The Agora Clinic – a true family business in Brighton

Inclusivity and hope at the heart of cutting edge fertility clinic, led by world renowned experts who use pioneering techniques while delivering exceptional care.

The Agora Clinic in Brighton is a family business in every sense of the word. Founded in 2007 by Consultant Gynaecologist and fertility expert Carole Gilling-Smith, the Agora recognises that there are many diverse pathways to parenthood, that every parenting dream is unique and that every individual may encounter different hurdles and emotional needs along the way. This forms the cornerstone of the Agora philosophy which is to combine medical and scientific expertise with a nurturing, holistic, patient centric approach to ensure the emotional and physical needs of every single person who embarks on a fertility journey is fully addressed every step of the way. This bespoke, individualised approach to fertility healthcare, with a strong focus on inclusivity and diversity, is what has established the Agora as one of the leading fertility clinics –  not just in the South East but in the whole of the UK.

Their approach is refreshing at a time when the UK and global fertility industry is growing exponentially in response to a rising demand for fertility care and the number of fertility expert-led, independent clinics like the Agora is rapidly declining. By the start of 2023, over 85% of IVF care in the UK was being delivered by large scale corporate entities or clinic ‘chains’ funded by private equity. The downside with this approach to medical care is that investors have little interest in the individuals receiving treatment and success is primarily measured by the number of IVF cycles generated by the clinic and the profit made. The human suffering behind such an approach can be immense, particularly for those who are misguided into having IVF in the first place or suffer repeated failed attempts.

The Agora has grown significantly over the last 16 years to become the largest provider of NHS and privately funded fertility care in Sussex. They have also developed a strong following of patients who praise the clinic’s 40 strong staff for their commitment to taking the time to deliver their excellent services in the most humane and sensitive way. 

The clinic has always pioneered the latest scientific developments in the field of fertility and Carole leads a strong team of world renowned medical and scientific experts which ensures that anyone coming for treatment can expect the very best possible outcome. 

Each year the UK fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) publishes IVF clinic success rates and the Agora is proud to have the highest IVF success rate per embryo transferred of any clinic in London and the South East and the 5th highest success rate in the UK. But the HFEA also recognises that successful pregnancy outcome is not the only measure of a good clinic and other factors should be considered. The Agora has won numerous accolades for their exceptional patient support and customer care which is what sets them apart from other clinics. More importantly, they are proud to be able to deliver the same high quality of care to NHS-funded patients as they do to those who self-fund their treatment and they have no waiting lists for either! 

Doctor Carole is a mother of three  herself, and often speaks of this being the driving force behind her mission to deliver better fertility care. “Nothing is more special than the love and unique bond between parent and child. Although I never needed IVF myself, having children was the most special and treasured gift life has given me and I have always strived to ensure those who cannot conceive naturally, not only get the help they need, but receive the very best support and emotional help in what can otherwise be a very complex journey to navigate and a huge emotional roller coaster.” She has dedicated her career to ensuring that everyone who needs fertility help is empowered with the knowledge to understand their fertility and the treatment options they can pursue so that patients coming to the Agora are all given the opportunity to make informed decisions. 

She believes everyone should be able to access NHS funded medical expertise if they need fertility treatment and that this should not be postcode lottery driven, nor exclude those that are taking a more modern route to parenting. Sussex is blessed with one of the most generous and diverse NHS funded fertility programs in the UK and nearly 70% of the fertility cycles carried out at the Agora are fully funded by the NHS. The Sussex policy includes funding for up to 3 cycles of IVF in women under 40, egg donation for those who have had a premature menopause and donor sperm treatment for male infertility, same sex couples and single women.

Although the Agora clinic was originally based in Hove, in 2021 they acquired new premises at 138 Dyke Road, Brighton. These were formerly owned by The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS). The project to transform the old, tired and dilapidated Edwardian building, which had housed a pregnancy termination clinic, into a state of the art IVF clinic was a huge enterprise, worthy of Grand Designs! The result is stunning and resonates with the ethos of the clinic which is to put emotional and physical wellbeing at the centre of everything they do, both for patients and staff. 

The clinic is bursting with light and colour, with different green hues throughout and a real sense of calm and serenity prevails. Most healthcare settings still insist on using unimaginative names for individual rooms such as Consulting or Ultrasound room but at the Agora, each room is imaginatively named after a fertility God or symbol with many ethnic groups or religions across the globe represented. 

The themes of inclusivity and hope also prevails with the use of names like Rainbow Suite for the area where all the magic happens in the laboratory and Ice Suite where the little frozen embryos are stored. Patients can even catch a glimpse of the embryology team busy at work in the lab through some glass doors.  

Earlier this year, in a unique event celebrating the launch of their new clinic, 28 Agora children conceived through IVF over the last 15 years at their old premises were invited in to discover how they came to be.  The young visitors attending with 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 the fascinating equipment and techniques that are used in IVF and see videos of how an egg and sperm develop into human life. 

