IVF - for a friend not me

[briggsy's girl]

given the combination of low motility and irregular ovulation, they are likely to suggest full IVF first - i used IUI first - for one we were able to start sooner (didn't have to fit in with embriologists or anything as the nurse did the whole thing. ivf clinic in sale is only there for 10 days every 2-3months - the IUI is able to happen anytime. the first cycle is VERY experimental as they test your body response to the meds, so if you jump into IVF and then get a less than ideal response, you'll have to wait another few months before you can start

i had my first appt with Mac on dec 7 2006, they closed for Christmas about a week later til mid January - i had a series of BT's between then and when they reopened, and started meds for first cycle January 19 2007 - this would have been a lot earlier (was an IUI cycle) had it not been for the Christmas closure

my first attempt was an abismal failure with no ovulation as i have a very stubborn body, so it got cancelled. thankfully, being an IUI cycle, i was able to kick off again only a few weeks later - had it been IVF, i'd have had to wait til the clinic was local again. i'm not sure exactly when the clinic is in Sale again (or even if you're going through Sale - i'm assuming sorry!) but i know it was here in December and probably Feb - last year it was late Feb and early May so it might be a bit of a delay to fit you in with timing. it will also depend on how many places they have available (hope that makes sense)

when i mentioned him being "old school" - it wasn't meant as a derogatory thing in any way - Mac is one of the pioneers of IVF in Australia and has seen a lot of different processes - he won't jump on the bandwagon of the latest "hype" until he's seen evidence of it working. he tends to not encourage people to waste their money on things that don't have evidence to back them up (like accupuncture - i was a patient for ummmmm over 18 months, and it was only at the end of this, with me suggesting it each time, that he admitted he'd read evidence that it helped, had seen success himself, so would encourage people to use it in conjunction with their treatment kwim?)

if you're going to see him through one of his Melbourne clinics, i'm guessing timing will be much different - all you'll have to do is either make sure treatment doesn't clash with his time in gippsland, or accept that one of his fellow FS will do egg pick up and transfer - i had another FS do EPU and transfer and had no drama with it at all - but it depends on your comfort level

hope that helps

BG