The team launched our Fertility Podcast “I’d Like To Know”
Waterstone Clinic celebrated 20 years of providing fertility services in Ireland.
The first babies (twins) in Ireland registered with both mothers on birth certificates were born through treatment at Waterstone Clinic.
We know fertility levels decline with age, but fertility is still individual. Having your fertility tested will give you a wealth of information on your hormones and the number of eggs (your “ovarian reserve”) in your ovaries. From here, you can explore your individual fertility timeline, and with the help of our specialists, create a plan of action.
Waterstone Clinic is an independent Irish-owned fertility clinic. Our team is led by medical professionals. We are scientific leaders and have been building families for more than 20 years. Our team will care for you and guide you through every step. Waterstone Clinic has a collection of five clinics across Ireland. DUBLIN | CORK | KILDARE | LIMERICK | WATERFORD
We are experts in fertility science and have delivered over 10,000 babies through our treatments. Our doctors are some of the most experienced fertility clinicians in the country, and our team have achieved a great number of Irish medical firsts for fertility. Our commitment to expertise has led to us becoming an accredited Fertility Training Centre with the British Fertility Society.
Our team is focused on making your dreams of parenthood a reality. We will give you the absolute best chance of having a baby.
Our clinical team at Waterstone Clinic is internationally recognized and nationally celebrated. Our long standing expertise has enabled us to deliver success rates that exceed the standard, and be at the forefront of bringing many advanced and innovative fertility solutions to Ireland.
Our patients know they can trust us, and we are renowned for our patient care. We will guide and support you at every step.
We know fertility levels decline with age, but fertility is still individual. Having your fertility tested will give you a wealth of information on your hormones and the number of eggs (your “ovarian reserve”) in your ovaries. From here, you can explore your individual fertility timeline, and with the help of our specialists, create a plan of action.
Our advanced medical tests are backed with the latest scientific evidence so that you can make informed decisions for your future plans. The main areas under investigation at your consultation are:
The ability to conceive is directly related to the number of eggs in the ovaries. The Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) blood test is a reliable detector of ovarian function and reflects the size of the remaining egg supply. Some people will have an average number of eggs for their age, and others will have higher or lower numbers, which can indicate issues such as PCOS or Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI). Your AMH level will also help the clinician to predict how you will respond to fertility treatment and if egg freezing might be an option for you. AMH results must be interpreted alongside a fertility focused ultrasound scan.
Hormones play a very important part in the ability to conceive. A wide range of hormones have an impact on fertility health. We recommend patients to test Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinising Hormone (LH), Estradiol (E2), Prolactin, T4, TSH, Rubella and Progesterone. Each hormone has a role to play in fertility and your body must produce a specific amount of each hormone at a precise time in your menstrual cycle in order to achieve a pregnancy. These levels will help the clinician to advise you and create a treatment plan.
Paired with your hormone blood results, the ultrasound scan will investigate the health of your ovaries, uterus and pelvis. The specialist will also perform an antral follicle count to confirm the status of your ovarian reserve and complete the picture of your fertility potential.
The specialist may recommend further testing of tubal patency to investigate if there are any obstructions in the Fallopian tubes that would impact your ability to conceive.
Male factor infertility is much higher than most people realise. It is often assumed that fertility is a female issue, but fertility issues are as common in men as they are for women. To make an effective and efficient treatment plan, male partners must also have an up to date fertility test. The first step in testing is a semen analysis.
Some of the parameters that are checked by the andrology team are:
We know fertility levels decline with age, but fertility is still individual. Having your fertility tested will give you a wealth of information on your hormones and the number of eggs (your “ovarian reserve”) in your ovaries. From here, you can explore your individual fertility timeline, and with the help of our specialists, create a plan of action.
When you decide to start your fertility journey, you need to know that the clinic you choose will offer you the best chance of having a baby.
We have been helping our patients to have children for over 20 years. Through our treatments over 10,000 babies have been born and counting.
We know each and every patient’s story is unique and individual, and we are there every step of the way. We love receiving updates from our patients and many kindly allow us to share their stories here and on our social media to inspire other parents-to-be.
Dr John Waterstone MD MSc MRCOG CCST leads Waterstone Clinic and has devoted his life to women’s health and fertility in the pursuit of parenthood for his patients. He has been the leader of many important milestones for reproductive medicine in Ireland.
Dr Waterstone established Waterstone Clinic (formerly Cork Fertility Centre) in 2002. The Centre has since expanded nationally, with additional clinics in Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford. Dr Waterstone prides himself on being at the forefront of Assisted Reproduction in Ireland. He and his team are known internationally and collaborate with top clinics in the USA, UK, Spain, and Cyprus. He has led the introduction of new fertility techniques to Ireland, many of which have become standard practice.
Dr Waterstone was the first to deliver the first babies born following Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) treatments; Pre-implantation Genetic Screening (PGS); and Microsurgical Testicular Sperm Extraction (MicroTESE).
