Fertility services –
Quality and safety standards
Fertility treatments of the highest standard
Choosing and having fertility treatment can be complex, emotional and stressful. So, we always put you – your health, safety and wellbeing – first, to create the best opportunity for conception.
The Assisted Conception Unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ is one of the most advanced centres of its kind in the country, thanks to our focus on care, our pioneering research and innovative techniques, world-class facilities, and renowned clinicians.
By providing exceptional care, we achieve excellent success rates for our NHS and private patients.
Assisted Conception Unit success rates
The below table displays the clinical pregnancy rate, per cycle started, for the 12 month period up to 01/09/2021 for patients having IVF/ICSI with their own eggs.
| Type of treatment and age | ACU clinical pregnancy rate | HFEA national rate |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh ICSI below 38 years | 38.3% | 36.2% |
| Fresh ICSI ≥ 38 years | 19.7% | 20.3% |
| Fresh IVF below 38 years | 29.4% | 32.6% |
| Fresh IVF ≥ 38 years | 18.8% | 17.7% |
| Frozen IVF/ICSI below 40 years | 36.1% | 38.4% |
| Frozen IVF/ICSI ≥ 40 years | 27.4% | 24.8% |
| Multiple pregnancy rate | 3.3% | 5.5% |
Quality standards
Your fertility treatment is performed under the highest quality standards. Our regulator is the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA). The HFEA regulate how we:
- assess future parents, ensuring the welfare of children born following treatment
- establish the legal parents of a child conceived following fertility treatment
- keep your information secure.
HFEA’s role and responsibility
The HFEA is the UK’s independent regulator of treatment using eggs and sperm, and of treatment and research involving human embryos. Its responsibilities include granting their licence to enable us to carry out IVF treatments in line with their standards.
The HFEA does this by:
- providing impartial information about fertility treatments and centres success rates
- providing guidance for complex fertility issues
- HFEA website which is a wealth of information about fertility treatments in the UK, including information for patients, donors, donor conceived people and consent.
For the most up to date results, information and advice please visit the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority’s website.
HFEA: Choose a Fertility Clinic.
Welfare of the child
Our ACU has a legal obligation to assess the welfare of any potential child born as a result of IVF and any existing child you may have. Before you start treatment you will be asked to complete a welfare of the child assessment form which includes questions relating to these issues. If you do not have a partner, our staff are likely to ask about your plans for caring for the child on your own. Sometimes we may need to seek further information from other healthcare professionals to complete the assessment.
Sometimes we may decide that we cannot offer you treatment. In this situation we will provide clear reasons for this decision and offer advice about what can be done for future assessments.