# New couple could do with some advice....



## Charlie &#039;N&#039; Bec (Sep 18, 2010)

Hello!
wondered if you could help us 2 bewildered women! We are a lesbian couple who have spoke about trying to conceive. I am 28 / 29 in 2 weeks, diagnosed with PCSO a few years ago, no ovulation for years. ;-(... My beautiful girlfriend 21, as far as we know is all fit and healthy. 
I am hoping to use Donor Eggs from my partner, we have been looking up on the internet and asked few clinics about treatment etc. I have had previous dealings with Holly House when they were The Essex Fertility Centre and found them to be amazing, but now circumstances are different. So what we are really asking is as we are choosing a clinic and we are based in Southend Essex, we would like to know what your views are of the clinics you have been receiving. We have so many questions but wont bombard you with them all at once ;-) thank you in advance.

Becki & Charlie xx


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## b&amp;l (Oct 8, 2009)

Can't recomend a clinic down south but wanted to say hi and welcome to the forum  x


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## cutelittlepumpkin (Nov 1, 2007)

Hi Becki & Charlie   

We live in Westcliff and decided to travel up to London for our treatment as there was nothing local!

We used LWC in Harley St and have had no problems with them, there is a board here with clinic reviews on, might be worth a look to see which clinic fits all your needs!

CLP


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## Charlie &#039;N&#039; Bec (Sep 18, 2010)

Hey 

Thank you B&L...

Cutelittlepumpkin, Thank you we were looking at LWC and wanted to hear if any other lesbian couple was comfortable there.. Congrat's on both sets of Twins.

Becki and Charlie xx


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## cutelittlepumpkin (Nov 1, 2007)

Becki N Charlie,

We love LWC and have been going there for over six years, and have been very happy with the service we have received, we had a few minor hiccups when they changed management a few years back but nothing significant!

We all so have friends locally who use LWC and are happy there!

However there are a few ladies on here who have not been so happy with them, but I'm sure they will give you their opinion.

Feel free to ask any questions you like!



Charlie 'N' Bec said:


> Congrat's on both sets of Twins.
> 
> Becki and Charlie xx


Thanks ladies, after and intially very rocky journey we have been very lucky and are still rather shell shocked that we have two beautiful boys and two more bubbas on the way! 

CLP


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## Pinktink (Dec 17, 2008)

Hi guys

haha clp is right there are those of us on here who are certainly not fans of the lwc. We had two cycles there and could go into a long rant about the mistakes and dodgy dealings but I won't (unless you ask lol). As clp said there are several couples and several babies on these boards that came from here but I wouldn't send my worst enemy there.

We ended up getting pregnant at a clinic run by one of the former consultants from the lwc who consequently has a lot of experience dealing with same sex couples and was able to provide access to better sperm and consultant led care which if you meet some of the nurses at the lwc you will realise the value of   I can send you the details as it is a new clinic I'm not sure if her website is up yet.

Good luck on your journey. I hope the ttc part is short 

Lynn xx


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## Charlie &#039;N&#039; Bec (Sep 18, 2010)

Hi, 

Thank you CLP, we are gonna sit down during week and go through everything, then im sure the questions will start.....lol! 

Pinktink - Thank you for your reply, sounds like you had a rocky start, can i ask what were the problems you had at LWC? Happy that your journey ended positively congrats. Can you send us the details please of your clinic, sounds interesting. 

Becki & Charlie xx


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## Pinktink (Dec 17, 2008)

Hi Becki & Charlie

I thought I'd quote a previous post where I explained some of our problems with them - some things are hard to go into without giving away some very personal info...but there is enough to be getting on with 



Pinktink said:


> Hi everyone...
> 
> Nic&Lau - asda do non-profit IVF drugs for a lot cheaper than the clinics but we used an online pharmacy called central homecare we found out about on here which worked out £400 cheaper than asda for us (we use a lot of gonal f) and probably about £800 cheaper than our clinic...(gonal f pens for example £207 at CH, £282 in asda, £375 in clinic!!)
> As for the boards we always join in with cycle buddies/2ww threads and have never had any problems about being f/f couple...
> ...


I will PM you the details of our clinic tomorrow as I need to get their landline number - we are our dr is very lovely and very thorough (and we are tough to please  )


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## Charlie &#039;N&#039; Bec (Sep 18, 2010)

Hey Pinktink, 

Thank you, wow... sounds quite distressing so sorry to hear. Thank you for your input. We are tough to please too but want to feel welcomed and not feel like another statistic. 

Will wait for your PM, do they have a website? 

Becki & Charlie xx


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## kelz2009 (Jan 18, 2009)

Charlie 'N' Bec
Im with clp on how great lwc are we had our iui treatment there last may and june and now have 8 month old triplets, they all were great with same sex couples and had no problems with them xx Hope you all the best in finding a clinic that suits you xx


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## Charlie &#039;N&#039; Bec (Sep 18, 2010)

Kelz2009... Thank you for your reply. Congrats on your triplets you lucky lady. Think we are going to go to the alternative families show and see hoe things are and hopefully visit the LWC clinic. 

Becki and Charlie xx


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## Steph29 (Apr 28, 2009)

Charlie 'N' Bec

Hi we are also with the LWC everything was great and had no problems and now have a beautiful 3 month old boy. They are also great with same sex couples. I dont nessaserily thing one clinic is better than another, individuals are going to support their clinic as most have had their beautiful babies/children from treatment received their, i dont think clinics are dodgy just maybe not right for you, Our friends visited a clinic and they found it was not very same sex couple friendly and not the clinic for them it is best to do your research and visit open days to choose the best one for you and one where  you are going to feel comfortable.


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## snagglepat (Sep 13, 2004)

I also thought I'd add that we went a completely different route so that you know there are other options out there. 

