Your Guide to IVF & Fertility Support in Tampa Bay
If you are undergoing fertility treatment, you know all too well that it is much, much more than a medical process. Every appointment and two-week wait has its own range of emotion. Having good information and the right people around you can ease the stress of this time.
Understanding IVF and Fertility Treatment
Fertility treatment with IVF, or in vitro fertilization, requires eggs to be retrieved from your ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a lab. Next, the embryo (or embryos) is transferred into the uterus. Other common fertility treatments include IUI (intrauterine insemination), medicated cycles, and donor egg or sperm programs.
We have worked with Tampa families who pursued fertility treatment for a wide range of reasons: ovulation problems, blocked fallopian tubes, infertility, and family-building as a single parent or as a LGBTQ+ couple.
Every fertility clinic has its own approach, but most IVF cycles follow a similar timeline:
Ovarian stimulation: You’ll take injectable medications for about 8-14 days to encourage your ovaries to produce multiple eggs. There will be multiple appointments to monitor your progress with with bloodwork and ultrasounds.
Egg retrieval: The retrieval of the eggs from your ovaries is a brief outpatient procedure performed under sedation. Physically, most people recover from the egg retrieval procedure within a day or two. You may experience bloating and cramping for a bit longer.
Transfer: One embryo (sometimes more) is placed into your uterus. This can happen a few days after retrieval (a “fresh” transfer) or in a later, separate cycle after the embryo’s been frozen (a “frozen embryo transfer,” or FET).
The two-week wait: This 14-day period between embryo transfer and your pregnancy test is a challenging time of uncertainty.
Fertilization: Eggs are fertilized with sperm in the clinic lab, either through standard insemination or ICSI (a single sperm injected directly into the egg).
Embryo development: Your newly fertilized eggs are monitored in the lab for several days as they grow.
Choosing a Tampa Bay Fertility Clinic
Multiple established fertility clinics operate in Tampa Bay. We encourage you to talk to more than one clinic before you make your choice. This is a big financial and emotional investment, and you want to find a team that feels like a supportive partner.
As you interview clinics, here are a few helpful questions to find the right fit:
Preparing for a Cycle: Expert Tips
Your experience of fertility treatment will be unique, but here are some of our top tips to support the journey:
Get organized. IVF requires a lot of logistics such as medication schedules, monitoring appointments, and insurance calls.
Arrange for practical support. Fertility injections are easier with a partner, friend, or family member available to help. If you don’t have anyone you can count on, ask your clinic about a RN or fertility specialist who can help.
Line up a therapist, a good friend, or support group. The hormones you take as part of the process can affect your mood. The stress of appointments, cost, and anxiety around the outcome are significant, and you're going to need support.
Plan for the two-week wait before it starts. Decide ahead of time how you want to handle this time period. Who will you tell? What self-care routine will help? Do you want to test early or wait for the official blood test?
IVF & Fertility FAQ
The Emotional Experience of Fertility Treatment
Fertility treatment takes a toll, even with the best care and support. Each new cycle can bring both hope and the urge to protect yourself from disappointment. Common feelings during fertility treatment include:
- Grief over past pregnancy losses or all the times you did not conceive
- Anxiety around the outcome of each test and procedure result
- Stress related to medical expenses
- Disconnected from friends who got pregnant easily
If you have a partner, their emotional experience of fertility treatment might be different than your own, creating distance or conflict when you need each other most. Talking openly, and respecting different ways of processing the experience, is important.
Support at Buddha Belly Doulas
You don’t have to experience the fertility journey alone. If you’d like one-on-one support while navigating IVF, you can book an hourly consulting session with one of our experienced doulas at any point. This gives you a private space to talk, ask questions, prepare for what may be ahead, or simply have someone knowledgeable in your corner.
Once you are pregnant, that support can grow into a full doula relationship through birth and postpartum. Buddha Belly Doulas has a decade of experience working with families who have conceived through IVF. We understand that pregnancy after IVF may come with added pressure to “get everything right.” There may be more appointments and monitoring, and every milestone can feel especially significant. Some IVF parents are also beginning pregnancy at an older age or after years of trying to conceive.
Our doulas recognize that your road to pregnancy may have been long and winding. They can provide steady, experienced support throughout your pregnancy and birth, while making space for all of the mixed emotions that can come with finally being pregnant.
If your IVF journey has included pregnancy or infant loss, you are also warmly invited to attend our free Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Group. If that feels like the right space for you, you’ll be welcomed with compassion and without expectation.
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Group
Losing a baby is one of the most difficult experiences a family can face. Whether your loss occurred during pregnancy, at birth, or during infancy, you don’t have to navigate your grief alone.
Tampa Bay Fertility Resources Directory
If you're just starting your fertility journey, we encourage you to consult with more than one fertility clinic. If you're already undergoing treatment, we encourage you to find a peer support group or therapist.
Here in Tampa Bay we are fortunate to have a wealth of fertility clinics, therapists who specialize in fertility and reproductive mental health, and fertility peer support groups. Here are some of our top recommendations for local families.
Fertility Clinics
The Reproductive Medicine Group (RMG) / Florida Fertility
Five locations across North Tampa, South Tampa, Brandon, Clearwater, and Wesley Chapel. The largest team of reproductive endocrinologists in the Tampa Bay area. Their lab meets College of American Pathologists accreditation standards, and they offer money-back guarantee packages.
Shady Grove Fertility
Tampa Bay (Westshore) — Fertility testing, IVF, IUI, Clomid (an ovulation-inducing medication), donor egg, male infertility treatment, egg freezing, and LGBTQ+ family building, with financial counseling and refund guarantee options. Located near Tampa International Airport.
The IVF Center(opens in new tab) (Dr. Mark Trolice)
One of the most established IVF and fertility care programs in Tampa, specializing in IVF, egg donation, and LGBTQ+ family building, with in-house sperm testing and processing.
Brown Fertility
Three Tampa locations offering IVF, IUI, fertility-related surgeries, and donor egg/sperm options, with payment plans and financing available.
Florida Fertility Institute (FFI)
Offers individualized counseling for each couple rather than large group consults, with ICSI, donor eggs, assisted hatching (a technique that helps embryos implant), and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT).
Fertility Support Groups & Helplines
RESOLVE Tampa Bay General Infertility Support Group(opens in new tab)
A peer-led general infertility support group based in Tampa, part of the national RESOLVE network. Meets on the first Tuesday of every month from 7:00PM to 8:30 PM ET. Contact the host, Jocie Fletcher, for more info. fletcherconsult821@gmail.com | 813.293.2716
You can also explore the RESOLVE national website.(opens in new tab)
Bridgetown Baby / RESOLVE Family Building Support Circle(opens in new tab)
A monthly peer-to-peer support group (second Tuesday, 7 to 8:30 PM via Zoom) for anyone facing primary or secondary infertility, recurrent miscarriage, adoption, surrogacy, or third-party reproduction.
Fountain Fertility Group(opens in new tab)
A Tampa Bay-based group offering fertility counseling and a mind-body fertility program, with bilingual (English/Spanish) licensed clinical social work support. They also help facilitate the local RESOLVE chapter. Reachable at 813-833-8393.
Fertility Out Loud
A support site for people navigating fertility struggles. It offers free coaching, help finding a specialist, and real stories from other people’s fertility journeys, sorted by where you are in the process (pre-diagnosis, post-diagnosis, or mid-treatment).
Gay Parents To Be
A resource hub for LGBTQ+ people building families through IVF, surrogacy, donor conception, adoption, or foster care. It’s run in partnership with Illume Fertility and includes real patient stories, expert guidance, and a free consult with their reproductive endocrinologist.