A few years ago I was asked if a Handbook to accompany a training programme run by my society – the British Fertility Society and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of which I am a Fellow. It seemed like a good idea at the time and I agreed to edit it. I have learnt a lot since then.

The British Fertility Society was founded by, amongst others, Patrick Steptoe of IVF fame and is now over 40 years old. It has developed into a multidisciplinary learned body promoting best practice in our subspecialty of Reproductive Medicine. The training programme, just one of the society’s many activities, is an annual meeting with a broad appeal attractive to trainee doctors, senior doctors looking to update their knowledge, overseas doctors looking for a new perspective and members of other disciplines and specialties wishing to gain insight into the world of infertility. The course covers the full range of fertility investigation and management as well as an introduction to the laboratory. It is delivered by highly qualified specialists.

A Handbook for the programme needs to reflect, at least in part, the content of the teaching and so it was that this book was conceived. What could be simpler than asking those faculty members to write a chapter each and curate it? It has been a significantly different process than I expected.

Specialists are individuals and behave in individual and often idiosyncratic ways. Gradually, however, ‘Subfertility, Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction’ took shape. The book is comprehensive but not all encompassing. It offers practical everyday guidance backed by evidence. It covers background knowledge and clinical experience. It makes for engaging reading through the voices of the individual authors of which there are 32 – many of them household names in our specialty. It is a training Handbook – a starting point for many, a refresher, and potentially a subject for debate.

I make no apologies for placing the Chapter by Kate Brian at No 1. This Chapter, entitled The Patient Perspective, I hope sets the tone for best practice in our specialty. Putting patients at the centre of our work must be our number one priority.

As a Handbook for training I hope readers will find this book both stimulating and informative. It is no longer a Handbook but a text in its own right with concise chapters written with authority. Having agreed to put this book together I was at times concerned it would not happen. It is a privilege to see it finally in print with my own name on the cover when I know there is so much expertise within.

Subfertility, Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction is available as a hardback, ebook and on Cambridge Core.