CREATE Fertility Bristol

Under 35 is CREATE Fertility Bristol's best-performing age band, while 38-39 currently lags furthest behind the national figure. The clinic's overall live-birth rate is 4%, against a national average of 8% — a below average result on HFEA's rating. This is also a low-volume clinic with a small number of total cycles recorded, so these figures can shift noticeably year to year. It's worth asking how the numbers have moved over recent reporting periods.

It's a live-birth rate per embryo transferred, taken from HFEA-verified regulated data covering 2016-18. Two checks are worth making before setting this against another clinic's number: whether both are measured per embryo transferred or per cycle started, since these give different results, and which years each figure spans. Clinics don't always publish on the same cycle, so it's a fair question to put to the clinic directly.

Good questions to bring to a consultation: what's included in the quoted price, and what add-on costs are typical — freezing, medication and storage are common extras; what were your live-birth rates for my age group in the latest HFEA data, since this is a low-volume clinic where the headline figure may not tell the full story; and how many cycles like mine you carry out each year. A good consultant will welcome all of this.

The clinic quotes prices from £800, but that's usually just the starting point. Medication, freezing, storage and any add-ons are the typical gaps between a quoted price and what treatment ends up costing. Rather than assume the figure is comprehensive, it helps to ask for a full breakdown before booking. A useful direct question is: what is not included in this price? — the answer usually surfaces anything you'd otherwise find out later.