Infertility

[Toni8428]

Hi, we have our first consultation for fertility treatment next week and we were wondering if anyone could tell us at what point in the process me and my partner pick our donor? We are both female so got told we automatically qualify for A.I but I also have pcos so if it doesn’t work then we also get ivf. Just wondering how everything works and how long we will have to wait between our first appointment and first attempt.

[Lauren83]

It really depends on your local clinic, there's a 'national shortage' of donor sperm at the moment and some private clinics can take around 2-3 months for matching, some will use a bank such as the London or European sperm bank who you pay directly as they have more availiable, if it's NHS then I'm really not sure I know the current wait time for altruistic egg donors can be a couple of years in NHS units but not sure on alt sperm donors. Is your AI being funding by the NHS or self funded? It usually goes....

-Consult/scans/bloods
-Hycosy/HSG
-Meet with donor team and implications counsellor
-Source sperm
-Receive protocol
-Consent/Teach/Screening bloods

Other clinics may be different though

[Toni8428]

It’s nhs funded, I’ve had all blood tests and scans done which showed I have pcos. Also because we’re a gay couple we qualified for help. Some people told me they waited 2 months and others said 1 year. It ranges so much. And we’re up in Scotland so don’t know if it’s different from England.

[Cherries101]

Not sure how it works in scotland but in england just to get to the clinic you need to have heaps and heaps of scans and blood tests and scans to ensure your thyroid / womb looks right. My clinic also insisted I took metformin and clomid for six months prior to them even seeing me. It took almost 18 months from referral to stims!

[Cherries101]

@tumericmasala - depends on the area. Where I am infertility treatment is on the NHS for infertile people only. So yes same sex couples could have it if one of them had pcos like OP does. It’s not on the NHS if only insemination is required. Might be different in Scotland.

[Toni8428]

And let the gay bashing commence 😂 no we definitely don’t get held to a higher standard or better treatment. I have an infertility problem therefore have been referred for artificial I semination. I was told I get 3 tries of this and if it doesn’t work I am entitled to a round of ivf. All nhs funded which is why we’ve waited so long. It’s not as if gay couples can just make a baby together so of course we need extra help. Just like when a straight couple can’t conceive they get help.

[Lauren83]

Depending on the clinic look on Fertility Friends site as they usually have regional boards for each clinic and a patient from there may give you a better time frame, where I am in the England most CCGs say same sex women and single women have to self fund 6 cycles of IUI to 'prove' infertility and they can then access NHS IVF after that if no live birth, I think it's great they are offering the insemination on the NHS, fingers crossed you won't need the IVF. Hopefully you will get sperm sorted quickly