Help Us Be A Family, At Last!
Donation protected
We, Stephanie and Nikisha, have been thrown from pillar to post since our fertility journey began.
Our GP referred us to Exeter Fertility Clinic to discuss our options further. Unfortunately there we were told we would not be eligible for any NHS funded treatment until we had tried TWELVE (!) cycles of IUI using licensed donor sperm. They also told us we could pay for sperm in frozen packs of 4 for £2,000 then pay £150 for our consultation, then £250 for the fertility drugs then £850 twelve times which comes to over £20,000! Another option, with a higher success rate, would be to spend the £2,000 on sperm then an additional £4,885 for all the consultations, drugs and one IVF cycle totalling £6885 (working out at £21,540 for four attempts this does not include any costs for fertility drugs; blood tests; monitoring scans or travel). If we had the money to do any of this we'd be literally throwing money at them if we could get straight into the treatments. We left the clinic in tears with our dreams crushed. So we headed back to our GP who referred us to the fertility specialist and we got an appointment. During our appointment she went over all the criteria and why we met those (we had jumped through all the hoops they wanted us to), she explained we would still have to fund the sperm (which of course is expected) and said she would organise the initial tests before referring us on to the specialist in Plymouth. We got all the blood tests done, the ultrasound and even went through a Laparoscopy and found that although my tubes and ovaries were free from blockages. The surgeon came to check on me and explained I have endometriosis. This condition is more common than most people realise and can be really damaging. It is when the tissues meant to line the womb grow elsewhere in the body such as the tubes, ovaries, stomach etc. He explained that this can cause complications getting pregnant, excess pain during pregnancy, and during life in general, it is also sometimes the cause of infertility. I've had the endometriosis that they found, removed. Since then we managed to use the IUI method to fall pregnant in December and sadly suffered a very early and very painful miscarriage. We tried a second time but we’re not successful. We tried the IUI method a third time, we fell pregnant again... we booked a private early scan at 6 weeks and 4 days and saw our baby’s very strong heartbeat which was amazing and so emotional and then when we were ALMOST ready to announce this pregnancy on week 12 which would have been 20th April 2018... sadly our little baby’s heartbeat stopped and on 12th April 2018 it grew it’s wings and left this Earth for Heaven. The emotional pain of a miscarriage is indescribable... especially so close to the so called “safe zone”. We are blessed with lots of family to spend quality time with, but there's a huge emptiness in our hearts where our home should be filled with tiny footsteps and babies giggles and that love bigger than life itself that only parents get to experience. If we manage to become parents, we will be eternally grateful to everyone who helps, even the smallest amount will go to such an amazing gift. Our baby truly will be the most doted on child in the world. We hope to get enough to start treatment next year. Our aim is to raise enough to help towards our next treatment possibly in London where they are the absolute best and have much higher success rates than anywhere else around here. We have literally left our pride behind and accepted that we need help in order to make our dreams come true, we will do anything in our power to help them come true. Any donation will be so appreciated and to any family/ friends, please donate here instead of birthday or Christmas gifts as it'll get us the best gift of all eventually! Also we plan to do fundraisers and events so we will keep you updated with anything planned! It sounds like such a cliche but honestly every penny counts: if each person who saw this campaign donated a pound it would take no time to reach our goal. £1 to you might be a third of a cup of coffee on commute to work, or a can of cold drink, or a bar of chocolate but to us it can be the start of our journey into parenthood, it can be the start of the cost of our fertility drugs, it can be the thing that means I might soon have a tiny human growing inside me, it can be making a wish come true!! I know that sometimes people don’t have any money to give but if you can please share our story to spread the word it would be a huge help and hugely appreciated!
Our GP referred us to Exeter Fertility Clinic to discuss our options further. Unfortunately there we were told we would not be eligible for any NHS funded treatment until we had tried TWELVE (!) cycles of IUI using licensed donor sperm. They also told us we could pay for sperm in frozen packs of 4 for £2,000 then pay £150 for our consultation, then £250 for the fertility drugs then £850 twelve times which comes to over £20,000! Another option, with a higher success rate, would be to spend the £2,000 on sperm then an additional £4,885 for all the consultations, drugs and one IVF cycle totalling £6885 (working out at £21,540 for four attempts this does not include any costs for fertility drugs; blood tests; monitoring scans or travel). If we had the money to do any of this we'd be literally throwing money at them if we could get straight into the treatments. We left the clinic in tears with our dreams crushed. So we headed back to our GP who referred us to the fertility specialist and we got an appointment. During our appointment she went over all the criteria and why we met those (we had jumped through all the hoops they wanted us to), she explained we would still have to fund the sperm (which of course is expected) and said she would organise the initial tests before referring us on to the specialist in Plymouth. We got all the blood tests done, the ultrasound and even went through a Laparoscopy and found that although my tubes and ovaries were free from blockages. The surgeon came to check on me and explained I have endometriosis. This condition is more common than most people realise and can be really damaging. It is when the tissues meant to line the womb grow elsewhere in the body such as the tubes, ovaries, stomach etc. He explained that this can cause complications getting pregnant, excess pain during pregnancy, and during life in general, it is also sometimes the cause of infertility. I've had the endometriosis that they found, removed. Since then we managed to use the IUI method to fall pregnant in December and sadly suffered a very early and very painful miscarriage. We tried a second time but we’re not successful. We tried the IUI method a third time, we fell pregnant again... we booked a private early scan at 6 weeks and 4 days and saw our baby’s very strong heartbeat which was amazing and so emotional and then when we were ALMOST ready to announce this pregnancy on week 12 which would have been 20th April 2018... sadly our little baby’s heartbeat stopped and on 12th April 2018 it grew it’s wings and left this Earth for Heaven. The emotional pain of a miscarriage is indescribable... especially so close to the so called “safe zone”. We are blessed with lots of family to spend quality time with, but there's a huge emptiness in our hearts where our home should be filled with tiny footsteps and babies giggles and that love bigger than life itself that only parents get to experience. If we manage to become parents, we will be eternally grateful to everyone who helps, even the smallest amount will go to such an amazing gift. Our baby truly will be the most doted on child in the world. We hope to get enough to start treatment next year. Our aim is to raise enough to help towards our next treatment possibly in London where they are the absolute best and have much higher success rates than anywhere else around here. We have literally left our pride behind and accepted that we need help in order to make our dreams come true, we will do anything in our power to help them come true. Any donation will be so appreciated and to any family/ friends, please donate here instead of birthday or Christmas gifts as it'll get us the best gift of all eventually! Also we plan to do fundraisers and events so we will keep you updated with anything planned! It sounds like such a cliche but honestly every penny counts: if each person who saw this campaign donated a pound it would take no time to reach our goal. £1 to you might be a third of a cup of coffee on commute to work, or a can of cold drink, or a bar of chocolate but to us it can be the start of our journey into parenthood, it can be the start of the cost of our fertility drugs, it can be the thing that means I might soon have a tiny human growing inside me, it can be making a wish come true!! I know that sometimes people don’t have any money to give but if you can please share our story to spread the word it would be a huge help and hugely appreciated!
Organizer
Nish Steph Laity
Organizer
