Your first fertility clinic appointment is often thirty minutes, sometimes fifteen. You have waited months for it. You walk in with a head full of questions and walk out having asked two of them, because the consultant was kind, and fast, and the next patient was waiting.
I know this from both chairs. As a GP, I know how much a well-prepared patient changes a consultation. As a patient, I know how quickly the questions evaporate under the strip lighting. So here is the list, grouped, with the reason behind each question, so you can pick the ones that matter to you and leave the rest.
Print it. Take it. Nobody in that room will mind.
Before you go: what to bring
- A note of your cycle: length, regularity, how long you have been trying.
- Copies of any test results, including your partner's semen analysis. Results from your GP may not have reached the clinic.
- Your medication and supplement list, including anything herbal.
- Your medical history in short form: operations, infections, previous pregnancies, family history.
- Your partner, if you have one. Two memories are better than one, and half the questions are about both of you.
About the diagnosis
- What do you think is the most likely reason we have not conceived?
- Which of our tests are normal, which are not, and what does "not normal" mean for us specifically?
- Are there tests we have not had that would change the plan? (Tubal test, AMH, antral follicle count, repeat semen analysis, thyroid.)
- If the cause is unexplained, what does that change about the treatment you would recommend?
About treatment options
- What are all the options for us, including doing nothing for now, ovulation induction, IUI, IVF and ICSI?
- Why this option first, and what would make you change your mind?
- Which protocol would you use, and why that one for someone with my results?
- What is the plan if I respond poorly, or too strongly, to the drugs?
- Would you recommend transferring one embryo or two, and why?
About success rates
This is where clinic websites and reality can drift apart. Ask for the specific number:
- What is this clinic's live birth rate per embryo transferred, for my age group, in the most recent year published?
- How does that compare with the national figure on the HFEA website?
- What is the chance of a live birth over three cycles, not one?
- What is the cancellation rate, meaning cycles that stop before egg collection?
The HFEA clinic finder publishes verified rates for every licensed clinic. Check it before you go, so you know the answer to the first question already.
About money, if you are paying
- What is the total cost of one full cycle, including drugs, scans, blood tests, embryo freezing and the first year of storage?
- What do I pay if the cycle is cancelled before egg collection? After collection but before transfer?
- What is the cost of a frozen embryo transfer later?
- Which of these are optional, and which add-ons are you likely to suggest? (Read IVF add-ons: which are worth paying for? first.)
- Can NHS test results be used, so we do not pay to repeat them?
About the process and the practicalities
- How many scans will I need, and at what times of day?
- How much notice will I get for each appointment?
- Who do I call, and when, if something feels wrong, including at night and at weekends?
- How will you tell me results: phone, portal, letter?
- What are the signs of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, and what should I do if I notice them?
- How much time off work should I plan for? (My guide to IVF and work: your rights in the UK covers how to ask.)
About support
- Every UK clinic must offer counselling. How do I access it here, and is it included in the cost?
- Is there a patient support group, or do you recommend one?
- If a cycle fails, when and how will we review what happened?
Three questions people forget
- "What would you do in my position?" Not every clinician will answer directly, but many will, and it is a different answer from "what are the options".
- "What do I need to do before the cycle starts?" Weight, smoking, folic acid, vitamin D, medication changes. The answer is usually the three-month window in preparing for IVF in the UK: a GP's checklist.
- "Can I email you if I think of something later?" You will. Know the route before you leave.
After the appointment
Write down what you heard within an hour, while it is fresh, and compare notes with your partner. If anything is unclear, ask for the clinic letter, which summarises the plan and is sent to your GP. Your GP can go through it with you, and can often answer the "what does this word mean" questions the clinic did not have time for.
If you want to walk into that room already knowing what a protocol is, what AMH does and does not tell you, and which add-ons have evidence, that is the point of Fertility Foundations: twelve chapters by a GP, so the appointment becomes a conversation rather than a lecture.
Sources: HFEA: preparing for your clinic appointment; NHS: IVF.