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Specialist Centre encourages more people to talk about fertility during National Infertility Week

Specialist Centre encourages more people to talk about fertility during National Infertility Week

Sheffield’s Jessop Fertility are encouraging more people to talk about infertility and busting commonly believed myths as part of National Infertility Awareness Week (ends 2nd Nov).

Jessop Fertility, which is part of Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, offers specialist care, innovative technology and helpful advice to people that are struggling to conceive.

The unit, based at the Jessop Wing, helps create around 250 babies a year and carries out over 750 cycles of IVF.

Rachel Cutting, Principal Embryologist at Jessop Fertility, said: “Infertility is more common than you might expect. 1 in 7 couples are affected by infertility and for many more people conceiving can be a lot longer than expected. People also often see infertility as a primarily female problem when in fact male infertility factors are just as common. In some cases infertility cannot be explained but for the majority of patients, there is something we can do about it.”

The Unit is equipped with some of the best technology available including the ‘Embryoscope’ which monitors the progress of embryos stored inside incubators, with cameras taking images every 10 minutes.
Previously, embryos were assessed by being removed from storage and examined under a microscope once a day - but now the fragile fertilised eggs can be viewed round-the-clock from the moment of conception, giving scientists the opportunity of selecting embryos with the best chance of a successful pregnancy.
“It’s important for us to get a single, healthy baby at the end of IVF,” Rachel said. “This technology allows us to review the whole of the embryo’s development for the first five days, rather than having a snapshot - it gives us much more information.”
The Unit also accepts donations of sperm and eggs from donors that want to help other people achieve their dream of being a parent.
Rachel added: “These donations are really appreciated and can help patients with many conditions such as a low sperm count, those who have under gone cancer treatments and also same sex couples. We are always grateful to speak to people that want to consider donating.”