Infertility affects many people. Up to one in six couples have difficulties in conceiving and many seek medical advice and treatment. You can ask for help from your own GP, a family planning clinic, a specialist charity or an infertility clinic. It would be normal to go to your own GP in the first instance.

There are many possible causes of infertility or sub-fertility in both men and women. There are also many possible treatments. These include:

drug therapy to control ovulation if a woman is not producing eggs regularly;

surgery to improve blocked or damaged fallopian tubes;

artificial insemination using the husband or partner's sperm;

insemination using donor sperm (DI) if the husband or partner has no sperm or very poor sperm or risks passing on an inherited disease;

in vitro fertilisation (IVF);

egg donation with IVF where the woman cannot produce eggs;

embryo donation;

gamete intra fallopian transfer (GIFT) using the couple's own or donated sperm or eggs;

intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

 Some patients will need only advice or reassurance. Others may need drug therapy or surgery. But some will need to be referred to a clinic which specialises in assisted conception techniques - mainly In Vitro Fertilisation and Donor Insemination. In the UK, these treatments can be provided only by clinics licensed by the HFEA.

The purpose of this site is to help people who are considering IVF, Donor Insemination, ICSI, or GIFT with donated sperm or eggs to understand the services offered by licensed clinics, to decide which treatment would be the best for them and to give advice on how to choose a clinic. In addition, there is a 'Choosing a clinic: Questions and Answers' section with important information about factors that you should consider and questions you may want to ask prospective treatment centres. There is also a section entitled 'Sperm and Egg Donation' for anyone considering becoming a donor.

If you are seriously considering any form of IVF or DI treatment, you should contact the HFEA for a copy of its 'Patients' Guide' which gives detailed information about all licensed clinics, including their outcome rates for individual procedures. However, it is important to remember that it is difficult to compare precisely the live birth rates between clinics as treatment policies differ, and a centre may provide treatment to a select group of women. The main factors that determine your chances in IVF are the age of the woman, the length of time that she has been trying to have a family and her previous ability to conceive. You should obtain information from a number of clinics and then decide which one best meets your needs. If you do not understand the meaning of any word or phrase, go to the Glossary of terms.