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Reciprocal IVF, also known as shared motherhood is an increasingly popular option at Thérapie Fertility. It affords same sex female couples the opportunity to share the physical experience of pregnancy.
The process involves one of the partners providing the eggs to be used in an IVF cycle with donor sperm, while the other partner will carry the pregnancy when the embryos are transferred back into her uterus.
Reciprocal IVF is a unique treatment for same sex female couples – where one will donate eggs and the other will become pregnant. It is also suitable for those with trans partners.
Under the care of our team, the partner giving the eggs is given fertility medications, mainly in the form of injections to stimulate her ovaries to produce multiple follicles. Follicles are the small fluid filled structures within the ovaries, each of which will hopefully contain an egg.
The number and size of the developing follicles is measured by trans-vaginal ultrasound scans. The exact number of follicles which develop varies greatly between patients. One of the purposes of testing is to give you and us an idea in advance of how many follicles and eggs may develop.
The final preparation for egg retrieval involves a hormone injection which mimics the natural trigger for ovulation. Egg retrieval will take place 36 hours after this injection.
Egg retrieval is a minor theatre procedure which is carried out in the clinic under sedation.
A trans-vaginal ultrasound probe is used and a needle attached to the probe is carefully passed through the vaginal wall into the ovaries and follicles.
The ovarian fluid within each follicle is aspirated and then examined in the IVF laboratory by the embryologist for the presence of an egg. After identification, the eggs are washed and transferred into a special culture in an incubator.
While the egg retrieval is happening, your chosen donor sperm sample is prepared for use. In the laboratory, a concentrated preparation of the best motile sperm is extracted from the semen sample. This sperm preparation (containing approximately 150,000 sperm) is added to the dishes containing the eggs, and they are incubated together overnight.
On the morning after egg retrieval, the eggs are examined to see which have fertilised. Fertilised eggs (zygotes) are cultured in the IVF laboratory until day 5 or 6, the blastocyst stage, at which point they are frozen to await transfer to the other partner.
Under the care of our team, the partner having the embryo transfer will be given oral or injectable fertility medications to stimulate her body to thicken the lining of her uterus.
The development of the uterine lining will be measured by trans-vaginal ultrasound scans. Once the desired thickness is reached, the embryo transfer will be scheduled.
The frozen embryo transfer (FET) is a simple theatre procedure that does not usually require anaesthesia.
The embryo(s) are placed back into the uterus by the doctor by way of a small catheter inserted through the cervix. The fluid containing the embryo(s) is pushed through the cervix and into the uterus.
The correct positioning of the embryo(s) is confirmed by abdominal ultrasound, so the partner undergoing the procedure is required to have a full bladder for the procedure.
Under the care of our team, the partner giving the eggs is given fertility medications, mainly in the form of injections to stimulate her ovaries to produce multiple follicles. Follicles are the small fluid filled structures within the ovaries, each of which will hopefully contain an egg.
The number and size of the developing follicles is measured by trans-vaginal ultrasound scans. The exact number of follicles which develop varies greatly between patients. One of the purposes of testing is to give you and us an idea in advance of how many follicles and eggs may develop.
The final preparation for egg retrieval involves a hormone injection which mimics the natural trigger for ovulation. Egg retrieval will take place 36 hours after this injection.
Egg retrieval is a minor theatre procedure which is carried out in the clinic under sedation.
A trans-vaginal ultrasound probe is used and a needle attached to the probe is carefully passed through the vaginal wall into the ovaries and follicles.
The ovarian fluid within each follicle is aspirated and then examined in the IVF laboratory by the embryologist for the presence of an egg. After identification, the eggs are washed and transferred into a special culture in an incubator.
While the egg retrieval is happening, your chosen donor sperm sample is prepared for use. In the laboratory, a concentrated preparation of the best motile sperm is extracted from the semen sample. This sperm preparation (containing approximately 150,000 sperm) is added to the dishes containing the eggs, and they are incubated together overnight.
On the morning after egg retrieval, the eggs are examined to see which have fertilised. Fertilised eggs (zygotes) are cultured in the IVF laboratory until day 5 or 6, the blastocyst stage, at which point they are frozen to await transfer to the other partner.
Under the care of our team, the partner having the embryo transfer will be given oral or injectable fertility medications to stimulate her body to thicken the lining of her uterus.
