Reviewed by the Progyny Clinical Team — December 2025.
If you haven’t visited a fertility clinic and are wondering what the experience is like, don’t worry — this video walks you through the first steps into a typical fertility clinic and gives you a look into what happens in each room.
Initial consultation visit
Your first conversation about treatment options typically takes place in your doctor’s office. This is when they gain a greater understanding of your situation through an initial evaluation or consultation, getting to know you, your medical history, and your family building goals.
The initial evaluation usually also involves some bloodwork at the phlebotomy room, and an ultrasound. This ultrasound and blood work can give the doctor significant information about your reproductive health, and from there a diagnosis and plan of action can be quickly determined.
If you are doing a timed intercourse or intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycle, you will come into the office a few times for ultrasounds (and possibly bloodwork), so that your treatment can be perfectly timed.
If you are doing IVF, you will come into the office multiple times throughout your treatment. In a two-week stimulation cycle, you might come into the office 4 to 8 times for morning monitoring. This will include a pelvic ultrasound in the exam room, and more blood work.
You are also taking action at home. It could be taking oral medicines and supplements for treatment like timed intercourse, or intrauterine insemination. If the treatment is IVF, you will self-administer 2 to 3 injectable medicines for a couple of weeks. These injectable medicines are the hormones that allow doctors to retrieve multiple eggs in an IVF cycle.
Collection room for sperm sample collection
A semen sample is usually requested early during the evaluation phase and then again later when it’s time to fertilize the eggs. Your partner can sometimes provide a sample that is collected from home or can provide a sample collected at the clinic in their designated collection rooms.
These are often located next to the andrology lab where the sperm is cleaned, tested, or prepared for fertilization. The andrology lab also contains tanks for storing frozen sperm.
Other areas of the fertility clinic
There are a few other areas of the fertility clinic that you may use on your journey. Many of today’s best clinics have in-house psychiatric services, which are typically available to most patients.
All patients who utilize donor eggs, donor sperm, and traditional surrogacy tend to require a psychological exam. Clinics may have a health and nutrition expert who could assist you if your doctor recommended diet and exercise.
For IVF, it leads to a surgical procedure called egg retrieval, which typically takes place in the clinic’s operating room. One part of the fertility clinic that makes a huge impact is one that patients rarely get to see — the embryology lab.
Embryology lab tour
An embryology lab is responsible for the safe handling of eggs, sperm, and embryos. There’s space in the incubator labeled with two unique identifiers for you and your partner and on the inside again, so the shelf and the place in the incubator are labeled, too.
Progyny is here for you if you have questions. Please contact your Progyny Care Advocate for support.
Disclaimer: The information provided by Progyny is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical guidance.