Fertility investigations - missing lessons

[physicskate]

Hi. I posted this in 'Infertility' as well, but thought I might find more in similar situations here...

I am a secondary teacher.

I am about to start infertility investigations. I have my first appt next week after ttc for 16 months. I have put down 'hospital appointment' as my reason for not being in school. Long term, I really don't know how to deal with future appointments if they fall during term time. Do I disclose to my HT and request appointment time to be unpaid??

What did you do? How did you deal with teaching while dealing with/ tests and treatments for sub/ infertility??

TIA. Already stressed about not being pregnant and feeling like an utter failure, and to top it all off don't want to feel like a selfish twat for missing lessons to try to have a baby.

Tell the truth if you feel you can, that way you can be supported through the process good or bad. It will look worse making excuses and the majority of people would understand that this is an important and emotional stage in your life. If not then you can just say 'hospital appointment' and not disclose what for at the moment.

I had investigations and fertility treatment and, while I'm not a teacher, I didn't have a flexible job at the time. I don't think I would have been able to do it without my employers knowing why. I needed their support with arranging the time off.

I'm not sure, however, I would spill all before the first appointment. You could just go to this one and see what the treatment plan is.

Tell the truth to your head, but ask for it to be kept confidential. Possbly confide in line manager too if you can trust him/her. Possibly also confide in your union rep too. This is what I did as I went through the adoption process and it worked well. They appreciated my honesty and went out of their way to be supportive.

Good luck.

Hi,

I'm not a teacher either but I did go through fertility investigations and IUI for my 2nd child. I had to go for the initial appointment and then tests. You will need to confide in your HT but I would wait until after the first appointment, as someone else suggested.

I ended up with IUI that worked first time luckily. They couldn't find anything wrong when they did the tests. I fell with my first child after 8 months but nothing happened when we started trying for the second. I waited almost 2 years and then went to the GP.

Book yourself a holiday - I swear down this helped me fall pregnant both times (USA first time, Majorca 2nd).

Good luck and hope all goes well xxx