I have PCOS as well as endometriosis so my initial prognosis for fertility wasn't great, but after a few years of trying with my partner she was rapidly approaching 40 and we knew the odds of success with her were getting smaller all the time, so we decided to explore what could be done for me. We got a referral to our local NHS fertility unit via our GP and discovered we were entitled to ovulation induction on the NHS because I had a diagnosed fertility problem (and was also under 35 with a healthy BMI, just). I was given Metformin which took a while but did eventually get me ovulating and then I had regular scans to monitor progress each month as I still wasn't wonderfully regular and we had to time inseminations correctly. We got pregnant on our sixth month of trying with me and our daughter will be three next month. 

When we decided to try for a sibling I had to get referred again as we'd moved area but the new consultant was just as good and I was given the metformin again. This time it took longer to start working because my BMI was higher, but it did help me lose weight and I was due to start getting the scans when I'd got down to a BMI of 30. I was only three points off this when we noticed one day that I had fertile mucus, so we called our known donor, inseminated, and here I am 22 weeks pregnant with our second child.  

We used a known donor that we found online. There are big pros and cons with this, as with any route to a family and I'd be happy to fill you in on what they were for us and how we've dealt with them. Using a known donor is not for everyone but for us there simply was no other way to ensure our children never had any questions about their origins that we couldn't answer and it's worked wonderfully for us. Our donor has stuck to our agreement to the letter throughout,  always been available to us when we've needed him (bar the odd trip abroad that he gave us good notice of) and has given us the most amazing gift! 

And financially it's made the world of difference. All we've had to pay for is a monthly prescription charge for the metformin and a batch or two of sample pots and syringes from ebay to use for the inseminations. Our donor came to us and wouldn't even accept  petrol money. All the medical side - the consultant appointments and scans - were on the NHS. 

Anyway, that was a very long winded way of saying that PCOS doesn't automatically mean that you can't get pregnant without intensive and costly medical intervention. We're living proof of it.  

Wishing you the best of luck, whatever you decide.

Gina. x


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## nismat (Mar 7, 2005)

Our son was conceived at LWC; we were using them during the time that there were a lot of changes, so I can't really comment on how they are run now. But even then, we did feel like we were just another set of clients on a conveyor belt.
To try and conceive a sibling, we moved to a local clinic in Colchester (at the time known as Isis, now it is Bourne Hall Colchester), which we were much happier at. It all felt a lot more personal, esp in terms of relationships with the staff. There are fewer staff as it's a smaller clinic, so you get to know them better. 
For me, there are two key things when selecting a clinic; firstly, that it's somewhere that you feel comfortable at, and secondly, that it's not going to be a drag to have to travel when you need to attend regularly during treatment cycles for scans etc., so I think local is best! Almost all clinics these days regularly treat same-sex couples, so I don't think that is a big issue, but you do still need to check out how they relate to you, as some staff may make insensitive comments (e.g. may refer to straight couples as "normal" couples) through either ignorance, or personal prejudice.
Most clinics run regular open days/evenings so that you can go in and meet the staff/find out more about your options, without having to pay for a consultation.


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## nickidee (Sep 16, 2007)

I have PMd you with my experience of LWC. I don't feel comfortable with publically posting my views as I am still toying the idea with suing the b*ggers


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## nickidee (Sep 16, 2007)

nickidee said:


> I have PMd you with my experience of LWC. I don't feel comfortable with publically posting my views as I am still toying the idea with suing the b*ggers


For some reason I can't seem to PM you - it says you are not recognised whe I try. Sorry.


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## Charlie &#039;N&#039; Bec (Sep 18, 2010)

Nickidee- Can you e mail me please,, Hope your experience is not to distressing for you. 

Nismat-Thank you for your input, We live in southend so colchester is not that far from us. 

Snagglepat - Thank you for your post, did not think that NHS would even look at us due to being same sex couple, will look into and speak to my gp, where abouts are you based? do we share the same pct? we are based in Essex, Southend on sea. Congrats on your pregnancy. 

Becki & Charlie xx


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## snagglepat (Sep 13, 2004)

Becki & Charlie, 

We're in Shropshire, so quite a way from you, and we were in Birmingham when we conceived our daughter. I don't think we would have been eligible for NHS treatment if I hadn't had a diagnosed fertility problem - that seemed to be the ticket. In both places we were told that if we'd got to a point where we were looking at IVF then we would have had to go privately, and I think the fact that we had our own sperm donor was a factor too. 

A chat with your GP should get you a referral to your local fertility specialist. The worst thing that will happen is that you'll be told you're not entitled to treatment when you see them. I'm pretty sure that if you need them to source sperm for you then you might be getting into tricky territory for NHS funding so if this is a route you're considering you might like to do a bit of reading up the pros and cons of using a known donor to see if it's something you'd be happy with. It's worth looking into at least. 

Good luck!

Gina.


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## Hales :) (Mar 26, 2010)

We also went to the doctor and was referred to an NHS clinic but as we had no known fertility issues we've had to pay privately for everything.


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## curves angel (Jun 27, 2009)

Hi,

We've had treatment at LWC and also Bourn Hall.
We chose ivf at lwc because they would accept me as an egg sharer and Bourn Hall couldn't. Their policy was under 35 and lwc's under 36 (I'm 36 in December).
I didn't feel as comfortable at LWC if I'm honest.I only saw the same nurse twice during my whole treatment and I just felt like an egg machine really and that my treatment was secondary. When we went for our first consultation it almost felt that we were being pushed into treatment and there was lots of talk about our recipient rather than us ,
although I understand when you egg share you need to accept a bit of that.
Our treatment wasn't successful this time. If we can afford to go again we will go to Bourn.
I wish you the best of luck. Strap yourselves in, you're in for a wild ride! xxxxxx


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