Help Us Have Our Rainbow Baby

Okay, this is going to be a story time so grab a cuppa and settle in ☕️

Our Story …

Firstly it’s probably best we introduce ourselves, we are Sammi (34) & Lee (36) a married couple from the sunny countryside of Devon, England. We’ve been together since early 2020 and married since 2022 ⛪️ .

We have a whippet called Norman and 4 gorgeous cats Minty, Monty, Cosmo and Coco.

Sammi works in Children’s Services for the County Council and has been a RESPITE Carer for disabled children since she was 18, she has a Degree in Early Childhood Studies and often jokes she’s been training for Parenthood her whole life. Sammi has also recently trained as a Holistic Fertility and Early Pregnancy Specialist and has helped over 180 couples get pregnant.

Lee is a Carpenter / Joiner as well as happily joining Sammi’s weekend RESPITE Care. Lee is a big part of the local community growing up in a popular pub and being part of the town Darts league.

Why We Need Your Help …

We first started trying for a baby in late 2020. We were both in our 30s and knew it may take a while so had that discussion pretty early on and knew we wanted children, we had a nice house, and felt ready so decided not to waste any time.

In 2021, we got our first positive pregnancy test, we were overjoyed, we told our families and booked a private scan for 6 weeks, unfortunately at this scan they couldn’t see the baby and we were sent to the Hospital, this pregnancy was diagnosed as a tubal ectopic and Sammi underwent emergency surgery where the tube was removed a week later just as it was about to rupture. Sammi was also diagnosed with endometriosis during the operation.

We started trying again as soon as we could and realised how much we wanted this, we stepped up our game and started doing everything by the book, tracking cycles, taking the supplements, eating well, everything we could. At the end of 2021 we fell pregnant again , again we were so optimistic but unfortunately this ended in miscarriage at 6 weeks.

In July 2022 we got married and a month later we had our next positive test ! A honeymoon baby ! Unfortunately this again ended in a miscarriage at 6 weeks.

This time we were referred to our local NHS Reoccurring Miscarriage Unit and requested a referral to Tommys St Mary’s Specialist Reoccurring Pregnancy Loss Unit (London). We also joined a Private Clinic to help with timeframes and testing.

Sammi was then diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and PCOS (on top of endometriosis- which had now been removed)

In early 2023 we fell pregnant again, unfortunately no excitement this time, we didn’t tell anyone … this was our 4th miscarriage and again it ended at 6 weeks.

At this point we felt very let down by the NHS and they’d signed us off as “Unexplained Infertility and Losses”.

We were now under Tommys, Coventry Implantation Clinic and a Private Clinic.

We had our 5th loss a few months later this time at 5 weeks.

It was now mid 2023, we’d spent £1000s on tests, investigations, travelling up and down the country, supplements, medications, etc.

Sammi had now been diagnosed with Factor V Liden (a genetic blood clotting disorder), Progesterone deficiency, diminished ovarian reserve and a Uterine Septum.

We got pregnant again in August 2023, and this time we had a medical protocol and a plan from the clinics, we had some hope again ! This was our longest pregnancy, we reached over 6 weeks and saw a gestational sac on a scan. We were overjoyed, we booked in for a week later to see a heartbeat.

Unfortunately the day after the scan Sammi started bleeding, this was our 6th loss at just over 6 weeks and it all came crashing down.

October 2023, Sammi had her first operation to remove her uterine septum with Tommys. It was bigger than they thought so we went back in November (on Sammi’s birthday) to have the final part removed. The clinic was confident this was the cause of our losses.

We also had a lining biopsy which showed high NK Cells - this was included in our medical protocol.

We were told they’d expect us to have a healthy pregnancy within 3 months and saw no reason we would have another loss.

We then had no positive pregnancy tests for over a year, the longest we’d ever gone. But we kept trying.

We had our 7th loss, a biochemical pregnancy at the end of the year.

We were referred to our local NHS Fertility Clinic.

We were told we wouldn’t qualify for NHS IVF until July 2025 (we were in December 2024) but that they’d offer some additional testing in the mean time.

Sammi had HSG and they found her tube had been partially blocked with debris post operation and was now cleared this is why we couldn’t get pregnant again.

In January 2025 we finally had our first positive test in over 18 months ! This unfortunately ended in our 8th loss at almost 6 weeks. We felt so let down and helpless at this point.

Early 2025, Lee joined a research study at the Fertility Clinic in hopes to further improve his semen and went through vigorous testing and become vegan for 3 months (still continuing now!)

Tommys and our Private Clinic worked together with us to make a more robust protocol for our next pregnancy with more medication. We tried to feel hopeful.

