Coping with infertility

[Depressed]

Also Been there and everyone else - thanks for your words of encouragement, it really helps to know that there are others who've been in this situation and emerged from it with a happy ending, hopefully our happy ending isn't too far away.

[us too]

We were struggling, and with the clock ticking, were getting desperate. We went thru 3 cycles of fertility drugs with no joy, then had to take a break because we were both travelling a lot with work and it wasn't feasible. We only saw each other for 1 weekend in 3 months, and were so relaxed and pleased to see each other, that we really didn't think about getting pregnant. But a few weeks later, it turned out we were. We were soooo pleased, and thought it was a miracle. The doctors said it was probably because we were a) relaxed and b) lucky! I'm just trying to say...hang in there, try not to get too stressed (easier said than done, I know) and just keep thinking it will happen eventually.
Best of luck, and make sure to post the photos when the young one arrives!!

[Encouraged]

wow - it's so nice to know that we're not alone in this "getting pregnant" palava! We have recently discovered (after 18 months of trying) that my husband's morphology is extremely low and so far there doesn't look to be any problems with me. Does anyone know if IVF can still be done by using the few "good sperm"?
The hardest thing for me is that all my friends have babies and they keep asking when we're going to have them too which I find really rude as having children is such a personal thing. I know they mean well but we don't want anyone to know the problems we are going through - especially my husband. Is so depressing though as most of them pretty much got pregnant by accident!

[Depressed]

All my friends have babies too and lots of them are on their second which is quite depressing as we can't even get off the ground with our first!! Know what you mean about everyone asking, sometimes i just want to tell them to butt out other times i feel like bursting into tears.

There is a technique whereby even if you have very few sperm the doctors can inject a single sperm into the egg to fertilise it that way - it's called ICSI or something like that. Anyway I was encourage to read that at Thomson where I go they managed to get a couple pregnant when the man only had 8 sperm!! So I reckon there's hope in that. Encouraged - where is your fertility specialist based?

[Pebbles]

I don't know if they do it in SP but here in Hk there is a guy who has pioneered a new fertility treatment. He's called Milton Leung and his organisation is called GIFT. Instead of IVF/ IUI they inject a mixture of eggs and sperm into the fallopian tubes. Apparently it has a really high success rate.

[Pebbles]

One other thing.

I see my friends popping out babies willy nilly. I think to myself that yes I am going thru a difficult time, however that's because my baby is going to be special and hence the waiting for it to happen....

[Also Been There]

Depressed is right, there is a proceedure called ICSI (not sure exactly the word the acronym stands for) where a single sperm is injected into an egg. This can be done for IVF successfully - a friend of mine got pregnant with IVF and ICSI. From what I understand about GIFT (according to the docs I saw) it is much more invasive than IVF as it requires small incisions in the abdomen (probably laparoscopy) and the clinic I went to does not do it anymore because IVF has gotten so much more successful in recent years - however, I believe it is still a resonably successful proceedure.

It is hard to watch what seems like every woman around you have baby after baby and be endlessly asked if you plan to have any. I once sat listening to a woman lament her "hardships" of being so fertile.....she just didn't know whether it was worse to be able to get pregnant so easily as she could or to not be able to at all. (I looked her right in the eyes and told her it was worse to not be able to.....strangely enough she still wanted to argue the point!!) You're right, Pebbles, it will just be more special for you and your husband when it does happen - you will have a greater appreciation for the miracle.

[Encouraged]

Thanks for the info Depressed (and others) - we are seeing an ob/gyn at TMC and he's really nice. Will chat to him about it next appointment after my husband has had another test to see if there has been any improvement.
Now I am "Encouraged"!

[gleneagles]

3 of my friends went to Dr. Christopher Chen at gleneagles

and they are expecting now.

but dealing with this super busy doctor, we have to bare with long minutes sometimes hours to wait for him, he is extremely busy, but worth to go.

[This is for Encouraged]

Hi there

If your husbands sperm count is low then it is normally the protocol to attempt ICSI as opposed to IVF.
The difference is, they take the sample, get the best sperm, clean them up (by washing them) and then they actually inject the sperm into your egg.

I hope you get some positive results soon..

Hang in there

[Depressed]

Encouraged, we are also at Thomson - do you see Dr Cheng? Fingers crossed we all get some good news soon - we're trying IUI again next week, most likely

[shorty]

Hi to Pebbles and depressed,

How nice it is to see we are going through the same dilema (Sorry). Trying for the last 4 years and 1 complete year of treatment, excelent doctor but very busy may be too much...Would be good to meet for support one day, very difficult to talk about but need to know we are not the only ones. I tried seeing a ostheopathe and helped but still no pregnancy. Please let me know we could always start a group.

Take care

[its worth it all]

Just wanted to encourage all those still trying. It took us 4 1.2 years of treatment to conceive (long story) and unfortunately I lost the baby at 8 1.2 weeks. 3 months later and another ivf/icsi and I conceived my beautiful daughter - she's 11 months now. She is worth EVERYTHING I had to suffer through (incl. bad ohss). It is such a hard road but the chance of having what I have now - I can only say go for it, you will know when it;s time for you to stop. Till then keep on giving it all you can. I am now pregnant again naturally - with our diagnosis it was so unlikely yet here we are - things can work out - don't give up easily - it is so worth everything you are suffering through. Best wishes