The Leicester Fertility Centre Assisted Conception Unit was established in 1988. We are staffed by a specialist team of twenty-one.

Based at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, part of the University of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) the centre is located in purpose-designed premises on the ground floor of the Kensington Building in the Women’s Hospital. The ground floor location of the centre allows for disabled access. As part of the University Hospitals of Leicester all necessary specialist back-up services can be provided.

The department offers a complete range of licensed infertility treatments to include in vitro fertilisation (IVF), Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), surgical retrieval of sperm, egg donation, egg sharing, embryo donation, egg freezing for cancer patients and for social reasons, sperm freezing, donor insemination (DI) and intrauterine insemination (IUI).

We currently have a number of egg donors available for matching to recipients, some are altruistic donors and some are egg sharers.

We have our own sperm donor bank and patients are able to have a choice of sperm donor. We are actively recruiting sperm donors and always increasing our already extensive bank.

We also have a large sperm-freezing programme for oncology patients and pre-vasectomy patients. The regional Andrology service is based at the Leicester Fertility Centre; a professional team able to offer service users immediate clinical advice are available five days a week.

Both NHS and private patients are treated.

The Centre is able to offer individually tailored and very personal treatment as a package at a fixed cost.

In addition to a HFEA licence The Leicester Fertility Centre holds an ISO 9000:2001 certificate. This reflects the centres commitment to quality management and continual improvement of services for patients.

We are a friendly dedicated team of multidisciplinary professionals including Medical Consultants, Specialist Nurses, Counsellors, Scientists and administrators. We are committed to providing the highest quality of personalised care in a relaxed atmosphere with excellent results.

Patients are able to familiarise themselves with all the staff and this ensures continuity of care. Patients are not faced with an unfamiliar person carrying out an invasive procedure.

For 2008 the centre is expanding, with a new laboratory suite, additional treatment and consulting rooms. This will improve the facilities for patients.

The centre is currently involved in a number of exciting research projects, including collaboration with other HFEA centres into stem cell research and collaboration with the University of Leicester into advances in forensic science. We are also in partnership with the Universities of Leicester and Birmingham to advance knowledge of the genetic causes of male factor infertility.

We also have our own research registrar who is carrying out a study relating to female infertility.

The centre is licensed to carry out egg freezing. Our preliminary results using the new vitrification technique are proving very effective. We are seeing egg survival rates post thaw of up to 90%. We are able to offer egg freezing as a treatment option for oncology patients and for women for social reasons.