew I was ready for egg collection. Strangely enough, the pain in my armpit was the worst. Even the catheter wasn’t that bad.
How do you think and feel about the idea that your potential children are out there and that you may/may not meet them one day?
I don’t think about it like that. I am quite matter of fact about it and see it as I have given someone the ingredients to have a child. I don’t think it’s my children out there. I have my children and if my eggs produce other children, they are the recipients’ children. If these children ever want to connect with me I would never turn them away but equally, I would not be bothered if they don’t come looking for me.
What would your message be to those who might consider egg donation or egg sharing?
I would recommend it to anyone. Do it. Don’t even think about it twice. Just Do It. If you have something to give someone that can help them, why wouldn’t you? If I could do it again I would do it in a heartbeat. And you get a nice cup of tea and biscuits at the end of it. 
The clinic and the staff made it all the better as you know you are looked after every step of the way.
]]> Kira’s Story – 19 yrs old and premenopausal… https://hertsandessexfertility.com/kiras-story-19-yrs-old-and-premenopausal-what-next/ Thu, 25 Mar 2021 20:00:01 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3179 My name is Kira, and I’m 19 years old. I have recently discovered that my body is working against me. This is my fertility story. My first question wasn’t why ...

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]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Kira.jpgAMH stands for Anti-Mullerian Hormone. This blood test provides an idea of what your egg reserve is at that moment in time. Aged 19 I expected my fertility to be in its prime, as it should. Not on the low end of the fertility spectrum and heading towards early menopause. According to my AMH results my fertility was that of someone in their 40s. What did I do wrong? I felt isolated as though I was the only person who had been given this shocking news. I was worried that this would be something I could do nothing about. All I could think about was what have I done wrong? How have I caused this to happen? I was told my AMH result and my future came crashing down. Did this mean I couldn’t have a biological family of my own? I had always longed for a big family and a house full of children, especially as I came from a small family myself. Would this mean my sister would have the same problem? Had I opened a can of worms for my family? Where could I find support? I remember crying and not knowing what I could or should do. Who could I turn to for help? My friends wouldn’t understand or know, I didn’t even understand or know myself as to what this all meant. How could I expect them to support me through something that I was unaware of? How would I be able to explain to family or friends later down the line when I’m ready to start a family but unable to? Where would I start? Despite being 19 and an adult already, I felt like I had to properly grow up. I had to make decisions about something I’d never thought about. I had to decide about how I wanted to have a baby later in life, at the age of 19. I wasn’t ready or looking to start a family yet. I was nervous about what decisions I was making and how that would affect my future… Would my future partner be willing to go through the financial and emotional worry and stress of Fertility Treatment? Would they understand why I had to store my eggs? Would I even get a good enough quality cohort of eggs to freeze in the first place? Emotional wreck A lot of emotions overwhelmed me and I felt lost sometimes. I think about how I could have gone through the next 10 years not knowing what my AMH was. It could have been too late to have children when I was ready to start a family. I should be grateful that I had the opportunity to find this out and to take action, but at the same time, I was upset with myself that I had put a financial burden on my family and myself. I had put emotional stress on myself, and my loved ones, and if I hadn’t known I would not have had to worry about thinking ahead and saving for treatment in 10 years' time or when I was ready to start a family. I needed to take action and take control of something that felt so out of my control.  I actually felt like it was controlling me, and it was. I can fix this… I was in the right place at the right time as I was working at Herts & Essex Fertility Centre at the time. I was able to access information quickly as to what would be the next appropriate steps to take and I was going to begin my Egg Freezing journey in a couple of months. I would soon start to preserve my fertility which may not be there in years to come. This sense of control and ability to make that decision helped me to understand what I was going through. My friends came to understand, as did I, that this was not my fault. I hadn’t done anything wrong to cause this and that actually many women go through fertility issues. The difference is some aren’t fortunate enough to know this in advance. Hope A collection of Kira’s Eggs Although 1/100 women face fertility problems, my fertility issues were found early enough. I was able to actively change my future and have a chance to have my own family one day. To be continued…   Also mentioned on TwoDadsUK website]]> Day in the Life of an Egg Donation Specialist – Caroline Cayley https://hertsandessexfertility.com/day-in-the-life-of-an-egg-donation-specialist-caroline-cayley/ Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:28:05 +0000 https://hertsandessexfertility.com/?p=3045 When I got the opportunity to work at Herts & Essex Fertility Centre, it was too good to turn down. From a personal point of view, knowing the heartache that ...

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]]> https://hertsandessexfertility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/QP-3089-Article-to-website-DILO-–-Egg-Donation-Specialist-e1617712518455.jpgth birthday, they must have a BMI under 34, be a non-smoker and have an AMH above 15. They must initially complete a health questionnaire to ensure there are no inheritable medical conditions within their family. This is important information which is shared with the recipient during the matching process. An egg donor can donate up to a maximum of 10 families. There is a chain of events that predict next steps – donor screening results take 4 weeks to come back and a donor can’t have treatment until she’s matched with a recipient. Only then can you start the treatment process, which involves syncing the donor and recipient’s cycles to ensure a successful transfer. Most embryo transfers are fresh cycles so it’s absolutely crucial to get the timing right of both cycles. To start this process, I talk to both donors and recipients about their characteristics - their ethnicity, hobbies, hair colour, eye colour, height, weight & BMI, what they do for a living, children, etc.  At the moment what I miss most due to COVID is meeting my donors and recipients face to face – this was very important to me as sometimes I could match donors and recipients instantly ‘in my head’ not only on looks but also on personality. It’s amazing but sometimes donors and recipients actually look alike. Once we found a match, we offer the donor to the recipient and give the recipient a few days to think about it. If the recipient accepts the donor, we share the good news and start the process to get both the donor and recipient on the contraceptive pill (if medically safe to do so) to sync their cycles. The recipient needs to be ready to start her medication to make the lining in her womb thicker on the day that the donor starts her injections to stimulate her ovaries. When the donor is ready to come in for egg collection, the sperm sample will be produced on the same day. This is when our scientists in the Lab will do their magic and inject the collected eggs with sperm to create embryos. Once the embryos are created they are left in the incubators to develop and then transferred to the recipient on Day 3 or Day 5, depending on their maturity. All donors and recipients must have an implications counselling session, which must be done before they start treatment. Since 2005, when children who were born as a result of donation reach the age of 18, they can contact the HFEA (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority) to find out more information about their donor, should they wish to. All donors are encouraged to write a pen portrait, which goes to the HFEA. For donors from their first consultation to egg collection, the whole process should take approximately 3-4 months. The waiting time for recipients is approximately 4-6 months for a Caucasian donor however it is difficult to pinpoint a timeline for any other ethnicity as there is a definite shortage of Asian (Indian, Pakistani, etc.) and Black ethnicity donors which means a much longer waiting time. I am a perfectionist so my job is challenging but hugely satisfying. Matching the right donor to the right recipient, followed by a successful result and seeing the baby nine months later is the best feeling in the world. My friend once said to me “You are playing God”, maybe I am but ultimately it is both a privilege and a massive responsibility. Once matched, my role in the process is officially over as my patients move on to the clinical part of their treatment in the clinic but they are never forgotten as I continue to follow their journey. My message to anyone who is considering egg donation, is that I would like the process to be as rewarding for them as it is for me. Once you make that important decision to start the process, whether you are a donor or a recipient, you will never look back. If anyone is interested in egg donation please feel free to contact me or for more information please visit: our egg donation page]]>