Infertility investigations/IVF in Scotland - thread 2

[Kitekat81]

A thread for those who are undergoing infertility investigations / IVF in Scotland 🙂

Welcome @GemmTryTTC.

Not sure if its the same as GCRM but I understood from the other Aberdeen ladies that there is a nurse appointment after the consent appointment to confirm the protocol and where you are in your cycle etc. so hopefully won't be too long of a wait for you.

Husband is driving me bloody mental sitting with his laptop on his knee... TTC notwithstanding we also rearranged our bedroom so he could have a desk for WFH.

@GemmTryTTC I have my consents appointment at GCRM tomorrow so I'll be able to tell you more after that. It seems like we've been forever getting to this point so it's getting exciting now I have very low AMH so protocol will be slightly different.

@Kamiros Exciting! Fingers crossed everything goes smooth for you! Let me know how it goes :)
@florafoxtrot Seems right for what I've read and the nurse told me on the phone, consents to sign paperwork, etc, then nurse app for bloods (virology, etc) and go over meds and practical stuff. We've been waiting for a while due to covid amongst others (and got tired of waiting for the NHS, our GP never did the referral properly so it would have been start over) so it feels surreal that it's finally here!

@GemmTryTTC oh cool! We briefly considered egg sharing but was told we couldn’t do both reciprocal and egg share and we have to do reciprocal due to the citizenship requirements of our less lesbian friendly home countries (since we want bb to have both our citizenships)

@Applejuju we are an international couple too :) It sometimes adds a lebel of stress! it was just confirmed to us from my embassy yesterday that we will be both on the birth certificate in both countries as mothers (we're not married so I wasn't sure)

@GemmTryTTC ha what are the chances! that’s so cool that you will both be recognised. We looked into as well and found that unless we gave birth or were DNA related to bb, no dice (even though we are married!) so with reciprocal we can each be either DNA or birth related and that solves it without years of going to court.

@Applejuju It's good that you found a workaround as well! For me it was very important that my partner was recognised in my home country legally (more than for herself haha)

Wow, what's the chances! @Applejuju did they say why you couldn't do both?

@GemmTryTTC it was important for us too, especially living so far from grandparents etc we wanted to make sure travel/passports/rights would not be an issue

@pixelflower using one of our eggs in the other’s body is considered egg donation by HFEA if we are married (debatable if this should be the case, IVF with a partner’s sperm isn’t registered with HFEA as donation, for example) but the person I talked to just said basically they only do donation to one person at a time. I’m not sure if it’s just the clinic’s preference (I think they’d have to sync three cycles) or if it has to do with donation regulations

*even if we are married

@Applejuju thanks for explaining. I understand if syncing three peoples cycles is an issue, but like you say, I wouldn't class it as donation when it's with your partner.

Hi ladies, is it too late to join this thread?

Bit of a back story, myself and DH have been trying officially now for 1 year but NTNP for 6 or 7 months before that. I started getting tested back in October, not just because I wasnt falling pregnant but I mainly because I also had issues with my periods and was worried about premenipause. I had a various tests done over a couple of months, all the standard bloods and eventually had an ultrasound in February, everything so far looks good.

When I was referred for my ultrasound we also thought we better get DH checked, he had a SA done via GP which came back low (1.5 mil) which was pretty upsetting for both of us. We then paid privately to get the test repeated and I also got rhe AMH test. Again everything looks fine on my side and my DH count has actually increased but only to 5 mil (they look for 15+). Basically we have been told conceiving naturally could take a very long time and its not guaranteed it will happen.

After a conversation with GP she has referred us for IVF treatment, no mention of what waiting list is like but I know its likely to be upwards of 1 year.

We have decided to self fund through NHS and this means we can get taken quicker but if it fails then we are still eligible for NHS .. We could not afford to pay more than one round. I'm going to call clinic on Friday to make our payment then get started with consultations etc.

I have a couple of questions but mainly I'm looking for support and some encouragement. I really want to be a mum and carry a child and I really want to see my DH become a father, I think he would be amazing. I'm so worried it won't happen for us, even with IVF (ICSI to be accurate).

