BBC Newcastle is broadcasting a special week of programmes from the Newcastle Fertility Centre this week.
The clinic is the first in the world to be granted a licence to carry out the advanced form of IVF and will start treatment later this year. It is also about to carry out the world’s first licensed IVF treatment using the DNA of three parents, although doctors say they need North East women to donate their eggs.
BBC Newcastle – along with Look North – has had exclusive and unprecedented access behind the scenes at the Centre, which is the biggest in the region.
Breakfast presenters Alfie Joey and Anna Foster will meet North East families affected by infertility and hear from doctors leading an international study to understand what causes male infertility.
Joey said: “I am really looking forward to our week investigating infertility in the North East. I have close friends who have needed a lot of treatment and it will be so valuable to explore both the stress and the science behind it.
“Our brilliant reporter/presenter Katie Cole has lined up a host of great guests and stories that will demonstrate the highs and lows of fertility treatment.”
Foster added: “I felt genuinely privileged to talk to men and women about their journey to become parents. Fertility is taken for granted by so many people, including probably by me.
“I wanted to learn more about the processes families go through but also how to talk about it with them. I couldn’t listen to their experiences without feeling deep emotion but also without getting a far greater understanding of a subject we really need to talk about more often, in more depth and in less hushed tones.”
