We’re delighted to welcome two new Scottish clinics – The Natural Fertility Centre, Edinburgh, and Ninewells Hospital, Dundee – to our network of hubs and clinics, offering men convenient and discreet access to our world leading Exact® tests for Sperm DNA fragmentation.

The formation of these new partnerships is good news for couples struggling with infertility in Scotland. With every new partner clinic and hub, we make it easier for more men to access our sperm DNA tests to understand the quality of their sperm, providing answers that can help them to make the best possible start on their fertility journeys.

Our New Hub – The National Fertility Clinic (NFC), Edinburgh

The NFC is an institution with 20 years of experience in offering complementary techniques to support fertility treatment. As well as understanding the latest advances in fertility treatments, the NFC team are sensitive to the specific needs of individuals, providing a supportive environment at what is an emotional and highly stressful time for couples.

Sperm are sensitive and don’t live long outside the body, therefore it is not possible for patients to post samples directly to a lab for testing. Samples must be flash frozen in liquid nitrogen within one hour of ejaculation to ensure the DNA integrity remains intact. As one of our hubs, the NFC offers facilities for sperm drop-off so that men within a one-hour radius can produce samples in the comfort of their home and drop them off at the NFC to be flash frozen and sent to our Belfast lab for testing. With a 7–10 day turnaround time, individuals receive their results from the fully-trained NFC staff who can provide a clear interpretation with the highest possible professionalism.

“We’re delighted to offer fertility clinics with patients who live within an hour of our facility, access to the Exact tests and provide a comfortable, discreet and efficient sample collection and shipping service,” stated Rachel Forrest, Co-founder and Clinic Director, The Natural Fertility Centre. “Exact tests are the most comprehensive sperm DNA analysis available, recommended by many leading fertility clinics in the UK. We’re proud to be working with Examen.”

Our New Partner Clinic – Assisted Conception Unit (ACU), Ninewells Hospital, Dundee

Carrying out assisted conception treatment since the early 1980s, Ninewells ACU aims to provide consistently high quality individualised patient care. “Integrity of sperm DNA is essential for normal fertilisation, embryo development and subsequent pregnancy,” explains Sarah Martins da Silva, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Ninewells. “We want to introduce Exact tests at Ninewells ACU because sperm DNA damage testing can give couples information to help explain why fertility treatment hasn’t worked, particularly if they have experienced unexplained problems with fertilisation or issues with implantation or miscarriage. The challenge is then to try to improve sperm quality and increase the chances of a successful treatment in the future, but we hope that Exact testing will lead to a better understanding of the problems and shape future therapeutic interventions.”

As an NHS Teaching Hospital, Ninewells has the capacity to provide Exact tests on a self-funded basis in addition to NHS funded fertility treatments. Both our team at Examen and the team at Ninewells ACU are excited by the benefits of this partnership. “We recognised the limitations in the current standard screening tests offered to men, and the impact of the unanswered questions around the causes of infertility. This is a private test which couples can purchase should they choose to, in order to gain a clearer picture of the health of the man’s sperm. We are pleased to be able to offer this and we are working closely with the team at Examen to make the test available as soon as possible,” commented the team at Ninewells.

Accessible Answers

With partner clinics providing tests and hubs for sample drop-off in locations including London, Cheshire, Dublin & Belfast and now Edinburgh and Dundee, we’re delighted to announce this expansion of our network.