# First time - waiting for ICSI



## Ally_W_M (Feb 9, 2020)

I am 38 and my husband and I have been trying over 2 years. We only got referred in February after my GP said she wouldn't apply for NHS funding until we had tried for 2 years. I had always thought there was something wrong because of irregular periods but I had had 1 blood test that appeared normal so on that basis we had to wait 2 years. I have found this extremely frustrating as every year I know the chance of getting pregnant is going down. After we got referred in February we finally got some answers as to why we are struggling, I have polycystic ovaries and may not be ovulating regularly and my husband has a low concentration of sperm. It is upsetting to learn this as he had normal sperm when he was tested 2 years ago when we initially went to the GP and I can't help thinking the 2 years of waiting has lead to this decline.
After several more tests (scans, blood test, HSG) we have been recommended to have ICSI and chosen our clinic. We are now having to wait another 6 weeks as they wanted to do more blood tests for my husband which we hadn't been told we needed. It's all so frustrating and has already taken so long to get to this point I am getting a bit despondent.
I find that it's too hard to 'stay positive' because I don't want to get my hopes up and then be devastated if it doesn't work. 
I feel like a lot of people don't know what we are going through and what I'm finding really hard is just to think about the future as I feel I can't make any decisions until we have got through the treatment. Even things like holidays are hard to think about as we don't know how long we might be going through this. I wonder what other people's experiences are?


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## teamwillis1234 (Jan 21, 2014)

Hi there we are due to go through icsi aswell via nhs funded in Scotland and we have been told around 7 months its such a long journey abd doesn't seem to get easier but all we can do is stay positive as the time will pass anyway. Are you have nhs funded or self funding Hope your OK x


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## Ally_W_M (Feb 9, 2020)

thanks, that seems like a long wait for you but glad you are staying positive. I have NHS funding for 1 round and you choose the clinic where you have it, I don't know if that is different to Scotland. I am feeling a bit better it's just hard not being given an indication of when it will start, it could be soon but each time we have an appointment it seems like there's another delay, would prefer to know from the start roughly when we can start the treatment but I suppose this is just how it goes. good luck to you and hope you are ok too


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## miamiamo (Aug 9, 2015)

Stay positive and prepare your body and mind, It's not easy to stay calm when the treatment is delayed, but stress is one of the factors affecting fertility. Fingers crossed


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## lea86 (Jul 26, 2011)

Hi, going via the NHS route can be very frustrating because it feels as if there are huge gaps between every test and apt we initially started off with them, but once the ball gets rolling with a clear treatment plan I’m sure you’ll feel so much better. I’ve PCOS and my DH had a failed vasectomy reversal which meant we could only do ICSI. He too did all of the hormones test which was a waste of time as nothing was wrong with in that regard, but I guess they have to be certain. Please note that men’s samples can change in a matter of months so if your DHs test are fine he could retest. Is he taking supplements such as well man? We weren’t entitled to NHS treatment due to the latter issue so had to go private after initial tests. We were successful on cycle no1 even though I only had 5 eggs collected (mild stimulation). I’m currently just under 14 weeks pregnant and we have 1 embryo on ice! Wish you all the best of luck! It was well worth the wait...x


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## Ally_W_M (Feb 9, 2020)

Well it's been 5 months so I thought I'd post an update! We started treatment in August and collected over 20 eggs with 12 fertilised and 6 making it to Blastocysts. I know this is a good result and I'm really relieved as it was a lot to go through. All have been frozen. As I got so many eggs there was a high OHSS risk so couldn't do a fresh transfer. We are hoping to have a frozen transfer this cycle and are doing a natural cycle so it will depend if / when I ovulate which I feel is quite uncertain but we'll see. It's been nice to have a break from it all but keeping fingers crossed we can go ahead soon.


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