Watching Alex Jones Making Babies after IVF

[caffelattetogo]

A friend told me she was watching this and she now understands more of what we have been through, so I had a look, mostly to see how IVF is portrayed to people who haven't had it. I don't think they show how long the process is, how many scans a cycle requires etc. anyone else who has had treatment watching?

I have only watched the first ep so far as it came out just as I was starting treatment for a FET and was finding it all a bit overwhelming but I really enjoyed the first Ep. It made me cry. I need to watch the rest once I am strong enough. It is filmed at the clinic I use so it made me very emotional!

Oh wow! They seem lovely there. Did you have any of the team on the show? Good luck with your treatment.

I recognise quite a few of the doctors and nurses I had in the show. I did two rounds of IVF with them, one NHS and then one private. I never seemed to get the same doctor for any of my appointments but it didn't bother me as all were very nice and efficient. It's a lovely place to go and seemed very reasonably priced compared to some London options!
I had my son after treatment with them in 2021 despite having low AMH that meant I might not be accepted for treatment under the NHS in a lot of CCGs. They will always have a place in my heart for giving me my son despite having such a bad prognosis.
Good luck with your treatment xx

I’m in treatment at King’s right now, so watching the show as I go through it. Had my embryo transfer with Dr. Sarris (the clinical director) yesterday! I think my partner has really learned a lot from the show, actually, and it helped us prepare for our FET.

I’ve had a really positive experience at King’s - the staff has been amazing and just so kind, which I think comes across in the show. Agree that it doesn’t fully capture how long the process is, but I do think it captures the uncertainty and intense emotional ups and downs well.

Good luck with your transfer @BlueMountains5 ! I hope the 2WW doesn't feel too long xx

I did 5 rounds of IVF and had lots of losses and I'm really enjoying watching it. I do cry a lot during it though! I did most of my IVF during covid and so did 99% of scans, transfers and egg collections alone and it's been lovely seeing how supportive the partners are of their wives and girlfriends going through the process.

Thanks @Jane1284 ! Taking it one day at a time and trying to stay busy… it really does drag though, doesn’t it?! But your lovely story has given me some hope Xx

It really does drag @BlueMountains5 ! Do you think you'll last until OTD or test early? My first round I made it until the day before OTD and tested at 5am when I couldn't sleep- BFN. Second round was after a 3 day embryo transfer and I misread the dates and tested a day late. haha. At least that was a BFP. Only got 2 eggs that round so it really was a wonderful surprise.
Sending all the luck! xx

Good luck to everyone here. I’ve started watching it and really find the life stories interesting and moving but does anyone else find Alex Jones a bit unrelateable? I’m not sure she really gets it. She’s nice enough, just feels a bit like I’d love for someone whose been through the experience to be reporting on it?

@summerpoolandsun

I find her nice enough and when she gets emotional it seems genuinel but she talks veeery slowly at times and it can be a bit irritating

And yes I agree she seems amazed by all the science but at the end of the day she naturally conceived 3 children in her 40s.....she can't relate at all to what many of us are going / went through

Yes. I wonder why they didn't choose a presenter who had been through IVF.

Yes @mybunniesandme and @caffelattetogo I feel the same, it would have been nice to have had a presenter who understood IVF more but I hope I’m not letting that detract from the programme. I’m glad the programme exists and that IVF is becoming a mainstream topic of conversation. I think it’s something that should be taught in schools. I wish I hadn’t been so clueless about it and deliberated for so long before doing it so really hope this programme helps some people struggling with infertility. And I find it very comforting to know we aren’t the only ones. IVF can be very isolating. DH and I are watching it as a way of processing the last four years! X

I felt the same when I had heard she had 3 kids naturally in her 40s. She (Alex Jones) did a podcast with Elizabeth Day and spoke about doing the show and it made me feel differently about why she was picked. Is worth a listen x

I'm actually glad about the demographic they seem to be focusing on in terms of the patients though. Most of them are actually "young" in IVF and fertility terms - early 30s been trying for several years and I think it's really important to demonstrate to people that fertility should be taken seriously at a young age and having a child isn't a given and that infertility isn't the preserve of women in their late 30s and 40s

I'm really enjoying the series. When the summary of the episode tells us how the couples got on, as sad as it is, I'm glad that the programme doesn't have all happy endings. Ivf is gruelling and really unfair. I worried that they'd only show successes and give an unrealistic version of the rate of success.

