Lindsey's Fertility Treatment
Donation protected
Hello.
My name is Lindsey and I'm (what I call) sub-fertile.
In 2013, at 23 years of age, I heard an advert on the radio about egg donation. It made total sense to me that as I am fertile and not trying for a child, I could donate my eggs to help a couple make the family that they are desperate for. I got in touch with Altrui (the egg matching company), researched the ins and outs, had my consultations, blood tests, scans and started the IVF treatment for my matched couple. The whole process is completely anonymous and I can not express how excited I was that I could help someone start the family they had dreamed of.
After 6 weeks of no coffee and no alcohol (AKA no fun) plus learning how to inject myself without squealing then 7 days of injecting myself with the medicine etc... a scan showed that I wasn't responding to the treatment.
I had failed my matched couple and I was devastated. I had wasted their money and their time.
After a follow up test, the result showed that I had an extremely low and rapidly decreasing ovarian reserve. This meant that if I didn't have kids ASAP, I couldn't have them. I was in a brand new relationship and not in the right place in my life for children. My only other option was to freeze eggs.
The NHS would not help me as I don't have cancer (thank goodness) and I don't want to be on benefits by having a child now. I wanted a control of my life choices.
Unfortunately, when I was told about my troublesome ovarian reserve (via EMAIL, by the way!), I was just 2 days away from leaving the country to volunteer in an orphanage in South Africa for a month. I had spent every penny I owned on travelling to work in an orphanage... the irony was brilliant!
The clinic I was with for the failed donation refused to help me. It isn't on paper, but this is because I was highly likely to negatively affect their success rates. After waiting 8 weeks for an NHS appointment (in the wrong department, might I add!) I found Lister Fertility Clinic. They were perfectly happy to work with me as they are all about helping the 'special cases' (that's me!).
So I have had to beg, borrow but not quite steal. I have a beautiful donor who has given me his sperm so that I can freeze embryos rather than eggs (these have a much better success rate at getting me pregnant in the future) but I need a second round of the treatment as the first round was successful, but not as successful as it could have been.
I am lucky enough to have 3 embryos in the freezer.
The likeliness of me having a baby from 3 embryos is technically 0 as it is a 1 in 4 chance that I will get pregnant, then about a 50% chance that I will give birth.
I am extremely lucky that I found out about my fertility problem before it was too late.
I am so incredibly fortunate to have a sperm donor and support from my friends and family.
I just need a teeny tiny bit more luck so that I can be a mother when I am ready.
My name is Lindsey and I'm (what I call) sub-fertile.
In 2013, at 23 years of age, I heard an advert on the radio about egg donation. It made total sense to me that as I am fertile and not trying for a child, I could donate my eggs to help a couple make the family that they are desperate for. I got in touch with Altrui (the egg matching company), researched the ins and outs, had my consultations, blood tests, scans and started the IVF treatment for my matched couple. The whole process is completely anonymous and I can not express how excited I was that I could help someone start the family they had dreamed of.
After 6 weeks of no coffee and no alcohol (AKA no fun) plus learning how to inject myself without squealing then 7 days of injecting myself with the medicine etc... a scan showed that I wasn't responding to the treatment.
I had failed my matched couple and I was devastated. I had wasted their money and their time.
After a follow up test, the result showed that I had an extremely low and rapidly decreasing ovarian reserve. This meant that if I didn't have kids ASAP, I couldn't have them. I was in a brand new relationship and not in the right place in my life for children. My only other option was to freeze eggs.
The NHS would not help me as I don't have cancer (thank goodness) and I don't want to be on benefits by having a child now. I wanted a control of my life choices.
Unfortunately, when I was told about my troublesome ovarian reserve (via EMAIL, by the way!), I was just 2 days away from leaving the country to volunteer in an orphanage in South Africa for a month. I had spent every penny I owned on travelling to work in an orphanage... the irony was brilliant!
The clinic I was with for the failed donation refused to help me. It isn't on paper, but this is because I was highly likely to negatively affect their success rates. After waiting 8 weeks for an NHS appointment (in the wrong department, might I add!) I found Lister Fertility Clinic. They were perfectly happy to work with me as they are all about helping the 'special cases' (that's me!).
So I have had to beg, borrow but not quite steal. I have a beautiful donor who has given me his sperm so that I can freeze embryos rather than eggs (these have a much better success rate at getting me pregnant in the future) but I need a second round of the treatment as the first round was successful, but not as successful as it could have been.
I am lucky enough to have 3 embryos in the freezer.
The likeliness of me having a baby from 3 embryos is technically 0 as it is a 1 in 4 chance that I will get pregnant, then about a 50% chance that I will give birth.
I am extremely lucky that I found out about my fertility problem before it was too late.
I am so incredibly fortunate to have a sperm donor and support from my friends and family.
I just need a teeny tiny bit more luck so that I can be a mother when I am ready.
Organizer
Lindsey Horne
Organizer