In May 2025 we got pregnant again, for the first time in a long time Lee even got excited, everything was being monitored and going well on the new protocol. Unfortunately this pregnancy ended at 6 weeks again, we had the tissue genetically tested and it was diagnosed that the baby had a random (not inherited) genetic condition called Turner Syndrome which was why we miscarried. We were devastated, but happy for answers and to know it was nothing we did but simply bad luck.

We were extremely lucky and caught again the following cycle in June 2025 ! We had so much support from Tommys and our Private Clinic, we felt very positive, again everything was showing good progression. We went for a early placement scan to make sure baby was in the correct place, and were told that it was an ovarian ectopic (which has less than a 1% chance of happening) and we l waited to see if Sammi needs surgery as she could potentially lose her ovary and remaining tube. We unfortunately are still going through this now in August trying to avoid surgery.

We have been signed off by the NHS and have been refused IVF via them due to our recent loss. Which we are appealing but this could take a year or more to be heard. We’ve been signed off by Tommys and The Implantation Clinic as they don’t feel they can support us any further due to complexity.

After lots of research, we have now registered and had our first consultation with CRP Clinic in Epsom, this is a specialist private clinic for treatment and pregnancy after recurrent losses. We are completing the final testing available to us privately at the end of August and will decide a treatment plan from there. Whether it’s medical cycles or straight to IVF it’s going to be very highly medicated and monitored compared to the average person.

Alongside this time is not on our side, we are now 34 and 36, Sammi has a low ovarian reserve and they’ve estimated she will hit Perimenopause within the next 2-5 years (potentially earlier), her mum started perimenopause around 37 which can be an indicator.

Of course pregnancy over 35 also comes with additional health risks for mum and baby too.

What we are asking for is help to fund our complex protocol and additional final tests to help us get our baby however that may look.

A Bit More About Us …

Now, alongside all the medical stuff we do (which is endless pills, injections and tests for us both). We also do the absolute most we can to give ourselves the best chance.

Neither of us drink alcohol, Sammi gave up in 2022 (bar the odd celebration cocktail twice a year) and Lee in 2024 went completely tee total. Sammi has never smoked and Lee gave up in 2020.

We have one caffeinated drink a day.

We eat well, we exercise daily and drink tonnes of water.

We take a crazy supplement routine.

We’ve both lost weight, Lee has lost 4 stone and Sammi 3 stone (and still going).

Sammi also does a lot of holistic support eg Reflexology, massage, breath work, Red light therapy.

We are both in this 100% and strongly believe everything is 50/50.

Why is the NHS Not Helping ?

We have unfortunately pretty much exhausted what the NHS can offer us. In terms of testing we’ve had every single one available on the NHS (most multiple times), we’ve had 12 medicated cycles with them (we now pay privately) and as much of our medication as possible is NHS prescription.

In our CCG Area / NHS Catchment Zone the guidelines are you must have had no pregnancy at all for 2 years to be granted funding for IVF (in our area we get one egg collection and up to 2 transfers) this unfortunately includes any losses as pregnancies. So as of now our time has reset and we wouldn’t be eligible until July 2027 (if we don’t fall pregnant again) which is a long time for a couple with not a lot of time !

Our NHS clinic are helping us appeal this rule alongside our GP and Tommys however we’ve been told that the appeal could take up to a year. If we do win the appeal it’s only a basic IVF package offered which our specialists don’t feel will be enough, so we would need to pay for a lot on top of what’s funded.

Why Can’t We Fund It Ourselves ?

The short answer is we are as much as we can. We are not people to ask for handouts and this is the first time we’ve ever done anything like this.

Between us we work the equivalent of 3 full time jobs and 2 part time jobs so are not work shy.

Each cycle we are trying all in currently cost us around £700 (essentially per month) and if we get pregnant hundreds more gets added on for blood tests and scans and monitoring. Some of the testing we require costs £500-£1000 per test due to them only being available privately.

We are very careful with money and still try to enjoy life as much as we can - if we didn’t I honestly dont think we’d have any sanity left because it’s been a really mentally and physically draining 4.5 years for us both. You may have seen us on holiday recently - these are booked 18 months in advance and paid off over that time so we can still enjoy family time and have time to “be normal”.

We have money saved (and will continue to save) and this will be going together with the money raised from fund raising. Alongside the actual costs of treatment we will have supplements, holistic therapies, travel, medicines, accommodation, etc which we will of course continue to fund ourselves.

What Will The Funding Go Towards ?

The funding from this fund raiser will specifically go towards :

Then,

If you’ve made it this far thank you so much for even reading our story and considering donating.

We are so grateful for each and every tiny bit of support given. Especially in this current time when seeing a light at the end of the tunnel is very difficult for us both.

Thank you again,

Sammi & Lee