Publicis London Puts England's "IVF Postcode Lottery" to the Test for Fertility Action

Nov. 09, 2026

Publicis London has launched ‘With You Through Testing Times’ with Fertility Action, using pregnancy tests to reveal the experiences that often go unseen across fertility journeys. The campaign culminates today with 30 boxes of negative pregnancy tests delivered to Parliament for National Fertility Awareness Week.

The creative reimagines the pregnancy test window as a space for everything a positive or negative result doesn’t show. Instead of a result, tests reveal real thoughts that might otherwise remain unspoken.

Developed pro bono by Publicis London, the idea grew from personal connections to fertility challenges within the agency, with colleagues and the wider fertility community contributing lines to shape the work.

Across animated DOOH, thoughts including ‘That was our last chance’, ‘Positive... For now’ and ‘Maybe I’m not meant to be a mum’ appear inside pregnancy test windows before fading and being replaced by others.

The stories continue across Fertility Action’s social channels, where contributors share the experiences behind their tests.

For the campaign’s final activation, the pregnancy test becomes a symbol of another issue facing people trying to conceive: England’s IVF postcode lottery. A dedicated DOOH execution highlights that only 25% of IVF cycles in England were NHS-funded in 2024.

New research commissioned by Fertility Action found 86% of people believe it is unfair that access to NHS-funded IVF can depend on where they live, while 94% say treatment should be provided equitably across England. Just 39% knew people can be denied NHS-funded IVF based on where they live.

Fertility Action is delivering 30 boxes of negative pregnancy tests to Parliament, each representing one of the 30 Integrated Care Boards confirmed as offering eligible people just one NHS-funded IVF cycle. Of those, 19 offer only a partial cycle.

People with lived experience will be invited to add pregnancy tests connected to their own fertility journeys to a central collection box, which will later be taken to the gates of Downing Street.

A giant missed-delivery card tells the Government, ‘Sorry you keep missing the issue’, under the campaign line: ‘Thousands of negatives, calling for one positive change.’ A QR code directs people to Fertility Action’s petition to end the IVF postcode lottery. Taylor Herring led PR.

Ruth Railton, Creative & Content Director at Publicis London, said: 

“Pregnancy tests carry an extraordinary emotional weight. Some of us working on this campaign know that from personal experience. A tiny window can represent hope, dread, uncertainty or years of trying. But so often, the outside world only sees the positive result, not all the negatives and everything that came before it. We wanted to give a voice to those unseen moments and the people going through them. With You Through Testing Times brings those intensely private experiences into the open, helping people to see themselves in those thoughts while showing everyone else what fertility can really test. But awareness is only the start. By delivering 30 boxes from 30 areas offering just one funded cycle, the idea moves from the private reality of a pregnancy test to a public call for change.”

 

Katie Rollings, Founder and CEO of Fertility Action, said: 

“Where you live shouldn’t determine whether you have a fair chance to build a family. Yet across England, people are being denied access to fertility treatment simply because of their postcode. Behind every negative pregnancy test is someone facing another month of testing, waiting and wondering. That’s why thousands of negatives are calling for one positive change. We’re asking the Government to ensure NHS-funded fertility treatment follows NICE guidance, giving eligible people fair access wherever they live.”

 

The work builds on Publicis London and Fertility Action’s ongoing partnership, following their gold win in the non-profit category of Ocean Outdoor’s 2026 Digital Creative Competition for ‘The Life Changing Lottery’, an OOH idea exposing inequalities in access to NHS-funded IVF based on postcode.