Fertility treatment FAQ — Frequently asked questions
When you arrive at the clinic, our patient care team will greet you at reception. They will ask for your ID or a valid identification document to make a copy and will ask you to fill in a questionnaire with your personal details, as well as sign a data protection consent form. This is necessary so that the doctor can create your medical record.
During the consultation, you will discuss your case with your doctor, who will help determine the most suitable treatment for you and indicate which tests you need to undergo. Once we have the results, we can confirm which treatment will best help you achieve your goal of pregnancy.
After the initial informational consultation, our patient care team will provide you with a treatment quote tailored to your case, along with the tests your doctor has requested. They will also answer any questions you may have.
There is no waiting list to start treatment — we simply need to have the results of the blood tests and diagnostic tests recommended by your doctor. During the results consultation, you will plan the next steps with your doctor to begin treatment in your next cycle.
For egg donation treatments, there is no waiting list either. Only in cases involving rare and specific phenotypic characteristics or when a genetic compatibility test is carried out may the start of the cycle be slightly delayed.
When you contact Love Fertility Clinic, our patient care team will assist you by phone to offer you the first available slot that fits your schedule. This consultation can be in person, via WhatsApp video call, or via Skype, and it will always be with a member of our medical team.
The personal details they will ask for are: full name, date of birth, ID number, phone number and/or email address, and how you heard about us. They will also ask some personal questions to note in your file — such as whether you have had previous fertility treatments or pregnancies. We recommend that you bring along any gynaecological tests and blood work less than a year old to your first consultation so that the medical team can review them.
Once you have had your initial informational consultation, the next step is to complete the blood tests and diagnostic tests indicated by your doctor. Depending on the type of tests requested, please bear in mind that results may take between two and three weeks.
Once we have all the results, you will attend a results consultation with your doctor. During this consultation, you will schedule your cycle and can ask any questions that may have come up before starting treatment.
If you are undergoing ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval (pick-up), it is advisable to avoid high-impact exercise. This is because your ovaries will be significantly larger than usual, which carries a risk of ovarian torsion. However, you can carry on with your normal daily activities while avoiding this type of exercise.
Regarding the embryo transfer, bed rest is not required. Years ago, relative rest was recommended for all patients, but current studies have shown that there is no benefit to this practice.
Having no symptoms is no reason to worry. Every woman is different and may experience different symptoms throughout pregnancy. In this case, since fewer than two weeks have passed since the embryo transfer, it is too early for the body to produce strong reactions. The best approach is to wait for the blood pregnancy test.
First of all, it is perfectly normal to have no symptoms at all, just as it is normal to notice many. The most common are abdominal bloating and discomfort, tiredness, and breast tenderness.
Occasionally, spotting may also occur, which can be very alarming for our patients. After the embryo transfer, light spotting may happen due to the catheter passing through the cervix during the procedure. If spotting occurs later, during the two-week wait (TWW), it may be due to different causes. If it is light, try to stay calm — it could be related to implantation.
If symptoms persist or you experience heavy bleeding similar to your period, the most important thing is to continue taking the medication prescribed by your doctor and inform our Patient Care team, who will speak with the doctor so they can contact you. If necessary, an appointment will be arranged so the doctor can examine you and explain the cause of the bleeding.
The same applies if, after a positive beta and before the next ultrasound scan, you experience any type of bleeding.
We always advise taking the pregnancy test on the date indicated by your doctor, because testing too early may result in a false negative. It is very important to continue taking all medication prescribed by your doctor during the two-week wait (TWW) and not to stop until your doctor says so.
After the first consultation and the results/scheduling consultation (which can sometimes be done remotely), treatment will begin, usually with your period. Depending on the treatment you are undergoing, you will need to come in for more or fewer ultrasound scan check-ups.
In general, an IVF cycle requires 3–4 ultrasound scan check-ups. After that, you will need to attend for the egg retrieval (pick-up) — this is the only day you will need to take time off work — and 5 days later for the embryo transfer.
For an egg donation treatment, 1–2 ultrasound scan check-ups are usually sufficient, plus the day of the embryo transfer.
In the laboratory, various techniques can be applied to improve results in assisted reproduction cycles — from straightforward techniques such as ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) to specialised filters like the Chip Fertile®, which helps reduce sperm DNA fragmentation, or even the use of time-lapse incubators (Embryoscope) for more precise monitoring of embryo development. Each of these techniques has its own specific indication and will be recommended by both the gynaecology and embryology teams whenever their use is considered beneficial.
Your success rate depends on many factors, including the age of both partners (especially the woman’s age), the woman’s ovarian reserve, the sperm sample quality, and how long you have been trying to conceive. Based on the recommended treatment and associated prognostic factors, we can estimate a success rate that is always personalised according to each patient’s individual characteristics.
Many of our patients have concerns about ovarian stimulation during IVF. It is important to clarify that this is a short-duration treatment (approximately 10 days) and that the hormones used are the same ones naturally produced during a regular ovarian cycle (FSH and LH), only at higher doses to achieve a greater ovarian response. They do not necessarily cause any serious side effects.
The most common discomforts during the stimulation days include abdominal bloating and discomfort, perceived mood changes, and in some cases slight weight gain due to fluid retention.
All these effects disappear once the medication is finished, and within a few days the ovaries return to normal and any excess retained fluid is eliminated.