IF YOU'RE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR IVF TREATMENT ON THE NHS OR YOU'VE DECIDED YOU WANT TO GO PRIVATE, there are plenty of clinics to choose from. The private fertility clinics on this page are the best of the best:
- They've achieved a “5/5” inspection rating from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The HFEA has extremely high standards and strict regulations with which clinics must comply.
- They've received excellent patient ratings on the HFEA website.
- Google reviews and ratings are generally fantastic. (I ignore the odd one-star rating if the vast majority are positive.)
- They have success rates that are at least consistent with the national average, according to the HFEA. (Please read this article on success rates to understand why you DEFINITELY shouldn't choose a clinic solely based on this metric.)
- They've maintained an excellent reputation among patients and other healthcare professionals.
Before we get started… a quick word about “success rates”
“Success rates” means different things to different fertility clinics. Often, it means, “We’ll publish any statistics that make us look better than our competitors – even if those statistics are misleading or meaningless – and we’ll ignore all the other numbers.”
Don’t fall for it! The most important things to remember are:
- The most reliable “success rate” measure is “birth rates per embryo transferred” (not “per embryo transfer” or “per embryo transfer event” – which seem very similar but are different).
This is the preferred measure of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for assessing IVF success, and I agree that it’s the most useful measure in most instances. The HFEA publishes “birth rates per embryo transferred” data for all clinics in the country, but clinics can decide to publish other data on their own websites (which, as mentioned above, many of them do).
For more information about why this is the most useful measure, read my article about IVF success rates and what they mean. - The HFEA website publishes “birth rates per embryo transferred” success rates for each clinic on its website, and the vast majority of clinics are considered to be “consistent with the national average” – meaning they all have have success rates that are within the same range.
Some clinics argue that this range is unhelpfully large, and I understand where they're coming from: “consistent with the national average” can be anything from between 20% success rate to 40% success rate. (Read much more about success rates here.) But the variations in percentages between clinics could easily be down to the types of patient they agree to treat – among other factors. It's for this reason that I think the HFEA does as good a job as possible at standardising success rates and making it possible to compare clinics.
Right… on with the list!
Click on a region below:
- South West
- South East
- London / Greater London
- East
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- West Midlands
- East Midlands
- North West
- North East
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
South West
Bath and Bristol
Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine
Southmead Hospital
Bristol
BS10 5NB
0117 414 6888
Be aware! The BCRM website’s “success rates” page is frustratingly vague and confusing. (The clinic actually does slightly worse than the national average on the key “births per embryo transferred” metric, but you’d never know that if you were to look at the website.) Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/295/.
CARE Fertility Bath
Roman Way
Bath Business Park
Peasedown St John
Bath BA2 8SG
0176 143 4464
Bonus points! The CARE Bath website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. (Read the top of the page for why this is a good thing.)
Southampton
Wessex Fertility Limited
The Freya Centre
72-74 Anglesea Road
Southampton
SO15 5QS
0238 070 6000
Note: the Wessex Fertility website doesn’t publish the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/57/.
Complete Fertility Centre Southampton
Princess Anne Hospital
Level G Coxford Road
Southampton
SO16 5YA
02381 20 6980
Note: the Complete Fertility website doesn’t publish the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/307/.
Devon
South West Centre for Reproductive Medicine
Assisted Conception Unit, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Derriford Hospital
Plymouth
Devon
PL6 8DH
01752 432621
This is an NHS hospital that also provides private treatment.
South East
Eastbourne
Sussex Downs Fertility Centre
BMI The Esperance Hospital
Hartington Place
Eastbourne
BN21 3BG
0132 341 1188
Be aware! The success rates published on the Sussex Downs website are confusing – especially as there's no information to explain what each of the different “success rates” categories represents. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/15/.
Brighton and Hove
The Agora Gynaecology and Fertility Centre
The Agora Ellen Street
Brighton & Hove
BN3 3LN
01273 229410
Be aware! The success rates published on the Agora website are confusing and misleading – and they don’t include the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/254/.