Firstly does anyone know NHS waiting lists times for Greater Glasgow area? And i mean the actual start of IVF from point of referral i.e. taking injections and getting ready to go full steam ahead.

Also looking for anyone to share their experience where the diagnosis is firmly on the males side?

Hi @Lulabelle03 never too late to join! Can't really offer any answers to your questions. I'm at the Aberdeen clinic so don't know about Glasgow times but there are others here who hopefully can help. We did ICSI, but his sample was still good enough for us to be unexplained. They didn't look into me much so the problem could actually be on my side.

Thanks for your reply @pixelflower. Sorry if you have already explained on this thread but did you do your ICSI through NHS or private? Was your treatment successful or are you still undergoing?

@Lulabelle03 I’m in Glasgow are but can’t help too much. We have had initial test with gp bloods for me and SA for husband and nothing obvious flagged up. Although my cycles are irregular and I may have PCOS. I was referred to gynaecology for a scan as hadn’t had ultrasound and I got a letter through saying they weren’t running the service currently. We paid to go to GCRM privately have consultant appointment next week. I think depending on that appointment I might see if we can get the GP to refer us to fertility on nhs but likely to start private in the mean time as both want to start and do something this year.

Hi @Rosie189. How long have you been trying? I just had my scan in February, worthwhile chasing this up via the hospital directly if you can, mine was cancelled as was originally due for Jan and the service stopped but I literally called every week to see if it was up and running again.. I was a pest! We are going with GRFC at Royal, it's the same doctors and team who would be treating us through NHS as well and they've got good success rates. I've heard great things about GCRM! Good luck with your consultation.

Trying for 19months NTNP for about 3 months before that. Might have to look into that the letter I got was very vague. Think private consultant will write to gp after consult so hoping might be able to go straight to fertility department from there rather than waiting for scan. Had bloods on Oct but due to irregular cycles only got referral to gynaecologist early January so think I’ll be near the end of the list for that.

@Lulabelle03 We're NHS and I'm half way through my first IVF TWWb

@pixelflower your first tww? Oh how nerve wracking. I'll keep everything crossed for you!! How are you feeling?

@Lulabelle03 Thank you. It's a bit different to the usual wait. The progesterone means I can't symptom spot so no clue how it's going and starting to get twitchy to test. I'm optimistic though and going to enjoy the hope as long as I can.

@Lulabelle03, I've been with the NHS in Glasgow. I don't know how long it's going to be as I'm still waiting ...

My initial referral was in December 2019, and the latest estimate I was given for starting IVF was "around October" 2021. So, quite a wait.

I ended up going privately to get some investigations done, which weren't done with the NHS and have identified an issue which is known to affect success rates, sfter being told "no, no, everything's fine, it's just unexplained". It was GCRM that did the investigations and they were lovely.

@Scirocco that is a long wait! Hopefully not too long for you now. What investigative treatment did GCRM do? I have to say NHS and GRFC have been pretty good for us, not the quickest obviously but quicker than I'd anticipated. I did have to pay for AMH test though as that wasn't offered up eith all other bloods and even an ultrasound, and probably wouldn't have been until IVF was commencing. We also paid for a 2nd SA. I'm glad we did that as we now know the issues sit with my husband and know our treatment options, I was convinced from get go it was me.

GCRM did an "ovarian assessment", semen analysis and some blood tests (inc AMH). All the "core" tests were normal but we found an autoantibody issue which means my body has a "hostile immune response" that increases the risk of implantation failure and miscarriage at pretty much every stage of pregnancy. It's not fixable, so we need to re-evaluate how we approach fertility treatment psychologically.

In a way it helps to have an answer, as "unexplained" never felt like a diagnosis or explanation we could live with.

Hi @Lulabelle03 in Glasgow they're saying that it's approx 8 months, but you need to have tests etc first. Mine took longer because of some complications and covid, but was finally added to the waiting list July 2020 and I have my ART appointment next week, which means we're at the top of the waiting list.

Just had my consents appointment. Start norethisterone next week and egg collection should be wc 12th April. Lot quicker than we expected so a mix of excited and terrified now. @GemmTryTTC hopefully that gives you an indication for your timescal