Bjoern and Nicky's IVF Journey

This story goes much the same as the '1 out of 5' couples who experience fertility issues.

A Strong desire to start a family - without the success of pregnancy.

Our journey started 5 years ago after much investigation revealed a low testosterone level.

It was even lower than the average female.

Many treatment cycles, doctor & specialist visits later, my testosterone levels had corrected themselves to a low but acceptable level.

Despite this, nothing happened, and it was later discovered that an unfortunate misinterpretation of my sperm analysis led to false hope of conceiving naturally - this on the back of Nicky being diagnosed with PCOS, which combined - led to years of frustration and wasted funds and time.

Finally, at the hand of a fertility specialist, it was discovered that I have Antisperm Antibodies (ASA), which are immune system proteins that destroy sperm. This means that the body mistakes sperm for an invader and triggers the immune system to protect itself - thus attacking the sperm cells.

Ultimately this means our only chance of a pregnancy would be via AI or IVF, with a success rate of up to 35%.

This news has been disheartening considering the time and finances already invested in reaching this diagnosis, with the medical aid not covering the costs of fertility treatments which are upward of R100,000.00 per session.

We are extremely independent and don't like asking for help but being on the wrong side of 30 and having depleted our savings to get to this point and diagnosis.

We ask for those who have the means to consider aiding in our biggest wish of becoming a family or to share and send good vibes.