how long did you wait for a nhs referral for ivf?

[victoria401]

Me and dh have just been diagnosed with male factor infertility after 18months of trying. We have a GP appointment June 6th to hopefully get the ball rolling. I presume now we have a diagnoses we won't have to wait the 2 years we were initially told as we have zero chance of naturally conceiving.

What will be the next steps after a referral? Will I need more tests done? I think I will need my bloods repeating before a referral. And dh will need a repeat sa, although it won't really change things as he has 100% antisperm antibodies.

I'm worried that the process will take a very long time with waiting on nhs lists as I'm already 34. How long did you guys have to wait between where I am now to your first ivf?

I look forward to getting to know you and making friends for this tough journey ahead. Me and dh are still reeling from the news and keep randomly crying at the unfairness of life sometimes :-(

[EmmaGH]

Hi Victoria401, I'm sorry to hear about the diagnosis; that's really tough. How has your husband taken it?

We had underlying issues that took us to the ACU last May and we did have to wait until December for the 2 years to be up before we properly qualified, so this may or may not be helpful as we were already in their system, nonetheless: we were put on the IVF list in January, got our meds in the March, which I began taking in April, and the ET was last Wednesday. We could have received the meds in February, but I wanted to time it so that the ET was in May or June.

I'm also going via NHS, and thus far we've had an average of 6 weeks between appointments since we began.

[victoria401]

Our 2 years will be over in December this year. I guess by the time I get my cd21 and cd3 repeats and him his sa repeat it won't be too far away! We were told we needed all our tests repeated within 3 months of a referral. I'm sure the GP said if something was diagnosed we didnt need to wait for month 24, but then in another appointment I'm sure she said we did!

It sounds pretty quick once you're in the system though which is one good thing I suppose. Good luck with your treatment Emma :-)

Hubby has taken it quite bad as you would expect saying he now has "no purpose in life" etc. Its heartbreaking that he feels responsible for something that's just pure bad luck. He's getting lots of cudddles.

[EmmaGH]

Poor guy, he shouldn't feel like that at all. I know completely how he feels, but nature is pretty impersonal; he shouldn't feel responsible for something he can't control.

I'm fairly confident that you won't have to wait till December, considering you have this diagnosis. Fingers crossed you'll get to start asap!