Portsmouth and Southampton
Wessex Fertility Limited
The Freya Centre
72-74 Anglesea Road
Southampton
SO15 5QS
0238 070 6000
Note: the Wessex Fertility website doesn’t publish the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/57/.
Milton Keynes
CARE Fertility Northampton
67 The Avenue
Cliftonville
Northampton
NN1 5BT
0160 460 1606
https://www.carefertility.com/our-clinics/ivf-clinic-northampton/
Bonus points! The CARE Northampton website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. (Read the top of the page for why this is a good thing.)
Essex
Bourn Hall Clinic (Wickford) – new clinic
25 London Road
Wickford
Essex
SS12 0AW
01268 661700
This is a new clinic, so the HFEA doesn’t have birth statistics for it yet. It’s included in this list because most of Bourn Hall’s other clinics (in other parts of the country) have decent success rates and reviews.
Simply Fertility
Baddow Hospital
Simply Fertility Ltd West Hanningfield Road
Great Baddow
Essex
Chelmsford
CM2 8HN
01245 201544
Bonus points! The Simply Fertility website publishes its “births per embryo transferred” stats – and it does so in a way that’s easy to read and understand. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is the most reliable measure of success.
Surrey
Nuffield Health Assisted Conception Services
5 Hillview Road
Surrey
Woking
GU22 7HW
01483 227 859
Note: the Nuffield Health website includes a screenshot of the HFEA's success rates chart. Unfortunately, it's out of date: the new stats are actually better! Visit the HFEA site for the most up-to-date information: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/144/.
Oxford
Oxford Fertility
Institute of Reproductive Sciences Oxford Business Park North
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX4 2HW
01865 782800
Note: while Oxford Fertility gets bonus points for including the most useful metric – “births per embryo transferred” – its “success rates” page is full of hard-to-grasp, hard-to-compare data. It’s easier to read the HFEA’s data on the clinic here: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/35/.
London
London and Greater London
CREATE Fertility London St Paul's
150 Cheapside
London
EC2V 6ET
0330 057 1669
Bonus points! The CREATE Fertility website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is the most reliable measure of success.
ABC IVF
103-105 Harley Street,
London,
W1G 6AJ
0330 058 0800
Note: embryo transfers are completed at CREATE Fertility St Paul's, so the HFEA's inspection rating and HFEA patient rating are for CREATE rather than ABC IVF)
Note: the ABC IVF website doesn’t publish the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. It barely publishes any stats at all, in fact (and the ones it does publish are vague), so you're better off using CREATE's information instead (see above for CREATE St Paul's, or visit the HFEA's page on CREATE here: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/9129/).
City Fertility
16 St John Street
London
EC1M 4NT
020 8209 3226
Be aware! The City Fertility website barely contains any information about success rates – apart from two rather unhelpful bar charts. Rather than visit the website, read the HFEA’s page on City Fertility to learn more about the clinic’s success rates: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/9094/.
Lister Fertility Clinic
The Lister Hospital
Chelsea Bridge Road
London
SW1W 8RH
020 7730 5932
Note: while Lister Fertility Clinic gets bonus points for using the most useful metric – “births per embryo transferred” – its “success rates” page is full of hard-to-grasp, hard-to-compare data. It’s easier to read the HFEA’s data on the clinic here: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/6/.
CARE Fertility London
Park Lorne
111 Park Road
London
NW8 7JL
020 7616 6767
Bonus points! The CARE London website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is the most reliable measure of success.
Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health (CRGH)
230-232 Great Portland Street
London
W1W 5QS
020 7837 2905
Note: CRGH provides a huge amount of “success rates” data on its website, including (for fresh embryo transfers only) the most important “births per embryo transferred” statistic. BUT it's jolly hard for a layperson to make head or tale of anything on the page because there are so many tables featuring lots of numbers and absolutely no explanation.
