Welcome to the University Hospital's Centre for Reproductive Medicine

Changes to storage limits

From 1st July, 2022, legislation governing the storage of gametes and embryos in the UK changed. The Health and Care Act 2022 introduces amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (the 1990 Act) changing the current 10-year statutory storage limit.

These changes enable patients to consent to embryos being stored for treatment purposes for up to a maximum of 55 years; gametes can be stored for up to 55 years for treatment, research or training purposes, and embryos stored for research or training purposes for up to 10 years.

From 1st July, 2022, you are now able to consent initially to 10 years storage for your eggs, sperm or embryos. Towards the end of this period we will contact you and discuss the option to extend for a further 10 years if you wish. It is important that you keep in touch with us if you have samples in storage so that we know where to send the new consent forms

There are also new provisions relating to storage for posthumous use and in the event of mental incapacity. In these circumstances the samples in storage will be able to be used for your partners treatment for up to 10 years as long as appropriate consent has been given and any testing needed has been carried out

We will discuss these changes with you during your treatment and if necessary as you to complete new consent forms when needed

If you have any questions, please speak to one of the nursing, embryology or andrology teams

CRM Covid Vaccine update 27/5/21

The age for people in the UK being offered and receiving vaccines has decreased recently and we want to answer any questions that you may have regarding this topic. The following FAQs have been complied by the British Fertility Society and The Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists in the UK:

Should people of reproductive age receive a Covid-19 vaccine? 
Yes. People of reproductive age are advised to have the vaccine when they receive their invitation for vaccination. This includes those who are trying to have a baby as well as those who are thinking about having a baby, whether that is in the near future or in a few years’ time. 

Can any of the Covid-19 vaccines affect fertility? 
No. There is absolutely no evidence, and no theoretical reason, that any of the vaccines can affect the fertility of women or men. You may be offered a specific brand of vaccine for your specific age group.

Can I have a Covid-19 vaccine during my fertility treatment (IVF, Frozen Embryo Transfer, Egg Freezing, Ovulation Induction, Intra-Uterine Insemination, using donated gametes or not)? 
Yes. You may wish to consider the timing of having a Covid-19 vaccine during your fertility treatment, taking into account that some people may get bothersome side effects in the few days after vaccination that they do not want to have during treatment. These include for example, tenderness at the injection site, fever, headache, muscle ache or feeling tired. It may be sensible to separate the date of vaccination by a few days from some treatment procedures (for example, egg collection in IVF), so that any symptoms, such as fever, might be attributed correctly to the vaccine or the treatment procedure. 

Should I delay my fertility treatment until after I have had the Covid-19 vaccine? 
The only reason to consider delaying fertility treatment until after you have been vaccinated would be if you wanted to be protected against Covid-19 before you were pregnant. The chance of successful treatment is unlikely to be affected by a short delay, for example of up to 6 months, particularly if you are 37 years of age or younger. However, delays of several months may affect your chance of success once you are over 37 and especially if you are 40 years of age or older. 

How soon after having a Covid-19 vaccine can I start my fertility treatment?
Immediately – you do not need to delay your fertility treatment, unless you wish to have your second dose before pregnancy (see above).

Please be aware that the evidence and advice for COVID-19 vaccines for those trying to achieve a pregnancy or those who are pregnant already is rapidly developing. We will update our advice here when more information becomes available.

Covid-19 Safety Measure changes in CRM

New measures have been put into place to protect the safety of patients and staff and to minimise the risk of spreading the infection.

Social Distancing:

In line with the social distancing advice issued by the government, we have added precautionary measures to reduce the number of patients in the clinic at any one time.  Therefore, patients are asked not to attend the CRM wherever possible. 

