Today we got the news that we would need to do IVF (and ICSI, fortunately our clinic doesn't charge extra for that), and I'm wondering just how that will impact on my job as a teacher.

My school has been great with me taking time off for appointments in the past (I have rheumatoid arthritis and have regular specialist appointments), and last year I was fortunate enough to have gaps in my timetable that allowed me to attend them with minimum disruption to my classes. This year, I'm not so lucky. I don't have any days where there is no teaching after lunch and I can race away to an appointment without trouble.

I'm aware that I'll need sizable chunks of time off work for things like EPU, and I'm wondering just what I should tell the school. Should I just tell them it is surgery and not what it is for?

Apart from the time off, there's also the effect that hormones and stuff will have on my regular day to day life. I just went through the year from hell last year and had to go through a review process in order to keep my job. The entire school is up for registration this year (board of studies process to check that everything is up to scratch and we can continue being a school), and that means that in the initial part of the year there is going to be increased workload and stress getting programs and such up to date.

Thanks to said year from hell, my HOD knows that we have been trying, and have been having problems (his wife suffers from PCOS as well), and thanks to a nasty little gossip (not my HOD) who I thought I could trust the deputy principal also knows that we have been TTC and have not been having an easy time of it. It seems fairly pointless to keep the information from my HOD as he is the one who will have to deal with kids I can't cope with at any particular time, but I *really* don't want to tell the deputy just how far we have got in this process... but he's the person I need to speak to when I'm not going to be at work for any reason, so I seem kinda stuck.

Finally, any tips on how to cope with a high-stress, high-pressure job that has previously been trying to fire you in the middle of an IVF cycle?

I'm really annoyed now that I didn't get onto this earlier to go through a cycle while on the summer break and I could learn how it was all going to effect me...

BW