Juliet's successful IVF journey with abc ivf
"At abc ivf I felt seen as a human, we were involved with every step and decision"
After the birth of our 1st child in 2018, we struggled with having a second child. This resulted in 4 miscarriages within the space of 5 years and several mental health challenges.
I wasn’t eligible for NHS funded treatment and the GP wouldn’t even refer me to a gynaecologist to identify the cause of the problems so I had to go private.
abc ivf was the first clinic we tried treatment with. I searched on Google, checked for the reviews online and went with my gut. And it was the most affordable search I got.
Our initial consultation felt pretty easy and straightforward. I think the ease of getting an appointment without any unnecessary questions or wait was kind of a green flag to me.
After the initial consultation and Scan, I had to loose weight. I lost almost 20kg, was weighing 96kg then started treatment with 78 to 80 kg. Myself and my husband had to do some blood tests, mine being more frequent.
To my greatest surprise, 21 eggs were collected
The treatment started smoothly though we were really scared of the outcome. When it was time for the treatment to begin at the beginning of my menstrual cycle, I was placed on some timely injections to help mature the follicles, in addition to alternate days scans. At first I was told the follicles weren’t growing too well. To make matters worse, someone mistakenly discarded my injection at work, which made me miss a day.
It was a very traumatic experience, I felt everything was ruined. The dose was due at 7pm so I couldn’t go into the clinic. But the on call emergency doctor was really helpful, she advised me to come into the clinic as early as possible the next morning. I was given a new injection. Although, this delayed my follicles growth and egg collection by a day. At this point I had just 5 follicles matured and was really praying for a miracle. To my greatest surprise, 21 eggs were collected and I think 17 were fertilised, although only 10 or 11 made it to the day 5 embryo stage.
I had a frozen embryo transfer on August 31st, 2023. I was placed on different medications and injections at this point.
This was the first heartbeat gotten in 5 years. It was a miracle.
After the embryo transfer, I started bleeding. It felt as if my world was crumbling, it felt the whole miscarriages spell was repeating itself again. But the nurse was really helpful and reassuring. My progesterone dose and frequency was increased and was asked to come into the clinic for blood tests. The nurse advised me not to do any home pregnancy test at that point but my anxiety wouldn’t let me be. I did one and got a faint line. We became hopeful and started praying for the baby to stay. Thank God the bleeding stopped, the blood test in the clinic confirmed I was pregnant and I was booked for a 6 weeks pregnancy scan. On the 6 week scan, there was a heartbeat, my husband and i started crying in the examination room.
This was the first heartbeat gotten in 5 years. It was a miracle. I had to continue with my medications till 12 weeks.
At abc ivf I felt seen as a human, we were involved with every step and decision unlike the awful and terrible treatment we received from the GPS and NHS.
To other women and couples who are thinking about having fertility treatment, just go for it!
Finding out I was pregnant felt like a miracle, but really scary because I felt I would have a massive mental health breakdown if another miscarriage happened.
The pregnancy journey wasn’t the smoothest, maybe my anxiety played a role in it. I was in and out of the hospital for several reasons. The main issue was poor fetal movement. At some point, I thought he might have special needs or might need medical intervention at birth. But he came out at 37weeks and 5 days in a perfect state, weighing 4.3 kg. He was cute, fat and chubby, exactly as I hoped.
Life as a parent hasn’t been easy, but seeing him meet all of his milestones gives us joy and keeps us going.
Patient care at abc ivf was the best. Being a black person, I’ve never really been treated with so much care and respect since I’ve been in the UK while under the NHS.
I’ve already referred to 2 or 3 people to the clinic.
To other women and couples who are thinking about having fertility treatment, just go for it! Don’t think about what people will say. If you have the money, go for it.