Journey for a baby

Hi,

we are Ben and Kayleigh and we need your help.

TLDR: We need your help to have a family. We have to use IVF and have ran out of NHS funding which was unsuccessful.

Our story:

When Kayleigh was 15 in 2005 she was diagnosed with Turner’s syndrome. With this diagnosis was also the diagnosis of POI (premature ovarian insufficiency) meaning she has no eggs. So from a very young age she knew she’d need help to be a mum.

Skip forward a good few years, one dog and our marriage later, we were accepted and referred for NHS treatment for egg donation cycles. 1 fresh 3 frozen.

On this journey and being naive we were so excited that our first transfer gave us a positive! We told people right away. Started thinking names and all sorts. One day during May half term Kayleigh felt something wasn’t right and we booked an early scan. Unfortunately that scan showed us nothing and led to a month of in and out of the EPAU(Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit). This all finally ended when something was seen on her ovary and she had an operation. This operation found a ruptured ectopic that could have led to her death.

After some time and recovery we wanted to try again. Now, just before transfer Kayleigh had tonsillitis and was on antibiotics. With the seeming success we were hopeful. After many, many tests and many, many tears we got a negative. We took time to settle into our new house before we began our next round.

After consulting with a new doctor at our clinic we had a new protocol and renewed hope. Things were different, Kayleigh seemed to respond well and again, we were hopeful. After more tears and more tests we got another negative.

With approaching our last NHS funded cycle we began to become very apprehensive. We kept the same protocol, but added ‘embryo glue’ to try and improve our odds; and hope for the best. Kayleigh also added a probiotic into her diet to see if this might help make a more habitable environment.

On day 8pt (post transfer) we got a barely there line. We were happy. After more tests they got darker. Feeling more symptomatic, Kayleigh began to be more hopeful and we even bought some sleep suits. We got a (very) early (and naughty) scan. In this scan we saw a small sack. As it was so early, an ectopic couldn’t be ruled out, and no yoke was seen; but were told this is normal for being this early. However, two days before official test day we were in a car collision. We did our official test, using 3 different tests and it again was positive.

We headed into our 6 week early scan with some dread and were right to be worried. A small sack was seen but it hadn’t really grown and again no yoke was there. Come back in a week. A week of fading symptoms went by and we knew. Again the sack hadn’t grown and we were referred to the hospital again. A few hospital visits later confirmed an early miscarriage.

So now on to the inns and outs. At best in the UK the average for a donor egg cycle without medication and additional tests is around £8,000-£14,000. We have no choice when it comes to this, it’s our only option.

Because of this we have started looking into IVF abroad.

We have settled on Greece where the cost of everything we need plus some additional tests would be around £10,000-11,000. With everything that’s happened the last year we will struggle to make and save all of this money. If you are able to help we would be forever grateful and indebted to you. You would be helping our dream of having a family.

Flights

accommodation

donor eggs

biopsy

medications

monitoring scans

blood tests

icsi

embryo glue

embryo transfer