Wessex Fertility - Consultation Booklet

Fertility Counselling

Obligatory Screening Tests

WHY ARE SCREENING TESTS REQUIRED? Screening tests are a mandatory requirement by the Human Fertility & Embryology Authority (HFEA).

This can help you to adjust to and accommodate both the short and long-term consequences of infertility and treatment. You might find that you need support at different stages of treatment, therefore support counselling can be undertaken before, during and after treatment. How much counselling you have is dependent on your individual needs. Implications Counselling Implications counselling provides an emotionally safe place in which to reflect on and understand the proposed procedure, the variety of issues that may impact on you and the lasting implications for you and those close to you now and in the future. It takes account of, the welfare and needs of the future child.

WHICH SCREENING TESTS ARE REQUIRED? This is a summary table of the standard tests required:

It is an opportunity to anticipate and plan for this conception and family formation.

Counselling is strongly recommended if you are using donated sperm, eggs or embryos through donor assisted conception, here or abroad. This is a different way of creating a family and there is much to consider for yourselves and your intended child now and in the future. Implications counselling is routinely offered before treatment to enable you time to decide how or whether to proceed.

If you are undertaking surrogacy or are using a known donor then it is a clinic requirement that you have counselling prior to treatment.

Please take note that at times the counsellor is part of meetings with other members of the medical team, there may be occasions when the knowledge from your implications counselling may be required to factually inform the situation without releasing confidential information. If there is anytime within the implications counselling you wish for this to not be the case, it is important that you inform the counsellor.

PLEASE NOTE • These tests have to be completed and valid for treatment to commence. • For first IVF or IUI cycles, treatment cannot be undertaken according to HFEA regulatory requirements unless the screening was carried out within 3 months of the start of IVF or intrauterine insemination treatment. • For frozen embryo cycles the male partner’s bloods do not need to be repeated as they are valid from when the embryos were created. • Following the birth of a baby screening will need to be repeated.

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