Hello my name is Hannah and I am setting up a fundraising page for Hannah and Rob. This was definitely not an easy decision for Hannah and Rob to make, but due to the extensive expense of the failed IVF’s, to now having to make the next step to try a different avenue, we have decided to help them by creating a Go Fund Me to help with any of these expenses! I know that any donation would be GREATLY APPRECIATED ❤️

Here is Hannah and Robs story………..

Rob and I met in 2002, I was 18 and Rob was 21. We got engaged in 2007 and married in 2010.

Rob is self employed as an antiques dealer and I’m a nursery manager and we live in Somerset in the Uk.

During my teenage years I struggled with painful and irregular periods, there was some discussion of endometriosis but as I was so young not much was done about it at the time.

In 2008 I was officially diagnosed with Polycystic ovaries and an under active thyroid (hypothyroidism) as the struggle with pain, discomfort and irregular periods got a lot worse. I really had to push to get the tests and came across a lot of doctors who were very rude and unhelpful but eventually found one who helped me get the right support.

In 2009 I was admitted to hospital with a sever infection in my pelvis and as a result and potentially due to endometriosis the infection had attached itself to my fallopian tubes inside and out and in general my pelvic area was a mess. This was treated but I was told that the damage was sever and that getting pregnant would be harder.

After we got married we started trying to conceive like most couples do. We knew it was going to take longer than normal so we were very patient with the process.

During this time I was moved from one GP to the next and ended up having 4 different GPs over a 4 year period. This really didn’t help matters as it was like starting from scratch every time I got a new one. My thyroid was hard to control and more regular testing was needed to help it maintain good levels. Eventually I went round my GP and requested I speak with the gynaecology specialist GP at my surgery. It was only by fluke that I was made aware of her expertise, but I’m glad I was. She immediately recommended further investigation and testing.

During these test we established that my tubes were severely damaged still and completely blocked so no eggs were getting through.

In 2012 I went in for surgery to try and clear the tubes. This sadly was unsuccessful and I was told that IVF would more than likely be our best option, we could keep trying as there was a 5% chance an egg could squeeze through.

As a lot of you know IVF is very much a postcode lottery and we would only get one free cycle on the NHS. However the criteria is strict.

With my thyroid issues my weight was up and down but not where it needed to be so the advise given was go away loose weight and come back when you have.

I worked hard, I was a journey of ups and downs and my thyroid made it so hard as it was still very unstable. Plus PCOS and the side effects of this, I really struggled.

By this point I was on GP number 6 and he was great. He referred me to the thyroid specialist and put me on metformin to support the PCOS symptoms. I managed to get my thyroid more under-control and my PCOS symptoms more manageable. I got to around a storm away from where I needed to be for NHS IVF but my body was stuck. I just couldn’t get it to go any lower.

I was exercising regularly, taking all my thyroxin and metformin properly. Eating well but still I just could get past that point.

At this point in time we were just stuck, no help was available, I couldn’t get to the NHS criteria, and it felt like everyone around me was having babies.

I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Ultimately I was the problem and I just couldn’t get my body to do what it needed to.

We continued to track my fertility and ovulation cycles, my thyroid went through ups and downs and therefore my weight fluctuated a lot.

We focused a lot on enjoying our time, buying a house, progressing in our careers etc

We focused on Robs health, he has arthritis in his hips and some back issues and needed to have his hip replaced.

Fast forward to 2020 we were moving along hoping that something would give and move in our favour, we had always discussed adoption so decided to look into it.

We had my dads 70th birthday just before lockdown where lots of his friends attended. My younger brother and his three children were there and my dads friends asked about all of us.

Rob had his first hip replaced during lockdown, we both were at home through most of this process and talked a lot about our journey to having children and so decided to look into adoption a bit further.

We attended the meeting and came away thinking we still wanted to adopt but we really wanted to push the IVF and give this a try first.

As lockdown started to ease my dad attended a sports massage with someone who had been at the party. They talked about myself and my brothers and the kids etc and my dad spoke to her about our journey to becoming a family.

She was a nurse before moving into private practice and said to him that IVF for private patients had different requirements to NHS. When he mentioned this too me I made a phone call immediately to Care Fertility in Bath. We had been for a visit previously when we started getting close to the NHS requirements and we wanted to know where we were going to go when the time was right.

They confirmed that we would be eligible for IVF under private treatment.

We had always assumed that it would be the same rules and requirements…but no we could start anytime we wanted.

The fees were a lot, but we had an idea of this as we had had friends who had gone through IVF.

Our family rallied at this point and supported us greatly.

We had 3 fresh cycles and 3 frozen. During this time we transferred 7 eggs, had one pregnancy which resulted in an empty sac and ultimately a miscarriage and even tried a double egg transfer. The team at Bath were good, we didn’t know what to expect going into it, but the further we went through the more we knew what to ask for and what each feeling in my body meant.

Sadly though they can’t offer us anything different. Our last cycle was unsuccessful and they had no where for us to go. Their advise was to try elsewhere.

We took a couple of months to just be us, relax and love life a bit. We had done IVF solidly for nearly 3 years.

So we started looking at Greece. Our friends who had been through IVF in this country ended up going here due to unsuccessful treatments here.

We arranged the phone call, completed all the paperwork etc

Greece offer different things to the UK. We were given a plan of action, felt really positive about what they were offering us. They want to remove my tubes and explained why this would be beneficial to the process and the chances of success… this is great. We feel confident that going into this we know now we will have tried absolutely everything in our power to have children through IVF and my own body.

This will be our last attempt.

So this brings us to why we are fundraising.

Due to the fees and the extras such as the tube surgery, additional medication etc the cost is significantly more than the uk.

Our target for treatment, travel and medication costs is £12,000.

We have been working hard to get to this figure but we need help to reach the target and complete our family.