Dr Waterstone’s clinic was the first Irish clinic to implement routine blastocyst culturing, paving the way for elective single embryo transfer. The clinic was also the first to successfully use vitrification for embryo cryopreservation, which improves the viability of frozen embryos.
Dr Waterstone’s career began in the Science Faculty (Genetics) and Medical School of Trinity College Dublin before moving to the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin. Dr Waterstone trained in Obstetrics & Gynaecology before continuing his training and teaching hospitals in London. Dr Waterstone is a consultant obstetrician at Cork University Maternity Hospital and is involved with undergraduate and postgraduate medical education at CUMH. He is committed to leading innovation in Reproductive Medicine in Ireland.
Dr Lowe is a Consultant in Reproductive Medicine and leads the Dublin team. Dr Lowe joined the Waterstone Clinic team in 2021. She has more than twenty years of experience in fertility.
Dr Lowe completed her specialist training at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London, and worked as a Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist in Galway.
Dr Lowe is particularly interested in working with couples on lifestyle issues to improve the chances of natural conception initially.
Appointments for consultations with Dr Eithne Lowe can be made in both Waterstone Clinic Dublin and Waterstone Clinic Kildare.
Dr Komagal Selvakumar is a fertility specialist in the Waterstone Clinic Dublin team.
Dr Selvakumar completed her medical training (MBBS) in India and undertook specialist training in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. After working in this area for almost a decade in hospitals in India, she moved to Ireland to work at the Beacon Hospital.
She joined the Waterstone Clinic team in 2022 to pursue her passion for fertility medicine. She has a particular interest in fertility check, egg freezing and pre-conceptual care.
Fertility tests will give you a wealth of information about your reproductive health and will enable our experts to explore your options and recommend treatment that is tailored to your unique needs.
Not everyone will need treatment; many patients only need good advice or a simple intervention.
The main areas under investigation at your consultation are:
The answers to these questions will guide the team as to what treatment plan will best suit your needs. The approach will depend on your age, test results, past treatments and, of course, your goals and preferences, whether you are trying for a family now or thinking of preserving your fertility.
We test your fertility using advanced medical tests that are backed with the latest scientific evidence. The results will help you make informed decisions and future plans.
One in six couples in Ireland have difficulties conceiving, it is a common experience. If you have been trying to conceive for more than 12 months (or six months if you’re over 35 years of age) without success, you should make an appointment with one of our fertility specialists.
This fertility test package is a detailed fertility assessment for couples including a panel of blood tests, a semen analysis, an ultrasound scan and a discussion appointment with a fertility consultant to review your results and give recommendations. The tests will give you information on your current fertility status and your fertility potential as a couple. It is ideal for couples who are currently trying to conceive or considering a family in the future.
The main areas under investigation at your consultation are:
We recommend the tests to be completed at Waterstone Clinic in advance of your consultation. Your consultant may recommend further tests, which are separate to this package and may incur additional costs.
It’s not always easy to decipher and compare success rates. At Waterstone Clinic, we use the ultimate measure of success, which is a baby born from treatment. When reporting the rates of success from our IVF/ICSI cycles, we look at a complete cycle, which spans from the initial egg collection to any frozen embryo transfers that take place from that same egg collection.
We present our success rates in this way so that it has a real application for patients. IVF treatment has been transformed by vitrification, the freezing technique used at Waterstone Clinic. More and more babies are born every year from frozen embryo treatments: last year, over 50% of babies born in the clinic were born from frozen embryos. Patients can now have their families from one cycle of IVF, so it makes sense to look at each IVF/ICSI treatment as a whole when measuring its success. It also allows us to compare ourselves in a very exact way to leading clinics in the UK and USA.
While many factors influence success rates, the most significant predictor of success is the age of the intending mother. Here are our success rates by age group for blastocyst transfers in an IVF/ICSI cycle for the period 2019 to 2021, and IUI treatment.
A 2019-2021 Statistics for IVF/ICSI Treatment showing the likelihood of a live birth from an egg collection including frozen embryo transfers.
We have had a success rate of 10,000 babies and counting.
This IUI Treatment statistics demonstrates the likelihood of a live birth for a patient from IUI under 35 years of age with normal fallopian tubes and no significant endometriosis
Our team at Waterstone Clinic always strives to be the best, both in Ireland and internationally. The Irish government does not require clinics to officially publish their success rates, however, the UK and USA do, and we use their official reported statistics to compare our clinic against international leaders.
We compare each age category against the USA and UK averages (sources: CDC, 2020 and HFEA, 2018).
The HFEA is the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, a Government regulator responsible for fertility clinics in the UK. SART is the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, the primary organisation of professionals dedicated to assisted reproductive technology treatments in the USA. The CDC is the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention that collates success rates in ART.
| Ages | >35 | 35 – 37 | 38 – 40 | 40 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterstone Clinic 2019 -2021 | 54.3% | 54.3% | 54.3% | 54.3% |
| USA Average | 53.7% | 53.7% | 53.7% | 53.7% |
| UK Average | 35% | 35% | 35% | 35% |
