Questions to bring to your first consultation — the ones no one thinks to ask
Curated from hundreds of community responses. The questions that matter, grouped by topic, ready to print and bring with you.
What's included
Questions about your specific test results and what they mean for you
Protocol questions — what to expect, what's adjustable
Questions about success rates for your specific profile
What to ask about embryo storage and future cycles
Practical questions about monitoring, timing, and clinic access
Space to add your own questions before the appointment
PDF · 2 pages · Free
Your first IVF consultation will cover a lot of ground. Protocols, timelines, costs, tests. Your consultant will be thorough. But there are questions that rarely get asked in that room — not because your clinic is hiding anything, but because they're asked from the inside of a process that you're only just joining.
This guide was built from the questions our community submitted after the fact. The things they wished they'd asked at the start. We've grouped them below, and there's a downloadable printable version at the end of this page.
About your specific situation
What does my individual profile suggest about how my body is likely to respond to stimulation? This is different from general statistics. You want to understand what your AMH, AFC, and other markers mean for you specifically — not the average patient.
Are there any results from my initial tests that you'd want to investigate further before we start? Sometimes clinics proceed when it might be worth pausing. It's okay to ask.
"I wish I'd asked what 'monitoring' actually meant — how many scans, how often, what they were looking for. I arrived at the first scan not knowing what I was hoping to hear."
About the process
Walk me through what a typical cycle looks like at your clinic, day by day. Ask for a written version if one exists.
Who will I speak to on weekends, bank holidays, and outside clinic hours? IVF doesn't follow business hours. You need to know who picks up.
What happens if my response is different from expected — too high, too low? Clinics should have a clear protocol for both scenarios. Ask to hear it.
About success and statistics
What are your clinic's success rates for someone with my profile? Clinic-wide statistics are less useful than rates for your age group, diagnosis, and embryo stage. Ask specifically.
How do you define a successful outcome in your statistics — positive test, clinical pregnancy, or live birth? These are very different numbers. The answer matters.
About support
What emotional support do you offer, or can you refer me to, during and between cycles? Some clinics have counsellors. Others don't. It's worth knowing before you're in the middle of it and looking for help.
The downloadable version of this checklist is formatted to print and bring to your appointment. You don't have to ask every question — use it as a prompt, and mark the ones that matter most to you.
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