I had never heard of ICSI until we needed it.
My lovely husband needed a vasectomy reversal and I was warned by my doctor that these are not always successful and not always successful for very long. Which was a big shock to My LH as when he had had the vasectomy it was more a less a suggestion in the surgery one week and a call in to have the vasectomy because someone else had cancelled theirs the next. Ironically on Valentines day. So I have always referred to it as the Valentines day Massacre.
As it is the Vasectomy is free and quick and easy, getting a reversal was a trial, the hospital insist that the samples are free from any traces of swimmers, swimming or lazing on the meniscus. This took some time.
Immediately after the Reversal there was minute traces of Swimmers, but about a month after that there were absolutely none.
Devastated! What really peed me off was, the doctor could have taken a sperm sample at the time and could have checked the tubes for blockages and made a join in the cut tubes avoiding blockages, but he didn’t and this cost several thousand pounds. Even more curiously one side of My LH’s tubes had apparently healed themselves! But no swimmers!
So the first time we looked into this we went to Bourne Hall in Cambridgeshire, which is where the first IVF baby was born.
It was raining the day we went, we were shown a presentation by a doctor that explained that the sperm would be surgically removed, a good one sought out, its tail snapped and then it would be injected into the egg.
Curiously the images that are often seen of IVF are actually ICSI, in real IVF the egg is left in a petri dish and the sperm apparently make their own way into the egg!
I remember finding the whole experience quite depressing. Because I knew straight away that my BMI (Body Mass Index) was way over the limit for Bourne Hall and that I would either need to get about a foot taller or 2 stone lighter. Both options trying to be tied in with school holidays not easier.
Did I mention I am a teacher? So fitting IVF in so that it is not too intrusive in my school life has not been easy, in fact it has been a great stress factor, which is obviously not good for IVF.
There has been so much going on this year, I got a promotion (albeit a secondment) and there have been many changes, none of these good for the stress levels. And I haven’t wanted to discuss the potential of IVF with school.
I don’t think it would go down well!
I have put off having children for so long though, I always wanted to be with the right person, be in the right financial position, be in a stable home, etc etc…
I wont forget meeting someone on a training course a few years ago who told me, when I said I was “waiting for the right time”; what do you want your epitaph to say. “Beloved mother or, great head of department!” – Low blow!!!
The truth is I have met the right person, but the fact that he e has had a vasectomy and “we” have children means that we have to pay all the costs of IVF. As much as I love my step children they do not fulfil my personal desire for my own children, and I suspect if they did, their mother would be quite unhappy! And despite the fact that IVF isn’t life saving surgery, it does grate a bit that if I were not in a committed relationship and happy with someone who has had the poor judgement and advice to have had a vasectomy, I myself as a single woman would be eligible for 3 courses of IVF.
What this means in reality is that my decision to marry my lovely husband and want a child of my own will cost approximately £7000 for IVF treatment, if it works first time. If it doesn’t work first time the costs will shoot up.
As it happens we found a clinic that were offering a 3 for the price of 2 offer!
Sounds weird for IVF until you know that it doesn’t often work first time.
The success rate for IVF drops off considerably after 35 years old.
Figures from the HFEA Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority The average success rate for IVF treatment using fresh eggs in the UK (2006-07)
28.2% (for women under 35);
23.6% (for women aged 35-37)
18.3% (for women aged 38-39)
10.6% (for women aged 40-42)
I am in the 38-39 category which means that I have less than a 20% chance of success.
Lots of interesting facts and figures http://212.49.193.187/cps/rde/xbcr/SID-3F57D79B-171D6895/hfea/facts_and_figures.pdf
My lovely husband needed a vasectomy reversal and I was warned by my doctor that these are not always successful and not always successful for very long. Which was a big shock to My LH as when he had had the vasectomy it was more a less a suggestion in the surgery one week and a call in to have the vasectomy because someone else had cancelled theirs the next. Ironically on Valentines day. So I have always referred to it as the Valentines day Massacre.
As it is the Vasectomy is free and quick and easy, getting a reversal was a trial, the hospital insist that the samples are free from any traces of swimmers, swimming or lazing on the meniscus. This took some time.
Immediately after the Reversal there was minute traces of Swimmers, but about a month after that there were absolutely none.
Devastated! What really peed me off was, the doctor could have taken a sperm sample at the time and could have checked the tubes for blockages and made a join in the cut tubes avoiding blockages, but he didn’t and this cost several thousand pounds. Even more curiously one side of My LH’s tubes had apparently healed themselves! But no swimmers!
So the first time we looked into this we went to Bourne Hall in Cambridgeshire, which is where the first IVF baby was born.
It was raining the day we went, we were shown a presentation by a doctor that explained that the sperm would be surgically removed, a good one sought out, its tail snapped and then it would be injected into the egg.
Curiously the images that are often seen of IVF are actually ICSI, in real IVF the egg is left in a petri dish and the sperm apparently make their own way into the egg!
I remember finding the whole experience quite depressing. Because I knew straight away that my BMI (Body Mass Index) was way over the limit for Bourne Hall and that I would either need to get about a foot taller or 2 stone lighter. Both options trying to be tied in with school holidays not easier.
Did I mention I am a teacher? So fitting IVF in so that it is not too intrusive in my school life has not been easy, in fact it has been a great stress factor, which is obviously not good for IVF.
There has been so much going on this year, I got a promotion (albeit a secondment) and there have been many changes, none of these good for the stress levels. And I haven’t wanted to discuss the potential of IVF with school.
I don’t think it would go down well!
I have put off having children for so long though, I always wanted to be with the right person, be in the right financial position, be in a stable home, etc etc…
I wont forget meeting someone on a training course a few years ago who told me, when I said I was “waiting for the right time”; what do you want your epitaph to say. “Beloved mother or, great head of department!” – Low blow!!!
The truth is I have met the right person, but the fact that he e has had a vasectomy and “we” have children means that we have to pay all the costs of IVF. As much as I love my step children they do not fulfil my personal desire for my own children, and I suspect if they did, their mother would be quite unhappy! And despite the fact that IVF isn’t life saving surgery, it does grate a bit that if I were not in a committed relationship and happy with someone who has had the poor judgement and advice to have had a vasectomy, I myself as a single woman would be eligible for 3 courses of IVF.
What this means in reality is that my decision to marry my lovely husband and want a child of my own will cost approximately £7000 for IVF treatment, if it works first time. If it doesn’t work first time the costs will shoot up.
As it happens we found a clinic that were offering a 3 for the price of 2 offer!
Sounds weird for IVF until you know that it doesn’t often work first time.
The success rate for IVF drops off considerably after 35 years old.
Figures from the HFEA Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority The average success rate for IVF treatment using fresh eggs in the UK (2006-07)
28.2% (for women under 35);
23.6% (for women aged 35-37)
18.3% (for women aged 38-39)
10.6% (for women aged 40-42)
I am in the 38-39 category which means that I have less than a 20% chance of success.
Lots of interesting facts and figures http://212.49.193.187/cps/rde/xbcr/SID-3F57D79B-171D6895/hfea/facts_and_figures.pdf
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