The development of the uterine lining will be measured by trans-vaginal ultrasound scans. Once the desired thickness is reached, the embryo transfer will be scheduled.
The frozen embryo transfer (FET) is a simple theatre procedure that does not usually require anaesthesia.
The embryo(s) are placed back into the uterus by the doctor by way of a small catheter inserted through the cervix. The fluid containing the embryo(s) is pushed through the cervix and into the uterus.
The correct positioning of the embryo(s) is confirmed by abdominal ultrasound, so the partner undergoing the procedure is required to have a full bladder for the procedure.
The embryos that are created by the process are owned jointly by you as a couple. They can be used by either person for Frozen Embryo Transfer in the future.
Reciprocal IVF is the only treatment whereby a same sex couple can very physically share the process of becoming pregnant. One parent will be the birth parent and the other the genetic parent, giving you both a unique connection to your child.
You may wonder why we choose to do frozen embryo transfers for Reciprocal IVF cycles. The answer is simple. Sometimes it is difficult for us to synchronize the menstrual cycles of both partners, and this puts additional stress on the procedure. If we transfer fresh embryos when the uterine lining is not optimal, we risk losing those embryos. By freezing the embryos before use, we give ourselves the time to reach optimal uterine conditions for the embryo transfer. Additionally, it is best to confirm that there are viable embryos before putting a person on the medications for the Frozen Embryo Transfer cycle.
Sitting here with our 3 week old Thérapie baby, we cannot recommend Thérapie Fertility highly enough. From the very first contact we have felt like we’ve known the team forever. Every procedure & process was explained thoroughly. We have been treated with respect, dignity & empathy, never felt like ‘just a number’. The team are honest & realistic with the expectations & outcomes. They reassured us when we had anxieties about anything throughout our journey. There are no silly questions & the patient portal is a fantastic tool for communicating. We have already put some friends onto Thérapie as they look to start their journey.
Good environment and high-quality service.
From the very start when we reached out for some advice to today holding our baby girl, the staff at Therapie have been amazing! Whether it was after our 1st, 2nd or even 3rd cycle, through the good times n not so good times there was always someone at the end of the phone or email to talk things through with you. The first appt answered so many questions we had and from there on really helped us understand the whole progress more. Couldn't recommend them enough and have done to many of my friends and work colleagues.
Big thanks from Ariana and ofcourse from happy Mama and Daddy for great experience to all staff members of fertility clinic carrickmines from reception up to top !!!
We cannot speak highly enough of the exceptional care we received from everyone at Therapie Fertility. We first visited for fertility testing and chose to continue our journey with them through IUI and eventually IVF. Every appointment was met with a warm, friendly welcome, and over time we got to know all the nurses and Dr. Kennedy so well. Communication through the patient portal was clear and convenient, which made the process even smoother. We were incredibly fortunate to achieve success and now have a beautiful baby boy. We’ve already recommended Therapie Fertility to friends on similar journeys. Thank you so much for everything!
My experience at Therapie has been nothing but positive! All the doctors and nurses were absolutely amazing. I started my fertility journey with therapie February 2024 as a solo mother by choice and I couldn’t have chosen a better clinic to start my journey. Lisa the nurse in Galway was nothing but outstanding throughout my time with her. Her professionalism and kindness towards her patients and the communication via the portal always gave me reassurance on any questions I had throughout the whole process. I now have my beautiful baby boy and forever grateful for all at therapie for helping to make my dream come true of becoming a mammy to my beautiful baby boy who I welcomed the beginning of October 2025 🩵
Thérapie Fertility has been a place of genuine care and compassion from the very beginning. The team consistently offered thoughtful support, always taking the time to listen and understand our needs. Every appointment felt personal, never rushed, and centred on what was best for us not just medically, but emotionally too. Their honesty and transparency stood out explaining each step clearly, never giving false promises, but always giving us grounded, realistic hope. We always felt informed, supported, and reassured throughout the entire process. Thanks to their expertise and heartfelt approach, we now have two beautiful children something we once only dreamed of. We are deeply grateful for the way they cared for us, shared our sadness and our joy!
Me and my partner have nothing but good things to say about therapie fertility, from the minute we stepped inside it was nothing but calm, comfort and endless knowledge from the doctors and nurses! We were made feel very comfortable and we left that first free consultation with so much confidence, in less than a year from the first meeting we fell pregnant and now have a beautiful baby boy now! We can’t thank you enough!!
