Advice - IUI / IVF / ICSI

[daisy2025]

Hi I’m looking for some advice please!

Me and my husband have been ttc our first baby since June 2024. We were referred to a fertility clinic in March 2025. DH had 4 semen analysis in 2025, all of the results were low and we were told it was male factor infertility. Earlier this year, DH was told he had a grade 3 varicocele and he had a varicocele embolisation in May 2026. A few months later he had another semen analysis and the results were almost unbelievable (will put the most recent 2025 result and the 2026 result at the bottom) - we were so so happy.

I have a short luteal phase of 7-8 days and spot before my period for about 2/3 days (i have been prescribed progesterone and where it does lengthen, I still have the spotting and for longer). I’ve also been told I have a low AMH for my age of 6.9pmol. The clinic are not concerned as they say I’m young and my egg quality is likely good. I had a hycosy in December 2025 and my tubes are clear and I ovulate monthly from what I can tell.

We’ve been told we can continue to try naturally following DH embolisaiton and improved numbers, but I can’t shake the worry of my low AMH (that we’re running out of time) and the short luteal phase (that it’s impossible for anything to stick before being essentially washed away).

We can’t have IVF on the NHS until we have been trying for 3 years, so June 2027. After trying for over 2 years it’s disheartening and draining.

We’re now thinking about maybe going private for IUI / IVF / ICSI, but wanted to hear other peoples opinions if anyone has been in a similar situation to us… we’re feeling a bit worried and alone now as the fertility clinic won’t do anything for us yet through the NHS

DH SA results-

NOVEMBER 2025
Total count - 24.8 million
Total progressive motile count - 8.9 million
Morphology - 1%

SEPTEMBER 2026
Total count - 86.4 million
Total progressive motile count - 48.4 million
Morphology - 6%

Your amh is on the low side but not to the point you cant have a baby whether thats naturally or through ivf. How long have you been trying naturally since your hubbies sperm has increased? Maybe you can look at some private clinics, suss them out, do your paperwork and what they need and in the meantime , keep ttc naturally as seeing a clinic may take some time and the process is long and drawn out sometimes so wouldnt hurt to look at ivf as an option while still ttc naturally. Its better to get the ball rolling now, instead of waiting another 12 months and possibly egg count lowing further.

@Miraclemuma03 Thanks for responding! We’ve only been trying a couple of months since finding out DH’s results post varicocele embolisation. I was away this cycle just gone so we will be starting again this cycle coming (and booking no more trips apart haha). DH’s said now his results have improved, it’s like we are starting the journey from scratch just like anyone else ttc. I know they say most couples conceive within 1 year but I still worry about my AMH and also think I’ve got a bit of ptsd from almost 2.5 years of never getting a positive test and wondering if it will ever happen for us.

I will do some research into clinics. It’s strange to not have anything to be working towards if that makes sense, I feel like I need to be doing something as it keeps me going with it all!

I hope that the ttc process doesnt take too long for you now with better sperm results. But id say try for 6 months and then move forward with booking a consult.

When you say you can’t have IVF until TTC for 3 years, is that they won’t refer you until then or you can’t start til then? We went private as after referral it’s about a year wait in my area to start IVF. I’d definitely consider that - if you were able to start IVF next summer on the NHS then I’d be tempted to wait, and keep trying naturally as you may well have success now your husband’s sperm health has improved.

Bear in mind even if you started the private process now, you may still have a few months wait before you actually started. I had my consultation in May and didn’t have egg retrieval til October. So if you can start NHS treatment next summer that might not be that much later than you’d get private. And you’d save a lot of money.

If you couldn’t get on the NHS wait list until next summer I’d definitely be tempted to keep trying for a few months (I would definitely give it a fair shot as you have resolved the obvious issue now!) but then start the private process after say 6 months of trying since your husband’s procedure. Then hopefully you’d either conceive naturally in 2027 or have a shot of IVF working out.

If you don’t manage to conceive naturally in a few months, the other thing for you to think about is whether you want more than one child. If so you may want to consider whether you could want to do enough cycles to bank embryos. You could do this privately now. Your AMH doesn’t tell you if you can get pregnant naturally but it is a predictor of response to IVF. It will drop over time so you may find it harder to have success if you did need another IVF cycle in say 2-3 years for a second child. Just something to think about.

@Miraclemuma03 Thank you so much 🫶🏼

@Wiennetta They are unable to start any IVF process on the NHS until we have been ‘trying’ for 3 years. On our last call with the consultant I think they said that at the 3 year point it wouldn’t be a long wait. I wonder if they have done a referral already so we would be going straight into starting, but I might actually clarify that with them - thank you for mentioning that!

Oh gosh that’s a long time.. I see why you went private. All the waiting really is so heart wrenching. Do you mind if I ask if going private worked out ok for you?

We’re thinking about trying naturally and seeing what happens over the next few months, but having a back up plan in place as if the NHS does say it’s a year wait from June next year (the 3 year mark), we will defo need to look at private and would rather have something planned.

Thank you for mentioning banking embryos, I will also ask this question when I reach out to them. I have no idea how quick my AMH will drop as they said it’s different for everyone, and it’s such a fear as time is ticking on. I really thought we’d have had 1 baby by now and be trying for our second next year!

@daisy2025I would be tempted to start the private process too. Depending on the clinic it will take some time to get off the ground. And you never know it may happen naturally whilst you’ve got the process ticking along. If you can afford it and given you’re feeling (understandably) anxious about it and leaning towards private then I personally would do it myself.

I had IVF due to endometriosis. Technically I could have conceived naturally after my surgery but I didn’t want to waste any more time, and for fertility preservation they recommended an egg retrieval and embryo freezing my first period cycle post surgery (just in case I had a big drop off in ovarian function as my ovaries were affected too). The surgery went better than expected and so did the retrieval, but seeing as we already had the embryos there I preferred to wait a few months to recover from the surgery and then do an embryo transfer rather than waste what felt like more time trying to conceive naturally. I felt a bit conflicted about not giving it a longer chance to happen naturally post surgery but my gut was saying to go ahead with a transfer.

My therapist told me that sometimes an evolutionary aspect of our brains recognise any impediment to fertility - including delay - as a survival threat. That’s why the waiting can feel so awful. I found that quite helpful to put feelings in context. I found the wait between endo diagnosis and surgery so hard and felt quite empowered once I moved onto the egg retrieval

I’m currently 23 weeks with my IVF embryo! Wishing you all the best xxx

Good luck @daisy2025 it’s a big decision.

I only had my retrieval a couple of weeks ago and now hoping to do a frozen embryo transfer soon so too early to say if it’s worked but I am glad I went private. I’m older and didn’t want to waste any more time and the private experience has been good for me so far, everything has been quite smooth. I know people who have had great experiences with the NHS but it’s the long wait that is difficult.