Meet Rosie, Lee, Joshua and Eva

We had been trying to conceive for around a year and were referred to the Hewitt in February 2020. Our appointments were then delayed by Covid,  but in August 2020 we were told that Lee had a low sperm count as well as other complications for investigation.

Following these investigations, we did a short cycle with ICSI in April 2021 resulting in 11 eggs, 10 of which were mature, and 9 of which fertilised. Unfortunately, on Day 3 we received a call to let us know that they were not progressing well, with none remaining by Day 5.

A follow up call in May/June revealed that we also had an issue with egg quality, likely due to previous thyroid problems (Graves Disease), and it was agreed that we would try again later in the year on a long cycle in an attempt to better protect the egg quality.

We started the long cycle with ICSI at the beginning of October 2021 and had our egg collection later that month where we had 5 eggs collected, all of which were mature. On day 3 we were told that we had 2 embryos but unfortunately they were fragmented and not dividing as expected. However, there was one 7 cell embryo which could be suitable for transfer. We decided to go for a day 3 transfer given we had not had this amount of progress in our previous round. By the time we got to the hospital we were told the embryo was now 8 cells. The transfer went well and we settled in for the 2 week wait! We also got a phone call on day 5 to say that the only other remaining embryo had made it to a blastocyst and would be frozen.

We were so very lucky that the 8 cell day 3 embryo is now Joshua, who is 2 years old, and the frozen embryo was transferred following a natural cycle in February 2024 and is Eva, who is 1 month old!

To people starting fertility care  - It is a stressful, and all-consuming journey – nothing is harder than waiting each month to see if you are pregnant. There is a perception that IVF will solve all of these problems and people do not, and cannot (unless they’ve been there themselves), know how difficult it can be.

We found it really helped being open and honest with those around us about what it was we were going through. We were really glad that we had because we needed their support after our first round failed – receiving the news about the loss of all of our embryos was truly devastating. We were really well supported by the Hewitt Centre and put our faith in them entirely – it is important to remember that they do not want your round to fail either; so trust their recommendations and try and shut out the noise of online research!

We hope you are as lucky as we have been.

Thank you Hewitt ! We received excellent advice, support and guidance throughout. We have particular thanks to the embryologists, who have delivered the news and updates to us on our embryos with great care and compassion.