Some of the Agora’s oldest children are now teenagers and had many interesting questions to ask. Young Albi, now 13 and conceived through ICSI using donor sperm, attended with his mother Amanda Heatherington. 

He was fascinated by the laboratory processes that are involved in creating life and wanted to know more about why people donate their eggs and sperm and whether he would one day get to meet his sperm donor. He was particularly excited to meet other children who, like himself, had been conceived with the help of IVF, something he had never had the chance to do before. He even chatted to some of the other parents like Faye Mills Maye, a mother of three children conceived through sperm donation who donated her eggs at the Agora clinic four times. 

She spoke with Albi and Amanda about her reasons for being an altruistic donor and said: “I felt incredibly grateful to our children’s sperm donor for giving us the chance of having a family and I wanted to do the same in return and help others by donating my eggs.” 

You can see the video of Alby and Amanda being interviewed in a short film of the event ‘Discovering IVF’.  

All the children attending were given a signed certificate of their visit and a personalised video of how Agora and other IVF conceived children are made, including some very special and emotional staff testimonials. 

Speaking at the event, Carole said: “Moving to new premises allowed us to plan and design the perfect fertility clinic environment for our patients and we placed emotional wellbeing during the fertility journey high on our list of requirements. We also put our staff at the heart of the project by creating a work environment that embraced their needs as healthcare professionals so they could be in the best position to look after our patients. 

“Another big aim for me was to create a fertility clinic that was environmentally sensitive, and we put sustainability at the top of our agenda and ensured we did all we could to protect the young lives we are creating from the future dangers of climate change. We repurposed an old building, ripped out all the oil and gas fuelled central heating systems and replaced them with sustainable sources of energy. Where possible we used recyclable materials. There is plenty more to do but ‘The Agora Green Project’ is well and truly underway and we have plans to open our fertility garden later in the summer. However, creating this special environment and having the most advanced equipment is only part of our mission; the real magic comes from my team who ensure every person’s IVF journey, whatever the outcome, is unique and special, filled with positive emotions and memories.”

The opening party was a unique opportunity for Agora families to come together and share their stories and for IVF children, who ranged from toddlers to teenagers, to see what processes go into creating life. Inviting these young people back to explain a bit more about why and how they came to be and answer all their questions was also a very special moment for the team as fertility professionals. It has always been so important to Carole that fertility treatment is demystified and explained to IVF and donor conceived children from a young age and what better way to do this than giving them a chance of going back to the place where it all started for them.

During the course of this event, the clinic raised over £1,200 for two children’s charities they support; Rockinghorse, the official fundraising charity for the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, and Cameron’s Orphanage in Zambia that nurtures and supports orphaned children.

Carole often refers to her clinic as a ‘true family business’ as not only does the Agora help to create families, her husband and growing family have supported the clinic since it first opened in 2007. She is especially indebted to her husband Stephen Ulph whose company Oriole Constructors built both the old and new clinics and her daughter Michèle Gilling-Ulph, who was only 11 when the clinic opened, but is now the clinic’s Director of Operations and Egg Donation lead. Her sons are also both involved; Sebastian, who is a film maker, supports the Agora’s brilliant and diverse patient educational program through his videos and short films and their youngest Christopher plans to study medicine and has been working in the clinic during his gap year as a fertility healthcare assistant before heading off to University.  

Carole has an extensive research portfolio on a wide range of fertility issues spanning three decades and has published numerous pivotal scientific publications in the field. However, it is her dedication to medical advancement combined with an entrepreneurial mind, that has led to her innovating the way fertility care can delivered and pushing forward the boundaries. In 1999, she pioneered the UK’s first program of fertility care for those living with HIV through a ground-breaking sperm washing program which completely transformed the lives of those who had until then believed that having a family was out of their reach. Coming to Brighton from London, she addressed the lack of fertility care for another minority group by setting up bespoke programs of care for those in the LGBTQ+ community. The Agora has become well recognised nationally and internationally as the leading authority on LGBTQ+ fertility pathways having helped hundreds of couples and individuals find safe and fulfilling roads to parenthood, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

In recent years, Carole has given up a lot of her time to educate organisations, schools and other healthcare professionals about fertility health. She believes all organisations should be now developing comprehensive fertility policies for their employees, providing guidance, financial and emotional support and time off work for appointments for those on a fertility journey. Likewise, she has been working with local schools to modernise the way fertility education is delivered to ensure young people start their adult lives with a far greater understanding of their own fertility health and the potential health risks that could reduce their chances of having a family in the future.

Although the Agora’s flagship clinic is in central Brighton, the IVF journey can involve numerous appointments so patients can also choose if they wish to use one of the Agora satellite clinics in Eastbourne or Worthing to reduce the need to travel to central Brighton for every visit. For more information, visit their website www.agoraclinic.co.uk.