5 Questions To Ask When Picking a Fertility Clinic
Let’s be honest—choosing a fertility clinic can feel like online dating. There are a million options, everyone looks great on paper, and you’re hoping to find “the one” who sees you, doesn’t ghost you, and won’t cost you your entire savings account.
Whether you're freezing your eggs, considering IVF, or just exploring options for the future, this process can be overwhelming—especially if you're doing it solo. You're navigating hormones, schedules, hopes, fears, and logistics all at once. So it's essential to start with the right questions.
Here are five questions that helped me get clarity, avoid shady surprises, and feel more empowered in a space that can often feel opaque. And no, five isn’t a magic number—but it’s a great place to start.
1. What’s the all-inclusive cost? Are there any add-ons? How likely is your estimate to change?
I don’t know about you, but when I began this process, my number one stressor wasn’t needles or hormones—it was money.
Fertility treatment isn’t cheap, and in the UK, it can be especially hard to figure out what you’re actually paying for. Some clinics offer “packages” that sound reassuring, but once you dig into the details, you’ll find they're filled with exclusions and optional extras (often called add-ons) that suddenly don’t feel optional at all.
I asked one London clinic for a quote and was told the cycle would be about £3,000. By the end of our email thread, after “recommended extras” like time-lapse imaging, the total had climbed to nearly £6,000—before meds. That was a hard pass for me.
📌 What to ask for specifically:
A breakdown of everything included in their base price.
A list of common add-ons and how much they cost. (Also ask how necessary theese are…)
How often the estimate changes, and why.
A good clinic will have this info ready. If they’re cagey or vague, that’s a red flag. You deserve transparency from day one.
💡 Pro tip: Ask if the medication is included in the cost. It often isn’t—and depending on your dosage, it could add £1,000–£2,000 to the total.
2. Will I have a consistent physician, nurse, care team, or coordinator?
I almost went with a UK clinic. I liked the doctor, I had confidence in the clinic’s success rates, all seemed okay until I started to get into the weeds of pre-treatment. The doctor had an assistant and it was unclear whether said assistant was a nurse, or even associated with the clinic. I was provided with their phone number, but it all seemed very disconnected. There was something about the sporatic communication that felt off to me. And given horror stories on Google reviews about women who’ve been passed around to different nurses or even doctors, it just felt…like a red flag.
Continuity of care makes a big difference when you’re injecting yourself with hormones at 7 PM and wondering if that twinge in your side is normal. Knowing you can contact a familiar face (or at least someone who remembers your name) can be incredibly grounding. And let me tell you - there were many 9pm calls I made to my nurse during the stimulation.
📌 What to ask:
Who will be your primary point of contact throughout the cycle?
Will your monitoring appointments be with the same clinician?
What happens if you have a question out of hours?
If your gut says, “I don’t trust this process” or “I don’t feel heard,” or even “I don’t feel safe asking questions”, trust that. You’re not being picky. You’re advocating for yourself. And we as women have an inredible ability to pick up on vibes and weed out things that aren’t right for us.
3. How often will I need to visit the clinic during the process?
When I first read that some people were going to their clinic every day for 10+ days, I panicked. I was working a demanding job and couldn’t imagine disappearing that frequently without my boss noticing. (And no, I wasn’t ready to share this part of my life with my employer.)
Most clinics will want to monitor you every few days—usually 3–5 scans in total during stimulation. But this varies depending on your response, your clinic’s protocol, and their philosophy of care. Some clinics lean toward “frequent touch,” while others are more relaxed.
📌 Ask this directly:
How many visits will I likely need?
Are appointments available early or late in the day for working patients?
Do they offer weekend scans?
This question is especially important if your clinic isn’t near where you live or work. A 40-minute commute each way, daily, while on hormones? No thank you.
💡 My advice: If you’re working full-time or have caring responsibilities, look for clinics that cater to flexibility. Your life shouldn't have to pause entirely for this process. Honestly, being able to keep up your routine or socialising is important when your hormones are running amok - routines are grounding.
4. Do you need any information from me to get started?
This sounds like a basic question, but it’s actually a big clue about how thorough (or not) a clinic is.
When I had my first consultation, I expected questions about cycle length and bloodwork. What I didn’t expect was a clinic that didn’t ask about my thyroid, whether I had regular cycles or PCOS.
Here’s the thing: your fertility is impacted by all of that. Thyroid health, nutrition, PCOS, stress, gut health—it all matters. A clinic that doesn’t ask is a clinic that may not be personalising your care.
📌 What to observe:
Do they ask about your medical history beyond the surface?
Are they interested in lifestyle factors?
Do they suggest pre-cycle bloodwork, vitamin levels, or pelvic scans?
I’m not saying they need to grill you for two hours, but if they’re not looking at you as a whole person, they might be defaulting to a generic protocol. And when it comes to something this personal, one-size-fits-all just isn’t good enough.
💡 Bonus tip: Ask if they review your thyroid levels, vitamin D, and AMH before starting. These can all impact your results.
5. What happens once I freeze my eggs, and how can I use them in the future?
This part often gets overlooked, but it’s important!
Freezing your eggs isn’t just about now—it’s a long-term investment in your future. But what happens when you actually want to use those eggs? That’s the part many of us don’t fully understand until it’s too late.
After your cycle, your eggs are stored at the clinic or an affiliated lab. But:
What does storage cost each year?
What if you want to move your eggs to another country?
What happens if the clinic closes?
And in the worst-case scenario, what happens if something goes wrong with your eggs?
I know, it’s not fun to think about. But as someone with a legal brain, I found it helpful to get clear on the fine print.
📌 What to clarify:
Storage fees and terms.
Protocols for transporting eggs.
Legal ownership and consent rules (especially if you're doing this with a partner).
Costs and processes for using the eggs in IVF later.
Also, check if the clinic helps with future steps like embryo creation and transfers—or if you’d need to move elsewhere. The more you know now, the less overwhelmed you’ll feel later.
The Bigger Picture
Egg freezing can feel clinical, transactional, even lonely at times. But here's what to remember:
✨ You are not just a patient or a statistic.
✨ You are not “overreacting” for wanting clarity (or asking a thousand questions)
✨ You are allowed to advocate for yourself, ask uncomfortable questions, and walk away from a clinic that doesn’t feel aligned.
At Klia, we believe fertility care should be transparent, compassionate, and empowering. You’re not just freezing eggs—you’re building options, hope, and agency over your future.
Choosing a clinic is more than a medical decision. It’s about finding a place that sees you, listens to you, and supports you every step of the way. These five questions are just the beginning—but they’ll help you filter out the noise and move forward with confidence.
A Final Word (From Someone Who’s Been There)
If you're feeling overwhelmed, know you're not alone. And if you’re still in decision-making mode, you’re already ahead of the game.
Ask the questions. Trust your gut. Take notes. Take a break. Come back when you’re ready.
You’ve got this. And if you ever need someone to talk it through with, we’re always here.
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Written with love and experience by the Klia team.
