First Fertility Clinic Appointment Tomorrow

[dogmam]

Me and my partner have our first appointment with our fertility clinic tomorrow!

We went to the GP after a year of TTC and after 21 day bloods and partners SA, we were referred straight away to the fertility clinic. GP tests were in October/November so it's moved along quite quickly so far.

Feeling slightly nervous but also excited to hopefully get some help! My partners SA showed low motility and morphology so I assume that will be discussed..
What else should i expect from this first appointment? Is there anything I should be asking?

Thanks in advance! I'll update this after the appointment tomorrow as I know there are a few others on here who are in a similar position and might find it useful.

@Kitekat81 amazing - let's hope I feel that way too! That must mean your tubes were completely clear ?

I just got a letter from the NHS saying “my referral is being reviewed”. Is that normal? They said I should hear by the 4th March but if not I need to call after that date, and they gave me a number. I guess communication from them is a start 🤷‍♀️

@Juno231 yep all clear and looking healthy apparently! I did it privately so it was a lot of money to spend to find out that absolutely nothing is wrong, but on balance I think if I hadn't done it I would always be wondering what if...

@kitekat81 that's good news and piece of mind more than anything!

@thislittlebird I didn't get a letter like that but I don't think it's a bad thing, especially as they said you should hear from them next week. Fingers crossed the appointment won't be too long to wait.

@juno231 hope Friday goes ok! I'm nervous for my scan on Monday!

@dogmam thank you I found you all.

Hi guys, I hope you don't mind me joined. I have my first appointment in 2 weeks with gynaecology after my gp referal. Just wondering what your timescales were until you started treatment. We have been ttc for 2 years and we know he has a low count. I've had a day 21 test that's it.

Thanks all x

@dogmam didn't realise you were on Monday! Best of luck to you too

@PurpleUnicorn01 I think the timeline depends a lot on which hospital you're with. I know for some of the ones in London it currently takes around 2 months to apply for funding for IVF and then another 6-8 months waiting list to start it. If they make you redo blood and SA tests plus do a hycosy/hsg before they refer you for IVF that probably adds another couple of months to it I'm afraid. Definitely check the infertility board to see if there are any IVF threads relating to your local CCG? A lot of them talk through the current timelines.

I know some are combining it with private IVF in between - as a lot of the CCGs allow you two private rounds before you forfeit the NHS one. So whilst they're on the 8 month waiting list they carry on privately in the meantime and leverage off the free tests the NHS have done.

@Juno231

We are Birmingham NHS so il will definitely try and have a look. Thank you for your help.

@dogmam hope your getting on okay

Got the SA pot through today! Checked the online appointments and they're released every Friday afternoon for the following week so the waiting times can't be too bad? Unless we ended up trying week after week without managing to get a single appointment lol.

Well that HSG was the most undignified thing I've done in a hospital setting so far. Raised up high on a table in a room with 3 people and naked waist down with my legs in the butterfly position so that a small Indian man could be at eye level with my fanjo lol. Highlight was him cleaning it/wiping it ahead of the procedure, fo sho. Pain wise it was better than expected but still not fun - I genuinely thought I'd poo the table from pain but luckily it only lasted about 30 seconds? That was purely the dye as well, the insertion of the catheter wasn't noticeable.

Dude said my tubes looked clear which is good. In hindsight I wanted to challenge him but my mind wasn't in the right frame for it at the time. I say this as I could see the xrays the whole time and I could very clearly see the outline of my left tube but absolutely nothing on my right? Implying the dye hadn't gone through. But he's the expert!

Ultrasound wise the lady told me nothing about how it went - she did ask some questions though which implied maybe some anomalies? Like she had to clarify with me that I wasn't on any hormonal medication (but from the tone of her voice/confused face it looked like something was indicating it - so not just a fact check pre procedure) and then double checked with me how long ago I came off the pill. So I'm not sure if she saw too many follicles/cysts or none at all (I'm in FW so should have some activity). I won't find out until my next appointment with the fertility clinic though.

Only OH's SA left to do and then next steps!

@juno231

Omg that sounds horrendous. What hospital was that? Hope you've recovered you poor thing x

@PurpleUnicorn01 ah don't worry it was fine and the staff were absolutely lovely. It was at Queen Mary's in SW London

Weird that they didn’t tell you why they were asking @Juno231. I assume the doctor will discuss another time? Did she tell you how many follicles etc?

@thislittlebird yeah last time I had it done the lady told me the basics on the spot and then I had the full results the next day on my NHS app. This one just said it'll take them 7-10 days to write the report and I'll find out the results from whoever referred me there. 🤷‍♀️ Managed to book OH in for an SA next Friday though so will contact the secretary that day and tell her we've had all the tests done so could she please schedule a follow up appointment. Unless she asks me about my 8th July appointment I just won't mention it!

Is the NHS app good? I don’t have it. @Juno231

The inconsistency is kind of annoying but hopefully you’ll get them through soon. My other half needs his SA done again soon. I just got my referral through today and he’s got plenty of time to do it since it’s not until May 17

I’m really annoyed because the delay isn’t on me, they gave me the wrong results and I just have to wait longer because they got it wrong. Ugh.

Another question for all of your further into the referral process than me...will the nhs accept private tests? I am happy to get my tests done privately while I wait for May 17 but I don’t want to pay for them if they make me do them all again anyway.

I know @Kitekat81 got her hycosy private, I’m tempted to do the same but worried they won’t accept it

@thislittlebird I think they should accept it if it's a reputable clinic. When the nhs fertility doctor said it would be a 4 month wait for an hsg we said that we would look into getting that done privately to try and speed things along, she thought that was a good idea and said we could get the results sent over. If the hycosy had shown that my tubes were both blocked, that would be an infertility diagnosis so I think would have put me on the nhs ivf waiting list straight away (waiting list is 10 months). As the hycosy showed that everything is fine, I haven't bothered sending over my results to the nhs clinic as there's not much point. Without a diagnosis we have to wait until we've been trying for 2 years then we would be diagnosed with 'unexplained infertility' and put on the waiting list then. That's going to be too long to wait for us, so if we do go down the ivf route it will have to be private.

@thislittlebird it's worth reaching out to ask but I don't think there's a blanket approach - I've def heard of clinics that insist on redoing what's been done privately. Btw my initial appointment was exactly May 17th but got massively moved forward so hopefully they reschedule it as earlier slots free up!

I got some tests done with Care (who the NHS also use) and I’m considering some more with Kings @Kitekat81 so hopefully it’ll be fine. Maybe I’ll wait until a bit nearer the time and see if they move it forward like they did for @Juno231.

Same here regarding the wait. I can’t wait that long, we’ll go private for IVF later this year I think, if no joy in that time and no chance of clomid. I’m hoping clomid is what the nhs will give me but we shall see if they think I fit the bill.

I hope they do move mine forward, that would be great. I might ring the gynae team anyway and ask if they’ll accept my private tests while I wait.

@thislittlebird yeh it's worth checking before you splash out on tests, it might be they accept from some clinics and not others, so better to know in advance.

I think we'll be looking into ivf in the second half of this year as well. I'll be 40 in November so don't think I can put it off, especially as I apparently have low ovarian reserve.

Yeah I think I will. I hate that it’s the path we have to consider really, because I never thought this wouldn’t work in all the years I debated when to start ttc. But I think it’s best to try it and get the help when late 30s/early 40s. I kick myself a lot for not starting ttc earlier, but can’t change it now.

It’s frustrating how the nhs wait times don’t seem to account for age really.

@dogmam good luck today! Let us know how it goes
@paintfairy same to you :)

Good Luck guys x

Thanks! I'll update later!