# help please



## LibbyMck (Jun 25, 2016)

Hi everyone  
I'm very new to this and was wondering if I could get a bit of clearance on a few things

OK so we have been married for nearly a year and ttc for approx 18 months.. we went to get some investigations done and turns out my husband has sperm antibodies 96% bound    he was recommended to get a retest that we did today so just waiting to get result a tomorrow then hopefully we will get referred to the Belfast royal fertility clinic..
My questions to anybody who has gone through this are what are the waiting times from doctors referral to clinic and first appointment. ? 

Also with our issue being male factor  (so far.. my bloods have come back fine) will we get put straight on ivf waiting list? My reasoning being no matter what results are we are going to need ivf anyway..

Sorry if I have ranted.. it's very hard to get my head around everything.  Any help would be much appreciated


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## Jedi35 (Apr 14, 2014)

Hi Libby, it isn't easy coming to terms with news like that but try and stay positive, it may just mean it'll take a different path to get your family. 

Re the RFC, I think it takes 8-12 weeks to get an initial appointment there although you can make an appointment to see one of the consultants at their private clinics for about £150 and that is much shorter- a couple of weeks. At that initial appointment, you'll probably get referred for ICSI as it is due to male factor (that's what happened us anyway). From then there is an NHS waiting list of somewhere around 8-9 months I think (you can ring the admin desk at the RFC and they will tell you what the waiting list is like at the moment) or you can choose to go privately and start straight away. There are a few other clinics in Belfast if you choose to go privately so you can weigh up which one you'd prefer if you do go privately.

Hope this helps. xx


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## LibbyMck (Jun 25, 2016)

Thanks so much for your reply jedi35  
Just have few more questions.. did they do any tests on yourself to check for blockages or anything and did you get put on the waiting list at your first appointment.? also did you wait for your nhs appointment or did you pay for your first consultation. . I think I would like to do this just to get on the waiting list as soon as possible. ? 

We had a few missed call a from a private number yesterday and they rang my parents house and said it was confidential and wouldn't give their name etc.. I was thinking it might have been the hospital but we only got reffered two days ago so not sure..

It's great getting a bit of feed back from somebody with same expeience.. I work in childcare and all iv wanted my whole life is to have my own.. just want to get the ball rolling


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## Jedi35 (Apr 14, 2014)

Hi Libby, As soon as they discovered the male factor with us, they told us we would need to go straight to ICSI. (I had only had blood tests and a scan done at that stage as I have PCOS). I paid for a private consultation to skip that first wait and then joined the NHS waiting list and used our NHS go after a wait of about 9 months. We were lucky enough that it worked and we now have a little girl but we are just starting again to try and have another baby.

If you think it might have been the hospital, defo give them a ring and ask. 

It's all a bit overwhelming at the start but now it seems like a distant memory! I don't think I ever really believed it would work- until they handed me the baby!


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## LibbyMck (Jun 25, 2016)

Aw thats such lovely story that you wer successful with your treatment.. definitely gives me hope..

Husband has had two Semen  analysis tests and if had bloods done... thanks to your advice I rang the rvh and got some numbers for a private consultant.
I am now booked in to see Dr mcmanus on 13th September for our initial consultation so thanks so much for mentioning this as I feel like we are making progress   I'm going to take a copy of all of our results and keep my fingers crossed that she will put us straight on to the waiting list at this appointment.. best of luck in your second cycle I hope you are successful as your first


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## Jedi35 (Apr 14, 2014)

It was Dr McManus we saw the last time that referred us straight after seeing SA results. Good luck and let me know how you get on xx


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## LibbyMck (Jun 25, 2016)

Hi jedi35
Hope things are going well for you. just wanted to update you on our appointments. We got a cancellation for a private consultation with Dr mcmanus in august where she took all our notes.. She also did a scan on myself and said everything looks good. She advised us to wait for our nhs appointment and I'm the meantime she would ensure she was our consultant. We had that appointment on 12Oct and she officially put us on the waiting list for icsi .  Very happy but know I have a good few months to wait so tryin to be patient x


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## Jedi35 (Apr 14, 2014)

Libby I missed this reply at the time! Glad you got sorted. Won't be long until you come off the waiting list now! Good luck!


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## LibbyMck (Jun 25, 2016)

Thanks jedi35 we got our top Of the list letter on Thursday and accepted straight away and we wer very lucky to get our appointments this morning in the post 5th June for bloods and 19th for meds.. So close now. Feels like time goin so fast.. I hope ur keeping well xx


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## Jedi35 (Apr 14, 2014)

Oh that's exciting- especially appointment on 19th. That really feels like the start of it! Good luck!

Afm, I just finished a fresh cycle at RFC and had my official test date on Thursday and I'm pregnant! I'll be up at RFC in around 3 weeks for a scan and then I can relax!


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## LibbyMck (Jun 25, 2016)

Huge congratulations to you and best of luck for a happy healthy pregnancy I hope in a few months I can log on and tell you the same news for myself 😊


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## miamiamo (Aug 9, 2015)

@Jedi35 - awesome news, congrats!


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