• We will be conducting most of our patient appointments and consultations by virtual meetings or by telephone.
• However there will be situations where you will need to attend the clinic.  If you are required to come into the CRM you are advised to avoid public transport if possible.
• As we want to reduce the number of people in the CRM we would ask that patients must attend alone and their partner can wait outside of the CRM building.
• Specific appointment times will be given to patients.  Patients are required to arrive not more than 5 minutes earlier than their appointment time.  Patients will be asked to wait outside the building or wait in their cars until the appropriate time.
• We will be adhering to the social distancing within the CRM, and patients will be asked to sit at a distance from anyone outside their household.
• To ensure social distancing within the waiting areas, consultations and appointments times will be strictly adhered to.
• Our clinic layout has been changed to follow the principles of social distancing

Is it safe to resume treatment?:

At present there is limited experience of Covid-19 during pregnancy, however current information from the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology suggests that the severity of infection is no worse during pregnancy than in other healthy adults. At this stage, there is no evidence of an increased risk of miscarriage, fetal anomalies or adverse pregnancy complications. However, the risk to individual patients will vary depending on their clinical situation, risk profile, and the likely persistence of the virus within their local community. Please be aware that other pregnancy care policies may also be different during the Covid-19 crisis

It is your decision whether to proceed with treatment or not and a record will be made in your notes.

Patient triage and testing:

All patients wishing to commence treatment with CRM will need to complete a coronavirus screening questionnaire; this will be needed more than once during treatment.

Patients and partners will also need to complete a ‘Covid-19 Consent for Treatment’ form prior to commencing treatment.

To reduce the spread of coronavirus and the risk to patients and clinic staff, during certain treatments we will need you to undergo Covid-19 swab tests; these will happen twice during your IVF treatment.  We will only proceed with the treatment if the results are negative. 

Any patients testing positive will be need to self-isolate for 7 days and will be unable to continue with their treatment.  If your treatment is cancelled due to Covid-19 test results, the CRM clinical team will inform you of how to proceed once you are no longer Covid-19 positive.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):

All staff will be required to wear PPE to protect patients and other members of the CRM team

The UK government does not recommend the use of face masks for the public for medical appointments however patients may wear face masks if they wish to do so. CRM cannot provide face masks for patients.

Please bring your own pens to every appointment to fill in and sign consents and documents.

Counselling:

We understand that during these unpredictable times patients may require extra support and our counselling service remains available for you to access. 

Finally we would like to thank you for your patience during these exceptional times.  We will do our best to help you through your treatment and we wish you all the best of luck.

Recent figures show the excellent results we have continued to achieve at CRM Coventry. Some of those figures for IVF/ICSI treatment during 2019 can be seen here:

Our sincere thanks to all our patients who have, without exception, understood the reasons for us being unable to offer treatment, and for your support of our staff at this difficult time.  We understand how desperate many of you will be to start your investigations or re-start treatment and we hope to do this as soon as we are permitted. 

Finally we want to thank our hardworking CRM staff some of whom have been invaluable in the UHCW response to the Covid-19 pandemic by working in other wards in the hospital. Here are some photos of them at work.

One of the leading fertility centres in the UK

We are one of country’s leading fertility centres incorporating a variety of cutting edge treatment options and world class research to maximise your chances of successful treatment.

The main risk from IVF treatment is having a multiple pregnancy. We are very proud that our multiple pregnancy rate is under 10% of all pregancies achieved whilst maintaining one of the highest clinical pregnancy rates in the UK.

In the latest statistics provided by the HFEA (our regulator), we are the number one rated NHS led IVF centre in the UK for pregnancy per embryo transferred in younger patients. This is achieved by the great amount of attention to detail from every member of our multi-disciplinary team throughout your treatment. Our close links to the Biomedical Research Unit in Reproductive Health at the University of Warwick (including the Tommy’s miscarriage centre), only further the level of care and treatment options we can provide here at Coventry CRM.
 

Services provided at the CRM:

Diagnostic andrology including post-vasectomy analysis 
Reproductive surgery (e.g. tubal and endometriosis)
HyCoSy tubal patency assessment
IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation)
ICSI (IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection)
Egg Donation 
Intra Uterine Insemination
Ovulation Induction
Surgical Sperm Retrieval
Fertility preservation
Sperm, Egg and Embryo Storage

Find out more about the Centre, our team and the different treatments available.

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