Having done icsi for my dd, I can relate to it all. Especially the numerous small steps where it can go wrong. I watch in awe that I was strong enough to go through it all, 10 years ago. I really wish though that my egg collection had been so relaxed! When I had it done, the sedation was very light and I felt every follicle being drained. The pain was similar to that I had 9 months later in the labour ward!!! I'm jealous my sedation wasn't anywhere near as good.

Regarding Alex, she is obviously very caring and almost feels guilty for being able to have 3 babies in her 40s. I must admit, I fast forward her training as I'm more interested in the couples and their journeys. I do think if they had a presenter who'd actually undergone ivf, it might have turned into a bit of "when I had it done.....". So with Alex, the viewer is learning at the same time as she is.

I'll be sad when the series comes to an end, but it is starting to get a bit repetitive now. There are parts they haven't really focused on, like how they store the embryos, sperm, the length of time it takes, the different protocols that you can follow etc.

Yes 10 episodes feels like they've really dragged it out a bit. And I agree it would've been perhaps more interesting to follow the couples more closely rather than a scan here or egg collection there. They seemed to have glossed over completely the stress and anxiety of the cycle scans which was probably the most stressful time for me - what follicles, how many, what size, tweaks to medication. They also haven't really touched on day 0 egg collection to day 5 and what that actually means and the anxiety surrounding those days. How they grade embryos on day 3 and day 5. I don't think they have shown a couple get who didn't get any fertilise or didn't get any to day 5 have they? I didn't even know total fertilisation failure or having nothing to transfer actually happened until I started my own treatment.
Also nothing about PGTA which is becoming much more widespread now
Also what about how the science is changing and what patients might expect in the future in terms of new innovations

@mybunniesandme You're completely right! I know some of those things might not be exciting enough for tv but it would give a much more realistic account of the process for the thousands of people who go through it each year.

I also have been watching it and cried loads! I found it really interesting watching the EC and glad I have always been fully sedated like most of them.

They did show one lady @Whyisitdarkalready who had no sedation which sounds like yours - one of the earlier episodes with the lesbian couple. She called out in pain, not pleasant :( My friend also had a light sedation and said it was so painful and awful. She now says her no.1 thing that she tells people when they ask for advice on IVF is to find a clinic that does the proper sedation! If you don't mind me asking, was yours on the NHS? My friend's also was on NHS whereas I'm paying privately for egg freezing and I'm charged £350 each time for the sedation fee so I wonder if that's why... that they're trying to cut costs! Which is awful at the expense of patients being in pain!

I agree that there's not quite enough showing of things are going wrong as I'm sure the statistics are worse than the ones they are showing. I guess it would be more depressing for everyone to watch though and they want it to be uplifting and positive I'm sure... I also found it a bit misleading (to the public, and I also worry what the patient has been told..) about the girl who was freezing her eggs at age 34 and had her twin with her. SPOILER ALERT............................................... when she got 9 eggs and she made some comment at the end about how great it is that she's got the 9 eggs and her sister is aunt to 9 babies now and it's more than she would even have as she wouldnt have all 9 babies etc. It made me wonder for her and for what they're telling the audience. As obviously it's unlikely all of those eggs will turn into babies, even if she tried to use them all.. there's a lot of drop off rates as we all know when eggs not defrosting well, then not fertilising through ICSI (as she'll have to do that) then not becoming blatocysts, then embroys, etc etc.. hopefully she is actually aware of this.

