Morning all!
Just wondering anyone else whose been through a GP referral to the fertility clinic was wondering what I can expect?
Myself and My husband have had our blood tests done and I've had my swabs but not sure what will happen next.
Any advice appreciated.
Hi OriginalFlick, my partner & I went through the GP who does blood tests/sperm test ect, then got a hospital letter choice of 3, we chose the closest, 3 months wait, re did bloods/sperm/internal scan ect to be told needed IVF and that clinic did no do it, got referred 6 months wait, re did all bloods/semen/internal scans, this plus waiting took 6 months now top of list start treatment January hopefully. If I could do 1 thing different if would be to choose a clinic that does ivf just incase that is what you might need as it put an extra 5 months on our journey just going with the nearest. Hope this helps a bit, this forum is a god send if you need any more advice, good luck on your journey x
Thank-you lucky17, I just wish they would give me a drug to make me ovulate then we could continue to try naturally, its so frustrating that there's no point us even doing that!
I've got everything crossed for you for January, best of luck!!
I don't ovulate also and thought it was me why I wasn't getting pregnant until partners sperm came back as very low motility, so we would never conceive naturally, GP refused to send me for any help with ovulation as said that is what the clinic would deal with, which was frustrating at the time x
Hello... it was such a long journey for me from seeing my gp to getting an appointment in the ivf clinic. Not only will the do blood tests and sperm tests they may want to do other tests on you. I had a HSG xray to see if my fallopian tubes were blocked. I have also had an ultrasound and internal exam where they insert a camera inside the vagina to check the womb and ovaries. Mine was through NHS so it's taken almost 1year and 8months to actually get an appointment in the ivf clinic.
Hope this helps x
NHS has stages they go through and test you for things in order before they will put you on a list for Ivf. If you don't ovulate they may prescribe you chlomid quite soon. Who knows they are all different and depends who you see on the day. Expect some waiting and nothing to happen quickly and try to enjoy your life along the way. Xx
Hi OriginalFlick,
We went to our doctor in May this year and started out with blood tests and swabs.
As my husband's count is so low we were advised that it wouldn't happen for us naturally and were referred for IVF. As with the others, we received details of local clinics so did some googling on patient satisfaction, success rates etc and picked out clinic.
We had our first consultation at the clinic in August where they recommended ICSI, put in the application for our NHS funding and referred my husband for further tests. A few weeks later we received our paperwork and information pack along with the dates of our consultation and nurse's appointment in November. We had to have screening tests done by our doctor beforehand and took our results and completed paperwork with us to the appointments.
At these appointments we were told that we would start the course in January (our clinic closes for a week over Christmas and the timing of AH was wrong for November). I was then referred for an internal scan of my womb and ovaries.
That's our journey so far! One thing to add is that our clinic offers free counselling, I don't know whether this is common, and I do think it was really beneficial to see the counsellor. It was a bit intense, particularly since my husband and I are look on the bright side kind of people and try not to dwell on everything too much(!) but it was good to get him to open up a bit about how it's affecting him. Particularly when it's male factor but it's the woman who goes through the procedures, it must be so hard on them.
I hope you get some answers soon and make progress on your road to treatment. Even though there have been some disappointments along the way, it has definitely felt so much better being on the way to getting treatment rather than just waiting and hoping with no chance of success. January still feels like a long way away but I know it will come quickly.
All the best, BB88
Hi. We went to the doctor in March 2016 and started the tests etc and I was due to start IVF in November. I am nearly 42 though so I think if I was younger it might have taken longer. Things have been delayed though and I'm starting in January/February now.
Best wishes with your journey. I hope everything goes well for you.
I went to my GP for a referral in April 2015 after trying actively for at least a couple of years (at that time I had had a couple of bloodtests done and my partner a couple of sperm tests which all looked normal).
First appointment at the fertility clinic was exactly a year ago (on the NHS). They did a dye test (hysterosalpingogram) in Jan 2016 to test if my tubes were blocked and since everything looked fine we could start treatment any time. We chose to wait a month and try one more time naturally, but since nothing happened we went ahead with treatment starting in March. It worked and am now expecting a little girl on Christmas Day 
Good luck with your journey. It's great what is possible these days although unfortunately no guarantees. But stats get better all the time!
I was on the waiting list for IVF (it took 2 years from referral from GP, and during the wait, my eligibility for IVF went from 3 cycles to 1!) The NHS seem to do it all backwards - our one and only cycle has failed due to low AMH which they were aware of at the referral stage. I really feel I should have been better advised and told how to improve these levels prior to treatment. Lots of advice on here as to how you can do this, and improve your chances to prior to starting. My advice would be do your research and maximise your chances. Read about everything that can go wrong and where possible reduce these risks yourself before your treatment begins. For example, I had no idea that you could have thin lining issues and this can cause your treatment to be cancelled! There are ways to improve almost everything and I wish I had been told. I am now on practically everything to improve my AMH and I am hopeful of conceiving naturally. The NHS will not tailor it to you as they will not advise you to take any supplements, etc and these can really help. Good luck xxxxxxxxxxxx
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