Unexplained Infertility - IVF Abroad?

[AliceRidgewood]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this page and hoping someone can point me in the right direction.
TTC 25 months now :( and loosing hope of conceiving naturally.
My partner and i are in our early 30's. He has two children from a previous relationship and i have been pregnant once when i was 18.
We are both healthy weights and live a healthy lifestyle.
We both have had full fertility tests and everything we can possibly test has come back as OK. Doctors have deemed unexplained.

We are now unfortunately coming to the realization we might need to look at IVF and are considering going abroad for lower cost.
Can anyone suggest a good/safe clinic as i have no idea where to start! there are so many options and things to consider.

Thank you in advance (p.s any miracle story's are welcomed!) ;)

Hi,

Have you had your tubes checked with a Hycosy/HSG scan? What about a Sonohysterogram/Aqua scan to check for fibroids/polyps/adhesions? I’d advise having those two done (if you haven’t already) before you consider IVF.

Have you read the book “It starts with the egg”? It really does give you advice to improve egg and sperm quality. I changed my lifestyle and took a load of the supplements recommended in the book and have just had a very successful IVF cycle in Cyprus (7 chromosomally normal embryos in the freezer) My cycle before making these changes was a bust. I also conceived my son naturally after making the changes, but have moved on to IVF again to complete my family as both of my tubes are now blocked.

Happy to help in any way I can if you have any questions x

It sounds silly to ask but are you still having lots of sex? Not just on the days you think you might ovulate or on the following days? I had friends who realised that just twice a month wasn’t enough...

There are lots of "cheap" IVF clinics in the U.K. - they ABC which does an all in ICSI round for £3.5k which is comparable to foreign clinics without the hassle of booking travel

Don't underestimate the advantages of using a local clinic to you - in the event you need extra medication scans or treatment or just support

What tests have you both had done to date, it may well be that you have not had all the tests done at all. BTW a result of any test done over 6 months ago should be discounted, you need up to date test results.

Unexplained is not a diagnosis at all; it means that they have failed to find out what is wrong. Sometimes its a "diagnosis" given to couples when they as a couple have not been adequately investigated.

@AttilaTheMeerkat @LizziesTwin @VillageFete @itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted
Thank you very much for your responses to my post. I had a Hycosy scan which showed completely normal. The doctor felt an aqua scan was not necessary. I’ve had all blood tests and parts SA was fine.
We have tried through NHS and privately, all only a few months ago.
We have sex very regularly, 4/5 times a week. Tried supplements, diets, limiting alcohol and caffeine. I’ve tried to not stress, forget about it, time it correctly...you name it

We have been recommended ABC and have sent an email enquiry but have yet to hear back. The whole IVF route terrifies me and I would do anything to not have to go down that road but I feel I’ve exhausted all other avenues now :( I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

All the tests we had privately were in London (about an hour away) so exploring the possibility of going somewhere local might be a good option. I’m just worried that I’ll pay £200 for ANOTHER consultation and they will look over my stuff and say the same thing to us.

@VillageFete thank you for the book recommendation 😊 I’ll order for on amazon.

As I’ve said I’m my last post I’ve had the hycosy scan about 3 months ago at Harley street, London’s women’s clinic but the doctor felt given the result an aqua scan was not necessary. I did follow this up with him to make sure but he really pressed the fact i wouldn’t need one.

Not sure what’s left to explore as all test results have been fine. It’s very confusing and frustrating.

I wasn’t aware you could actually change your egg quality!

Congratulations!! did you go to Dunya clinic in Cyprus? I’ve heard good things...was it your first try? X

@AliceRidgewood So, partner’s SA was ok and your tubes are ok? You definitely ovulate, no PCOS? I guess it’s a case (at this point) of just working on egg and sperm quality. This is SUPER important!! My partner took Fertilaid which helped immensely.

No, not Dunya. I wanted full PGS testing on my embryos to check for chromosome abnormalities and Dunya didn’t offer that (Only PGD which only tests 5 chromosomes) I’m with British Cyprus clinic and cannot fault them. There’s also one called Crown in Cyprus that are very good. Not sure about names but there’s also some very good ones in Greece and Spain.

I’d had IVF in the UK with poor results, but I hadn’t worked on egg quality at that point. The UK clinic didn’t offer PGS testing though and this became a deal breaker for me. I wanted to be sure the embryo I would be putting back was euploid/healthy, otherwise it’s money down the drain.

Have you had your AMH tested? This is a very important indicator as to how you may fare with IVF. I got all my bloods done on Medichecks. You need AMH/LH/FSH and bloods to check your TSH wouldn’t hurt. Make sure you are taking high dose Vit D too. If you can, i’d order some bloods off Medichecks and then you’ll see if that shows up a problem before IVF. You’ll need your bloods doing anyway for them to draw you up a protocol. X

@villagefete - partners SA was perfect.
All my bloods were fine as well - LH,FSH,AMH,TSH all came back ok. i have copies of all the times I've been tested - once with NHS and once privately.
My tubes and ovarian reserve were fine in both scans i had.
I ovulate every month without fail - usually to the day my temp & tests detect ovulation.

When i first started investigations with NHS (about 1.5 years ago now) i tested fairly high in prolactin levels but after a further 2 tests they were normal again.

I had a long consultation with private doctor in the summer and he said there was nothing left to investigate besides the egg quality which is pretty much IVF as i understand it. He suggested we wait until the end of the year - which has been and gone now.

As ive said - i terminated a pregnancy when i was 18 and my partner has two children from a previous relationship so we have both proven it can happen but 2.5 years down the line i'm not so confident.

Were both very healthy, eat well, work out, good weights and not TOO old as far as fertility is concerned (30 & 34)

I will read up a little on improving egg quality - i am stunned that you can do that and this is the first im hearing of it!

Although i have all my bloods on record with nhs & clinic i could always do it a 3rd time. it cant hurt i suppose!
Thank you for the advise on these things.

Me and the OH were considering Dunya as an abroad option however since learning there are a few 'low cost' clinics in the UK we are now conflicted. The whole process really scares me. Im not 100% sure i can take the pressure of it all :( i got so depressed last year x

@AliceRidgewood You can and you will and it’ll all be worth it - I swear! I’ve done 3 cycles now. It’s tough but bearable.

If your egg quality is poor, IVF can’t fix it, you have to. Good luck finding a UK Dr who’ll agree with supplements etc... they say not enough studies have been done. US Dr’s disagree and actively encourage patients to take Ubiquinol COQ10 as well as other things. I’m also proof that supplements and a “cleaner” lifestyle massively improve egg quality. For one, I conceived naturally after almost 5 years after implementing these changes for 3 months, and also if you compare my before and after IVF cycles they are night and day. For me, working on egg quality was a game changer. I believe Fertiliaid gave my partner’s sperm a boost, although his sperm was never the issue.

If you can find a decent UK clinic then stay here, but i’d always recommend considering PGS/ACGH testing of all the chromosomes. I’ve had an IVF chemical pregnancy/early miscarriage m and this could have been avoided had the embryo been tested.

Do you have your test results to hand? Would be interesting to see your TSH and AMH in particular.

I reckon you might just need to give your egg quality a bit of a helping hand. It’s easily done x

I know you said you were an hour from London but if your near Cambridge or Ipswich then CambridgeIVF is really good value as they are NHS/private clinic and offer IVF at cost. Also don’t recommend unnecessary extras as they’re not making money from them. I’ve been really happy with my care.

Ditto for ubiquinol (reduced, active form) or CoQ10, and a water and fat-soluble form will absorb better. Good luck!