@Rosiestraws Our icsi was privately funded as we already had our ds. I can't remember there being any talk of costings for the egg collection sedation, it was just all in one I think.

Yes, the one who had her eggs frozen, I do think there's some naivety there. As you say, 8 eggs does not equal 8 babies, but I suppose she was just meaning 8 possibilities.

I did several cycles with create - my usual create clinic did full sedation never had a problem lovely sleep. Had to do an egg collection at Create Paul's for a particular reason and it was so painful I was semi awake through the whole thing moving around as painful.....felt very unwell on way home. next time I went back to my usual create for another egg collection and mentioned it and the anaesthetist said that St Paul's don't give as much sedation as they want patients in and out quicker 🙄

With both cycles I was fully sedated. I was terrified of being sedated, I think I thought I might not wake up or something but actually I’ve got to admit I really felt at ease both times and I was even looking forward to the biscuits when I woke up 😂 After several ultrasounds telling us the follicles weren’t growing and injections being increased and the duration extended, being sedated was a welcome relief! Lol

@mybunniesandme Also agree they could have covered the process in more detail and things like PGTA. Would be really beneficial to those contemplating these processes.

@Rosiestraws I felt a bit awkward as well when the twin said she had 8 frostie babies in waiting, I hope she understands the drop-off and isn’t too naive about it. Really loved her story though, thought it takes a lot of initiative to freeze your eggs. In retrospect, freezing eggs at a younger age would have been a good idea! I never really thought about IVF till we struggled and I was in my late-30s by then…

@Rosiestraws totally agree with your point about egg freezing. Feel like it is sold as a way of preserving your fertility but in reality you have no idea how good those eggs are until you try and fertilise them and make embryos. I worry that it gives a sense of complacency to women who will then be very shocked when they do come to fertilise them. I must admit I was so naïve about IVF/egg freezing until I embarked on it myself.

With both my rounds at Kings I was so deeply sedated- they definitely don't scrimp on the anesthetic! I almost felt like I was too sedated on my second round. I didn't remember how many eggs they got (2) and was devastated when the embryologist came and told me a while later. I cried so much my contacts fell out but she was so nice to me. Poor girl. haha. 1 of those 2 eggs is now a cheeky toddler so no complaints from me.

I found the first few episodes quite interesting/useful as someone who has only recently just 'started' on the IVF journey, and made things like egg collection etc less scary as I knew more what to expect.

I wish they had followed some of the couples more closely, but less of them. Although I guess that's also down to trying not to be too invasive in a time of their lives when things are already pretty invasive. It felt a bit like some of it seemed to just show someone popping along for a scan, and then next day having EC. Rather than actually multiple scans, days of injections etc, how much waiting, stress etc it is. Although that probably doesn't make as 'good' tv watching!

I thought exactly the same as others had said with the lady who froze her eggs - great to show the different 'reasons' people were there. But seemed to make it look like a quick and easy 'fix', just pop along, have a few injections and freeze some eggs. And 8 is plenty. Even with perfect fertility, and assuming 'perfect' sperm from her partner to be, there is a high drop off. Will need ICSI since the eggs have been frozen, eggs may not survive thawing, may not fertilise/develop, could easily end up down at just 1 or 2 embryos after all that, and then there is risks of if they implant or not. Not knocking what she has done at all, but just seemed all very simple/easy, without really making the actual stats clear!

Massive appreciation for all the couples on the program though, I've been fairly open with some family and friends, but there is a difference between that and agreeing to be filmed with something so personal!

@mybunniesandme sorry about your experience, I'm at create at Paul's and have had 7 cycles with them each one I've been fully sedated. I don't remember ever coming around until I'm back in my little bay so I don't think it's the case that they skimp on it normally

agree with all the comments about egg freezing...all of mine are egg freezing cycles and I'm possibly too pessimistic about chances of success! but then I have done all the research myself about success rates...I don't think the clinics express it very clearly..