Holt-Dixon ICSI Fundraiser

Rich and Levi are a wonderful couple who have been trying to start a family for the past 3 years, however they have discovered that they are unable to conceive naturally. They have explored all possibilities and ICSI, a form of IVF, is their last option. Sadly, this is very expensive and will cost £10,000 and as such they are appealing to friends and family to help them raise the money they need for another chance to grow their beautiful family.

This is their story: - Levi, 28 June 2022

We thought we should start our story back where it really all began. At 6 months old Rich underwent surgery to treat a double hernia, unbeknownst to anyone this would have a huge impact on our lives together today.

In 2019 we made the important decision, as many couples do, to start our own little family. Straight away we were so excited, but naively we believed it wouldn’t take more than a few months. A month went by, then 6 months and then nearly year. After a few dodgy eBay sperm tests, a cupboard full of ovulation strips, plenty of vitamins and many negative pregnancy tests, we realised that there may be a problem. Our local GP was fantastic, they got us seen quickly and later confirmed that Rich had Azoospermia, a lack of sperm in ejaculate, and he carries the Cystic Fibrosis gene. Meaning we couldn’t conceive naturally. We were told that the likely cause of the lack of sperm was a result of an inadvertent vasectomy following Rich’s hernia surgery and after all these years (30+) there would be no point of trying to reverse it.

In an effort to squeeze this all into a readable chunk of text, what came next was a turbulent ride bringing us to October 2021, when Rich had a successful surgical sperm retrieval procedure. In April 2022, we began our first round of ICSI (a form of IVF where the egg is fertilised externally from the female body before being transferred back).

Finally, after the trials of the entire procedure thus far, the countless injections and medications, we collected 16 eggs, a pretty amazing response to treatment! And we started to feel the odds may actually be in our favour. Unfortunately, on the 8th June 2022, we found out that our first and only NHS funded cycle had failed. To make it even more painful, our other embryos hadn't developed to a good enough quality to be stored for another cycle. Sadly this time, it all came down to just chance.

It's hard to know what to include here of our journey so far but as cliché as it sounds, it’s simply been a rollercoaster. Throughout we were encouraged to consider donor sperm, adoption or just not having kids. We have explored almost all of these options and it has become apparent that ICSI is absolutely the only route for us now.

We really hope you can support us in raising funds to try another cycle of ICSI/IVF and get us closer to our dream.