Hi ladies,

We are currently waiting for the results of DH's 3rd SA which should be back next week. We were initially told that we would have a 6 month wait just to speak with the consultant about the results of his SA's which have both shown low morphology.

DH went back to the doctor this week and said that we were thinking of paying private for a consultation as we just want to know where we stand and what our options are. The doctor as urged us to wait for the results of the 3rd SA as this will be the last one and the IVF clinic will give instructions as to what to do next.

Does this mean that we'll be referred if it is the same as the previous two SA's?

If a definite problem i.e. low morphology is confrimed does this mean that the wait will be less than 6 months?

How long did you wait for your referral?

What happens at the first appointment with a fertility consultant?

Thanks ladies, the waiting is driving me up the wall just wish I knew what we were facing x

Loopy, you kind of know my story, but if you remember we were fobbed off by hubs GP and was told to keep trying for another 6 months, after two months, we went back and asked a different GP to refer us and they did so straight away and we got an appt through within a month.

At our 1st appt the consultant took both our histories, but as it looks like the problem is mainly with hubs he did an inital examination, arranged for a further 2 SA, blood test for hormone profile and an ultrasound. We then go back for the results in just over a week and see what the verdict is.

You should have every right to be referred for further testing if nothing else!

Thanks Vickster_77 for the response. I hope all the results come back okay for you and your hubby.

I think the '6 month' wait was the waiting time from referral to seeing someone which seems pretty lenghty to me. When you have the results and know something is wrong you just want to speak to someone to find out where you stand. We were thinking of paying for a private consultation just to disucss the results we already have.

She has said to hubby to wait until his 3rd SA result but does this mean things will move quicker than the original 6 months that she told us as a definite problem has been confirmed with 3 SA's? I wonder if it was 6 months as we were still undergoing tests at the time and so hadn't been referred by the IVF clinic itself if you know what I mean?

Our doctor is supposed to ring us on Tuesday with the results so we have them in time to go to the fertility open evening. She is then getting married so I'm hoping that we'll speak to another doctor next week who may be able to help us more.

Let me know how you get on x

Loopy I think your Gp is fobbing you off with 3 sa's. My hubby just had the one (it came back as zero,which may be why we were referred straight off) I've only ever heard people having 2. The 2nd one just to check if it was just a bad sample the first time.

I think the nhs is just trying to save itself money when it tells people to wait(or they've blown their budgets by too much already this year). It's almost a new financial year now, I bet couples that go around now would be referred more or less straight away as the money pot will soon be refilled (skeptical I know) But when you think that clinics need so many patients per year to give them results for their statistics so they can secure extra funding for the next year..... it's all about politics!!!!!

wibblewobble1 I totally agree, its all down to politics.

DH is supposed to have the results of his 3rd SA today, I've never heard of people having three either! We've got our open evening at a private fertility clinic tomorrow evening so looking forward to that as I've read so many
great stories about the place. I'm hoping we'll be able to book in for a consultation before the end of the month so we can find out where we stand.

The doctor apparently referred us to the IVF clinic in December but we've been told that there is a 6 month wait just to discuss hubbys's results grrrr it really is a postcode lottery.

Where are you on your TTC journey at the moment? Wishing you lots of luck x

I'm waiting for my test results. I've had cd3 and 21 again, AMH, rubella(again...my Gp did this in august)and also infectious diseases bloods. I get the results next tues.

If you know where you've been referred to,you could ring and ask for an update. It used to be policy that anyone waiting to see a specialist would have to wait a maximum of 18 weeks to see one.

We got referred last march and first got seen end of april, so it's been 9 months of tests and waiting so far. If it wasn't for hubby being azoospermic (needing an op,time to recover etc) then we would have already had treatment. Some clinics once you actually get referred,things really happen quickly.

I'm happy to wait a little longer to start on the nhs.A cycle of icsi would be around ??5000 privately and first cycles don't always work. It's a lot of money to find if your not on great wages anyway like me.

Hi wibblewobble1 we live in Wales so don't know if its different to England?

