Life doesn’t always work out as we planned, but you can take life into your own hands. Following a failed long-term relationship and with a desire for a family, at 35 years old, Miss L decided to do just that and begin her fertility journey alone so that she was not delaying and reducing her chance for a family.
Miss L’s understanding of her own fertility health she admits was ‘’perhaps naïve” but she did appreciate that her egg reserve and fertility quality was decreasing in her late thirties. Her belief was that “ IVF was a standard procedure” and as such “ she chose a well-known local IVF clinic for convenience. Miss L had done her homework and saved sufficient funds to embark upon this journey and had a strong emotional network of family and friends.
Her first cycle of treatment retrieved 9 eggs which developed into just 2 usable embryos using donor sperm. One was frozen and one transferred. Selecting a sperm donor was a relativly smooth journey for Miss L and counselling was offered as part of her treatment. Sadly, this cycle was unsuccessful and only at this point, did Miss L discover that fertility treatment is not ‘standard’ and ‘ALL IVF clinics are not the same’.
Determined to go for a second cycle, and with drug shortages due to Brexit, Miss L decided to seek out a new clinic and have her remaining embryo transferred. Miss L explains, “Despite the distance from my home in the Midlands, I knew that Harley Street is home to the best consultants in the UK, so I looked up Harley Street IVF and then discovered that Harley Street Fertility Clinic were on a completely higher level”
“I received an appointment within 24 hours and Dr Venkat ‘blew my mind’ with her fertility knowledge, investigations and what later proved to be an outstanding understanding of my overall health that had been the cause of my failed cycle.” Dr Venkat identified Miss L was unable to metabolise folic acid which is critical for foetal development, and advised her to take an active form of folic acid that her body could metabolise as part of her antenatal supplements. Further, Dr Venkat identified that Miss L had an auto-immune response that would be a huge deterrent for a natural conception or IVF treatments. Dr Venkat indicated that this may have had an effect on the former egg collection and remaining stored embryo but Miss L took the chance to progress and transfer the frozen embryo from the previous clinic.
Dr Venkat was sadly proved correct and despite the advanced treatments and appropriate drugs for Miss L’s auto-immune condition, the implantation was unsuccessful.
Undeterred and with complete faith in Dr Venkat, Miss L decided to have a full treatment cycle with Harley Street Fertility Clinic using suitable fertility-enhancing medications and vitamin supplements. This was hugely successful with a retrieval of 17 eggs, developed into 6 usable embryos at the blastocyst stage. In light of her history, Dr Venkat recommended testing all embryos with PGT-A to exclude embryos with chromosomal abnormalities. This reduced Miss L’s opportunity to 1 good quality chromosomally normal embryo but saved many failed transfer cycles and heartache.
Leaving no stone unturned, Miss L wanted to have the optimum forward plan and agreed to do an EMMA test to ensure the optimum microbiological environment for implantation and foetal development. “Thank goodness I did,” claims Miss L, as Dr Venkat identified that Miss L’s uterus did not have a population of healthy bacteria that would support implantation and pregnancy. Complete with the right drug combination Miss L was then prepared and ready for implantation.
She also received a complementary acupuncture session to ease her treatment nerves which was “so relaxing and highly recommended”.
Success… Miss L is now 14 weeks pregnant and doing very well. Harley Street continue to monitor her progress and have recommended a monthly infusion of Intralipids to counteract any further auto-immune rejections. Miss L loves coming into the clinic despite the distance, as she finds the team such a comfort.
We love seeing Miss L too and can’t wait to meet the baby.
Miss L’s message to other hopeful parents and potential single mothers is, “ once I hit 35 years old, my focus was child first. Knowing my age was against me I wanted a family and I know that I have the rest of my life to find the right partner to join us. I explored IUI and ICSI but without Harley Street I would never have discovered my own health issues and certainly would have invested heavily in IVF cycle which would have failed. Dr Venkat’s approach and dedication to finding the best treatment to deliver successful pregnancy FIRST TIME is amazing “