Bringing joy and happiness in time for Christmas

Reflecting on 2023 not only fills me with joy, but also a great deal of emotion! It has been quite a special year for the Agora Clinic in more ways than one, writes Carole Gilling-Smith.

Back in January we said goodbye to our old clinic in Hove, which had been our home for over 15 years and where we had brought joy to over 4,500 families. They say moving house is very stressful but, believe me, moving a whole IVF clinic is on another level altogether! Imagine the complexity of moving thousands of little frozen embryos, tucked up safely in their liquid nitrogen storage tanks, by convoy along the Old Shoreham Road, following the extremely strict regulation required by our industry. I am so grateful to those in my team who planned and executed the whole move with such military precision. Everything arrived at 138 Dyke Road safe and sound, and we officially opened with our first egg collections on the 18th January and completed the last embryo transfer at our old clinic in Hove on the 20th January, closing our doors for the final time.

We celebrated our move with a Grand Opening event where 28 lucky Agora children conceived through IVF at our old premises were invited back to visit where they had been made. Our young visitors and their parents were given a once in a lifetime chance to meet the doctors and scientists who had helped create them and get a behind the scenes look at all the fascinating equipment and techniques we use. The older children were very curious to find out more about how babies are conceived and meet other IVF-conceived children, and one of our teenagers, Albi, was featured on ITV Meridian News speaking about his experience. The children all received a signed certificate of their visit and a personalised video as a keepsake of how they and other Agora children were made, including some very special and emotional staff testimonials.

In our new clinic we have continued to do what we do best, make babies! Over two thirds of our patients received their treatment fully funded by the NHS, but in contrast to other NHS provision, their experience has been on a par with private healthcare – all our patients are seen within 2 weeks of being referred and experience no waiting time to start their treatment. We receive so many lovely testimonials each week, but a common theme prevails; the kindness, compassion, and professionalism of our team, whatever the outcome.

So far in 2023 we have seen tiny little beating hearts on 225 of our early pregnancy scans after successful treatment. So, a very exciting Christmas ahead for so many of our patients who started the year desperate to be able to realise their dreams of having a family. We have also been able to help 33 people diagnosed with cancer to freeze their eggs or sperm urgently before they started their chemotherapy, and 22 trans folk preserve their fertility before starting gender affirming hormones and over 200 more patients entrusted us to help them preserve their fertility for other reasons.

We have also continued to be the leading provider of fertility and reproductive health education in the South-East by offering free seminars in schools, the workplace and at national conventions such as the Modern Family Show in London.

All praise to my team of doctors, nurses, scientists, and admin staff who have continued to live our vision and values every single day this year. They are the beating heart of our successful fertility service, where I am proud to say we enjoy one of best workplace cultures and wellbeing programs in the healthcare sector. Look after your staff, and rest assured they will take care of your patients! Alongside the state-of-the-art medical expertise and science that helps us create life in our laboratory, every member of my team is committed to making our patients feel they are not alone on their journey to parenthood, whatever that journey may look like.

As a fertility clinic, we believe in supporting parents and their unborn child long after the moment of conception which is why we are so committed to supporting children and teenagers as they grow and develop into adults through our ‘giving back’ charity work. This year, one of the charities we pledged to support was Rockinghorse, which provides vital resources, equipment, and professional help to the most vulnerable children in Sussex, whatever health hurdles they have to overcome. In March, we were proud to be the Headline sponsor for the Annual Rockinghorse Glitter Ball, where over 58K was raised and we are delighted to be the Headline Sponsor for their Glitter Ball again in 2024! We also raised funds for Rockinghorse during our Grand Opening as well as supporting their Making Herstory Event for International Women’s Day. As I write, we have a number of very excited team members who are in full training for their Santa Dash on 9th December, where we hope to smash it again on the fundraising front!

Our belief in nurturing and creating a loving environment for every child, regardless of their background, goes beyond borders, which is why we also chose to support a small orphanage in rural Zambia called Cameron’s Orphanage. Between us, we sponsor two of the little orphans and funded the rebuild of the charity’s website earlier this year as well as helping to fund a clinical room for the orphans when they become unwell. Our current project is to collect unwanted toys and story books to send out there in time for Christmas.

So, all in all, a great year for the Agora, and I will soon be revealing some of our exciting projects for 2024!

The Agora Clinic is committed to helping individuals and couples from all walks of life, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, or religious beliefs, fulfil their dreams of starting a family. We have clinics in Brighton, Eastbourne and Worthing. To find out more, visit our website agoraclinic.co.uk