We've been told 6 months just to see a fertility specialist and then a further year and a half for treatment. So its seems as if we'd be in for a two year wait for any help. We saved up about ??6,000 over the last couple of years to buy a new car (as ours is on its last legs) but that's going to pay for treatment instead now. I think we'll pay for one shot at icsi (which is what I'm expecting we'll have to have) and if its doesn't work then we've got no choice but to wait on the NHS.

We're both just getting so desperate we feel as if we need to do something. DH didn't get his tests results yesterday as they weren't back, he's going to ring again today but I'm not holding my breath. It would have been nice to have them but nothing ever seems straight forward.

I've only had CD21 bloods the doctor has refused to give me CD3 bloods or anything else as the problem is with my hubby. Good luck for your test on Tuesday let me know how you get on x

Hiya hun

I got my test results back today. Good news is my slightly raised prolactin (it's just over the 500 marker at 503) isn't causing me any problems as I'm still ovulating. The bad news is my AMH isn't in the optimum fertility bracket, I'm on 17.4 which is in the average... but low is 15 or under so our consultant thinks it would be best for us to do ivf rather than iui. I'm a bit gutted that we have to go straight to ivf as it's more invasive and I'm also losing out on 6 attempts at iui that the nhs would have paid for. Nothing ever goes to plan along the fertility journey but no choice but to get on with it.

We go back in 6 to 8 weeks to see if hubby has improved but in that time we'll have to go to the patient information evening. I got invited to one back in october but had it cancelled as it was too soon as none of my tests had been done. End of March is around the time we should go back... A year since the result of the sa!!

Have you had any more thoughts on what your next steps are going to be? Did you ring the clinic to find out if they've made you an appointment yet?

Hi wibblewobble1 glad to hear that your results are back but sorry to hear about your AMH reading and that you can't try IUI. I hope now that things start to move forward quickly for you now. How are you feeling about it all?

DH went back to our surgery today for the results of his 3rs SA, they came back the same as the others with low sperm morphology of 2% so they circled on the letter to say that fertility treatment is needed. The doctor said that they can't put me forward for a HSG test or AMH blood test as these need to come from the IVF clinic now.

The doctor referred us to the IVF clinic on 8th Dec so Dh told the GP that we were concerned as we haven't even received a letter to say that we are on the waiting list. So he's given us a telephone nu,ber now so I'm going to ring the booking department in the IVF clinic to double check that they have the letter and to see if they can give me a rough idea of waiting times for our first appointment. Thinking about it all I think I would prefer DH to see a urologist first to see what they say becuase if we go down the private route he won't see one and it will be straight for IVF so we'll never get to the route of the problem iykwim. I just hope the wait isn't too long.

When do you think you will be starting treatment? Wishing you lots of luck x

Hi

I'm not sure when we'll start treatment yet. I booked a holiday for october so I'm hoping it wont be too soon as I wont be able to fly :lol: I think it will be before the end of the year. Gives me slightly longer to sort my finances... I'm a bit sloppy at balancing the cash at the minute, I really shouldn't have booked a holiday but we really need it

Have you rang the clinic? The AMH costs a bit I think thats why most Gp's wont pay for it. Not sure on the hsg I've heard some women say their Gp's referred them for one to find out what was wrong with their periods. My consultant wont pay for one for me now as it doesn't matter what state my tubes are in as they wont get used during ivf. They will have to do a scan of some sort I'm sure I'll find out what it is sooner rather than later!

Will your Gp refer Dh to a urologist? Its worth asking. With us hubby was referred to the urologist first and we both had to go to the appointments. The urologist is also a fertility specialist so he's dealing with us until we finally get a bfp... he would have referred us to another consultant if I'd had any obvious problems but on the whole I'm just average!!! :lol:

I was gutted that I've lost my 6 attempts at iui but on the other hand it has a low success rate and how demoralising would it be to have 6 cycles and 6 bfn's from them. I get 2 fresh ivf's cycles on the nhs and if I'm lucky to get frosties from them I can have 2 fet from each cycle so thats up to 6 shots at getting pregnant if I need them all and can have them all.