To make things even more confusing, different tables provide different types of benchmarks/definitions of success. Why would I want to know the “pregnancy rate” “per embryo transfer” for frozen embryos but the “live birth rate” “per embryo transferred” for fresh ones? Why not keep everything consistent? There might be a reason, but it hasn't been explained. It just makes no sense.
If I were you, I'd just refer to the HFEA's page on CRGH instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/44/. (Once on the page, click “View detailed statistics” to get even more information.)
King's Fertility
1st Floor, Unit 6
KCH Business Park
Denmark Hill
London
SE5 9RS
020 3957 7950
Note: while the success rates published on the King’s Fertility website are comprehensive and detailed, they don’t include the “births per embryo transferred” statistic – which is arguably the most reliable measure of success. It’s worth reading the King’s Fertility “success” page, but be sure to read the HFEA’s information too: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/109/.
IVI London (Wimpole Street)
83 Wimpole Street
London
W1G 9RQ
020 7078 4868
Be aware! The success rates published on the clinic’s website are confusing – and they don’t include the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/9177/.
East
Cambridge
Bourn Hall Clinic (Cambridge)
High Street
Bourn
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB23 2TN
01954 719 111
Bonus points! The Bourn Hall website publishes the all-important “births per embryo transferred” data that's arguably the most reliable measure of success. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is my favourite way of reporting success rates.
Yorkshire and the Humber
Sheffield
CARE Fertility Sheffield
24-26 Glen Road
Sheffield
S7 1RA
0114 258 9716
Bonus points! The CARE Sheffield website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is the most reliable measure of success.
Jessop Fertility
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Jessop Wing Tree Root Walk
Sheffield
S10 2SF
0114 226 8050
Be aware! The success rates published on the Jessop Fertility website are frustratingly vague and misleading. (The clinic actually does slightly worse than the national average on the key “births per embryo transferred” metric, but you’d never know that if you were to look at the website.) Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/196/.
Kingston upon Hull
Hull IVF Unit
The Women and Children’s Hospital
Hull Royal Infirmary
Anlaby Road
Hull
HU3 2JZ
01482 382 648
Note: while Hull IVF gets bonus points for using the most useful metric – “births per embryo transferred” – its “success rates” page is full of confusing data and terminology. It’s easier to read the HFEA’s data on the fertility clinic here: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/21/.
Middlesbrough
James Cook University Hospital
Department of Reproductive Medicine
Marton Road
Middlesbrough
Cleveland
TS4 3BW
01642 282733
This is an NHS hospital that also provides private treatment.
West Midlands
Birmingham
CREATE Fertility Birmingham
Ground Floor
6270 Bishop's Court Birmingham Business Park
Solihull
B37 7YB
01216679821
Bonus points! The CREATE Fertility website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is the most reliable measure of success.
CARE Fertility Birmingham
27 Highfield Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 3DP
Note: the CARE website doesn't currently have success rates for its Birmingham fertility clinic listed (you'll have to get them via the HFEA website instead). This might be because it's a relatively new clinic.
Staffordshire
CARE Fertility Tamworth (formerly IVI Midland)
Tamworth House Ventura Park Road
Tamworth
B78 3HL
01827 311170
Bonus points! The CARE Tamworth website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. (Read the top of the page for why this is a good thing.)
Shropshire
Shropshire and Mid-Wales Fertility Centre
Seven Fields Health Village Sundorne Road
Shrewsbury
SY1 4RQ
01743 261 199
This is an NHS hospital that also provides private treatment.
East Midlands
Nottingham
NURTURE Fertility
25 Business Park
Bostocks Lane
Sandiacre
Nottingham
NG10 5QG
0115 896 1900
Bonus points! The NURTURE Fertility website publishes its “births per embryo transferred” stats – and it does so in a way that’s easy to read and understand. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is the most reliable measure of success.
CARE Fertility Nottingham
John Webster House
6 Lawrence Drive
Nottingham Business Park
Nottingham
NG8 6PZ
0155 852 8100
Bonus points! The CARE Nottingham website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is the most reliable measure of success.
