The Chosen Clinic

We had many train trips to London for the clinic visits

After our research, we finally made the decision and chose our IVF Clinic. Whilst other clinics may have been closer we chose one in London that had an above average success rate (50%). We had a lot of train journeys to London. We called the hospital to confirm and they set the ball rolling as we took the next step in our IVF journey. At the Clinic, we were told that the NHS had agreed to fund 1 round of IVF treatment (which includes all the medication, blood tests, appointments and the egg retrieval during my cycle), 1 fresh egg transfer (which meant that after the egg had been retrieved from my womb at the end of the cycle, it would be fertilised, then the embryo would be transferred back inside me to begin the early stages of pregnancy), and 2 frozen egg transfers (normally, when eggs are harvested at the end of a cycle there are anywhere between 1-10 eggs retrieved. The funding would pay to have these fertilized, and any that became embryos would be frozen for use on future cycles if this first round of IVF was unsuccessful. I could do this twice). My blood tests at the time of referral to the IVF clinic showed high levels of FSH in my blood. This can be taken as an indicator that a woman has reached menopause, or is beginning to go through the menopause. Previously my FSH level had been within normal limits. The high FSH level also meant the follicles in my ovaries were not being produced in the quantities they should have been. Follicles are produced in the ovaries, and as a general rule 1 follicle = 1 egg, though this is not always the case. The average woman produces between 10-12 follicles per cycle though of course there are many factors that can affect this number.

With all this new information coming to light, we continued with the first cycle of the IVF treatment, keen to move forward as soon as possible. We were booked in at the clinic to begin my first cycle of IVF treatment, and hopefully, the beginning of our own little family.