Struggling secondary infertility

[Kasc89]

Hi All,

just wanted some help and advise please.

So we have a 4 year old which was conceived naturally and since having him we never used contraception and just naively though having another child would just happen for us but it hasn’t and it’s really getting me down.

We had blood and semen tests done earlier this year with GP. My blood tests came back to me and some things have been suggested as posssible issues such as slightly low AMH and possible low thyroid & was referred to gynaecologist. The gynaecologist we got referred to via NHS was set in an actual IVF clinic he said all my findings were normal, that I may have had expose to chlamydia in the past (not aware of) and gave me a number to call for a HSG test (this number is just a voicemail and I have never received a call back to get this booked) he also said he wouldn’t put me on any type of fertility medication such as clomid but didn’t really go into reasons why as my periods are regular (even though I know personally of friends who have regular periods and worked for them)
Furthermore he said my partner has low sperm count and morphology - he did recommend proceed for this which he is now taking but also said that as he has had only 1 sperm test result
could be a bad result and could test again but only from his clinic and would have to pay? So all the gynaecologist recommended for us was IVF which we would have to fund ourselves which we would maybe do in the future but just wanted further investigations done before going ahead with that (such as progesterone tests/ more sperm tests/ possible fertility drugs if suitable) and don’t know where to go next. I don’t want to go back to that particular gynaecologist as I just felt it was a bit too pushy for the IVF - I’ve got an appointment booked for my GP next month would I be able to get an NHS referral for a different gynaecologist elsewhere to get a second opinion or has anyone got any advise or been through something similar.

Also if anybody has any private fertility clinics they can recommend in the London/herts area that may also be helpful in case it doesn’t work for us going down the NHS route.

Hi OP. It sounds like you have a mix of issues like slightly low AMH, slightly low morphology etc. We were in the same boat and likewise had one child who we conceived easily. I would say that IVF is the daddy of all treatments, there are lots of things you could try but ultimately you might end up doing IVF. If you have time on your side, then maybe give it a go. We did 3 months of clomid, then 3 months of clomid plus HCG injections before moving onto IVF. I guess it gave me closure. We also weren’t recommended clomid and in hindsight it made no difference so that was why but I wanted to try it. A private clinic said it was worth a go so that’s how we got prescribed it. It’s a tricky one though as ultimately even IVF didn’t work the first time, it took us two rounds. So I’m glad we didn’t waste too much time on more simple treatments.

Id recommend the Lister in London and doing a 2 or 3 cycle Access package. Good luck OP. This stage you are at was the hardest for us, but it got easier once we decided to go for IVF.

@Kasc89 hiya hope your well. Am in my 2nd year of IVF following womb cancer in 2018. I have heard really gd things about Herts and Essex fertility. Although to be honest my ivf experience was not great in the UK and have since done my 3rd cycle in Greece to a well know ivf doctor and was successfully but miscarried at 6 weeks. Am here for my 4th round and hoping for the best. I found in the UK its too expensive and you never get to see your doctor it's always why is on call never personalised and not treated as an individual. I have had other friends from the UK since come to Greece and get pregnant so hoping for the best again!