Northampton
CARE Fertility Northampton
67 The Avenue
Cliftonville
Northampton
NN1 5BT
0160 460 1606
https://www.carefertility.com/our-clinics/ivf-clinic-northampton/
Bonus points! The CARE Northampton website provides easy-to-understand, easy-to-compare success rates – including “births per embryo transferred”. Read the top of this page for more about why “births per embryo transferred” is the most reliable measure of success.
North West
Manchester
Reproductive Health Group
Centre for Reproductive Health
Daresbury Park
Daresbury
Cheshire
WA4 4GE
0192 556 8217
Be aware! The success rates published on the clinic’s website are confusing – and they don’t include the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/9127/.
The Hewitt Fertility Centre, Knutsford
Knutsford Business Park
4 The Pavillions Mobberley Road
Cheshire
Knutsford
WA16 8ZR
Be aware! The Hewitt Fertility Centre website’s “success rates” page has vague bar charts and a confusing medley of information – and it doesn’t include the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/9149/.
Liverpool
Hewitt Fertility Centre
Liverpool Women’s Hospital
Crown Street
Liverpool
Merseyside
L8 7SS
0151 282 7501
Be aware! The Hewitt Fertility Centre website’s “success rates” page has vague bar charts and a confusing medley of information – and it doesn’t include the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/7/.
Reproductive Health Group
Centre for Reproductive Health
Daresbury Park
Daresbury
Cheshire
WA4 4GE
0192 556 8217
Be aware! The success rates published on the clinic’s website are confusing – and they don’t include the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/9127/.
North East
Newcastle upon Tyne
Gateshead Fertility Unit
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Queen Elizabeth Avenue
Gateshead
NE9 6SX
0191 482 0000
This is an NHS hospital that also provides private treatment.
Note: the Gateshead Fertility Unit online presence consists of a couple of paragraphs on the main Gateshead Health website. For more information, it’s probably best to give them a call.
Darlington
London Women’s Clinic, Darlington
Woodlands Hospital
Morton Park
Darlington
Durham
DL1 4PL
01325 371 070
Note: this fertility clinic’s website doesn’t publish the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/75/.
Northern Ireland
Belfast Fertility
Edgewater Business Park
Edgewater House
Edgewater Road
Belfast
BT3 9JQ
028 9078 1335
Be aware! The Belfast Fertility website seems to contain cherry-picked success rates that make the clinic look superior to its competitors. You can find the HFEA’s (more useful) data for Belfast Fertility here: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/9106/.
Scotland
Glasgow
GCRM Fertility
21 Fifty Pitches Way
Cardonald Business Park
Glasgow
G51 4FD
0141 891 8749
Be aware! The GCRM Fertility website seems to contain cherry-picked success rates that make the clinic look superior to its competitors. You can find the HFEA’s (more useful) data for GCRM Fertility here: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/250/.
Glasgow Royal Infirmary Fertility
Assisted Conception Services Unit
Queen Elizabeth Building Alexandra Parade
Glasgow
G31 2ER
0141 211 5675
Be aware! The clinic's website provides barely any useful information on success rates: all you can find are “positive pregnancy test per embryo transfer” and “clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer”. Use the HFEA's information on the clinic's success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/37/.
(Success rates are excellent here, FYI. Glasgow Royal Infirmary is one of the few clinics that has stats that are considered by the HFEA to be above the national average.)
Wales
Glamorgan
Centre for Reproduction & Gynaecology Wales (CRGW)
Ely Meadows
Rhodfa Marics
Llantrisant
CF72 8XL
01443 443 999
Be aware! The clinic’s website doesn’t publish the “births per embryo transferred” statistic that’s arguably the most reliable measure of success. Use the HFEA’s information on the clinic’s success rates instead: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/results/316/.
What's more, while CRGW's success rates for “live births per embryo transferred” is actually slightly lower than the national average (albeit still within the average “range”), it has a MUCH higher rate of multiple births for all age groups – which indicates they have a habit of transferring more than one embryo at a time. This is something all clinics have been encouraged to reduce, because of the many high risks to both the mother and her babies.