TTC - where to start?

[Marjatta]

Hi everyone

I'm turning 39 this year, never married and no kids. I love children but I'm also very appreciative of my carefree lifestyle and lazy weekends so the prospect of not having children never troubled me too much.

...That is until about six months ago when I met my partner and fell madly in love with him! Despite the short time together we feel completely settled and certain about our future together. All of a sudden all I see around me is babies and children and pregnant women and my whole body aches for a baby. I have not felt like this before.

My partner is 47 and he had a vasectomy about 7 years ago following several miscarriages with his ex wife. When I brought up the subject of trying for a baby he was understandably a bit hesitant at first, mainly as we'd already planned our near future to include early retirement in Spain. He always did wish for a child though and has gotten more excited about the prospect of being a dad, even researching vasectomy reversals (surprisingly good success rates).

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, I know the odds are massively against us given my age and his vasectomy, but every night I have baby dreams and I want to at least find out if it's worth trying.

Could anyone advise what should be my first steps on this? Could you recommend a fertility clinic (preferably in London) where we could have an initial consultation with a specialist and maybe have some tests done?

Any suggestions / words of wisdom much appreciated, many thanks!

No idea on getting tests done. I did conceive and have my youngest at 39 though so you could be alright.

Has he booked in to see anyone about the reversal?

Have you had your hormone levels checked? I think the GP can check them to see if you have reached the peri menopause?

Tests would have to be private if you wanted them straight away. The vasectomy reversal would seem to be the obvious first step.

I would recommend that you start tracking your cycles at home to check if you are ovulating regularly etc, how long your luteal phase is. This will give you an idea if hormone tests will be useful to you. You can track your cycles using an app/thermometer (although you have to do it religiously every morning to get a clear picture quickly) and you can get ovulation sticks to pee on around the right time to find out what day you ovulate on. You need to know how long the gap is between when you ovulate and when your period starts as this can be crucial to ttc.

If all is well with your cycles, 39 is not a problem. So get tracking, and see if you can get DPs vasectomy reversal sorted. Good luck!