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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.
I had the most attentive and amazing experience with Thérapie Fertility from the moment I walked in for my consultation. It was incredibly informative, and I felt genuinely listened to throughout the entire process. The team made me feel reassured, comfortable, and truly like a VIP from start to finish. The procedure itself was smooth, and my recovery was even better than expected. I was back to feeling like myself within 24 hours. I’m so grateful to the entire team, especially the nurses, Dr. John, and Dr. Megat, for their care, professionalism, and support.
We started our journey with Thérapie in January 2024, after so many years of struggle and being let down by the NHS. We were terrified to reach out to a private clinic, but from the moment we met Amy at Dundalk clinic, we knew we made the right choice. It was the single most important and best choice we ever made. They treated us with so much consideration, compassion and support, and they genuinely care with every step in the journey. Even after our successful and our beautiful rainbow baby was born, they kept updated and wanted to hear how he was doing, how we are coping as new parents, and they just make us feel so safe and at ease. Another big factor in going with thérapie was their instagram. They post a lot of advise and information about their process (a lot of things you’d like to know to answer your questions) they continuously engage with all the parents they’ve helped, they do a lot of live q&as, they do fun themes such as making stories to add your baby pictures during Halloween, st paddies day, Christmas etc, I mean they’re all just unbelievable. You’ll never feel like a client but more meeting friends you’ve yet to meet! Yes, that was cheesy lol but yes I highly recommend you begin your journey and grow your family with thérapy!
The staff were and still are very supportive, understanding, and communicative during a difficult time.
We cannot recommend Thérapie Fertility enough. Our baby boy is now 6 months old through ICSI thanks to Thérapie which is something we once thought we would never have🩵 we recieved excellent care from start to finish. Absolutely everyone on the team is so kind and welcoming, which made us feel so cared for. We couldnt have asked for a better clinic. We highly recommended!
I froze embryos with Therapie Fertility earlier this year due to a complex medical history that may lead me to have difficulty conceiving in the future. Many clinics don’t allow patients with higher BMIs have treatment as they tend to have lower success rates, but Dr Kennedy instead had an open and transparent conversation with me about how my BMI could affect treatment, but ultimately allowed me to make my own decision about the risk involved. I appreciate that they understand how fertility can be a time sensitive issue and BMI is a long term and difficult battle. I did in the end have 2 cancelled cycles (risk of this was fully disclosed in our consultation) but on our 3rd attempt we had more success than we could have ever hoped for. We collected 19 eggs, 18 were mature, 17 fertilised and we now have 11 high grade embryos in storage when the right time comes. We are so elated with our result, although it was an emotionally taxing process and we worried after the second cancelled cycle that we may have no luck, but it was all worth it in the end and I am so glad I trusted the judgement of the team. Every single staff member was so friendly and supportive from day 1, it is evident they are a close-knit team and they always have smiles on their faces. It really does take a village and I felt as though I had my own little village in Therapie. I was very nervous on egg collection day but Ciara M, Aoife T, Hannah T and Katie K were so supportive and calming. Thank you to Dr Megat for performing my egg collection (thankfully I don’t remember a thing). Thank you to the lab team - Mariana, Orla, Andreea, Carolina, Isa and Carol. Thank you to my scanning nurses - Lucie, Becky and Aoife T and the other nurses helping me through the portal Niamh O, Aisling S, Lauren M, Jenny O, Amy W, and Lauren F. I know I’m probably forgetting a few, there are so many hard workers to appreciate, also on the coordinator team - reception and on the phones and portal. I can’t wait to see what the future holds but for now I have my little embryos chilled in the lab 💜
I cannot recommend Thérapie Fertility enough. I underwent treatment at Thérapie Fertility and the care that I received from all members of staff was absolutely fantastic. Everyone is so professional and caring. Going through any fertility treatment can be such an anxious time for anyone and every member of the team that helped me throughout my journey was a pleasure to speak to, so reassuring and made me feel so comfortable. I felt completely supported every step of the way. A special thank you to Gráinne, Kate, Leah, John, Megat, Melissa, Lucie and Niamh who took such excellent care of me. 💜
I honestly can’t thank Therapy Fertility both Dublin and the Belfast clinic enough for everything they’ve done for me and my family. From the very beginning of our journey to welcoming our son, and now returning with hope for baby number 2, every single member of staff has been nothing short of incredible. The care, kindness and professionalism shown throughout has made such an emotional journey feel so much more manageable. The team always made me feel supported, listened to and genuinely cared for at every appointment. A very special thank you to Dr Nosheen, who has been absolutely amazing. Her compassion, reassurance and expertise have meant the world to us. She always took the time to explain everything clearly and made me feel completely at ease, which is so important during fertility treatment. The staff across both clinics are warm, welcoming and exceptionally professional, and I will always be so grateful for the part they’ve played in helping us grow our family. I truly couldn’t recommend Therapy Fertility highly enough to anyone beginning their fertility journey. 🤍
I could not recommend therapie fertility more I have told so many friends and family about their welcoming, kindness and relaxed environment they provide. We were so lucky for our second round to be successful having one embryo make it and the amazing Dr. Nosheen completing both my retrieval and transfer was such a special moment too. She made me feel so relaxed going into my second retrieval as with our first we got no embryos day 5. I was so emotional this time round and she calmed me down and helped us get our miracle baby boy Noah. Thank you all so so much every nurse Dr we met really made our dreams come true 💜 Nicole and John x
