Mr George Christopoulos is the Medical Director of Ark IVF in Athens, which offers individualised, one-to-one, Consultant-led care to international fertility patients. George is accredited as a Sub-specialist in Reproductive Medicine by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London. During his 15-year-long career in the UK, he has worked as a Consultant in Reproductive Medicine at University College London Hospital and he is currently an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London.

In this episode we will find out everything you need to consider when exploring having your fertility treatment abroad. As the Covid-19 pandemic eases and travel restrictions begin to normalise we speak to someone who can guide those looking at fertility treatment in Europe.

We speak to an expert in the field with many year’s experience caring for patients choosing to have fertility treatment outside of the UK.

Show notes + Links

Ark IVF – Athens, Greece

https://www.totalfertility.co.uk/en/ark-ivf-athens/

Can I currently travel to Greece, Spain or Italy for IVF?

https://www.totalfertility.co.uk/can-i-travel-to-greece-italy-spain-for-ivf/

Fertility Treatment Abroad

https://www.totalfertility.co.uk/fertility-treatment-abroad/

Overview

Thousands of people every year embark on IVF treatment. It can be a challenge, as there is a lot of new terminology to get to grips with in a short space of time. In this episode we look at all the different stages of IVF, and make it easy to understand how general IVF treatment works.

To understand more about the IVF process listen to Ally Richardson, who is our guest and a Consultant Gynaecologist and Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery in the East Midlands.  She has nearly 10 years' experience in the field of fertility including time spent completing research for her PhD.  Ally is therefore well published and has given numerous presentations at both national and international conferences.  Her recent research efforts have focussed on the use of androgen priming in women with reduced ovarian reserve, whether a woman's chronological age or 'ovarian age' is more important in determining perinatal outcome after IVF and the effect of deprivation on IVF outcome.  Clinically, she has a particular interest in ovarian reserve, premature ovarian insufficiency and fertility preservation.  Ally also has an interest in medical education and sits on related committees at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Fertility Society.

Show notes + Links

@DrAllyR

The first discussions about fertility usually take place with a GP. General Practice is there to advise and guide you with your fertility. Many people will never need to see a fertility specialist as there are many preventative early measures that can often help you to get pregnant.

Dr Louise Price qualified from Bristol University in 2003. She completed 4 years as an Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist trainee before changing career path to become a GP.

She has maintained her interest and passion for women’s health and became accredited as ‘GP with Special Interest’ in gynaecology in 2013. She went on to set up a successful community gynaecology clinic in west London where she worked for several years.

She is now based in Bath as a GP but also works as a specialty doctor in gynaecology. Louise talks openly about when patients with fertility concerns should approach their GP for advice and when to get checked if they are struggling to conceive.

Show notes + Links

NICE guidance https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg156/chapter/Recommendations#initial-advice-to-people-concerned-about-delays-in-conception

https://stermemedical.uk/

https://stchadsandchilcompton.org/team/doctors/

Overview

Claire’s life turned upside down on 6th May 2007 when she became paralysed from the chest down in a horse riding accident. Claire fractured her neck, dislocated her back, fractured ribs, punctured a lung and got pneumonia. Luckily the neck fracture didn't damage the spinal cord but the dislocation to the vertebra T4 left her paralysed from the chest down. Claire was a Chiropractor and top level event rider when this freak accident left her unable to do the things she loved.

Although Claire was determined from the start to make the best out of the situation there were plenty of days Claire struggled to even get the motivation to get out of bed. She discharged herself from hospital after only 8 weeks, did a lot of rehab (and still does) and over time she found strength and courage to rebuild her life by finding new interests and work as well as raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for research.

Claire had her own fertility concerns and was unsure if she would ever be able to have a family. Just a year after her accident Claire met and later married Dan, and they had a baby girl - Maisie. Claire had pregnancy difficulties but went on to have Chloe after a challenging pregnancy. S

In 2012 Claire became headline news worldwide. She was the first (and only) paralysed person to walk the London Marathon, she did it in a pioneering robotic suit. It took 17 days and raised £210,000 for Spinal Research. 

Claire was invited to light the Paralympic cauldron in Trafalgar Square at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

Show notes + Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Lomas

@claire80lomas

https://www.claireschallenge.co.uk/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ICORJbevE

Our aim is to make your fertility journey a bit easier. For anyone who has been going through fertility struggles or perhaps is facing difficulties getting pregnant, then this podcast is here to help you.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be looking at how to get a head start with your fertility. We’ll be chatting with experts in their fields and tackling many of the difficult issues surrounding fertility treatment today.