“You’re pregnant”

Our journey with the Herts & Essex Fertility Centre started in March 2021 when we attended their open evening. Although we decided to continue exploring and travelling the world before starting a family, we always knew we’d return to Herts & Essex to grow our family as a result of the information and care we received during this really early stage. Their responsive, helpful, caring and informative approach meant we knew they were the clinic for us. 

 

We returned to the clinic in the summer of 2023 to begin our journey. At this time I had been diagnosed with polyps and the clinic was amazing in giving advice around this before we started treatment. After the polyps were resolved, we returned for our first round of reciprocal IVF in October 2023. With this, we also donated eggs. Caroline ensured the process was clearly explained to us and was welcoming of our detailed letter to the recipients of those eggs. Whilst this round of IVF resulted in a fresh embryo transfer, unfortunately this did not result in a pregnancy. We were absolutely gutted by this outcome but the clinic was patient and supportive in explaining our options moving forward. 

 

Fast forward to January 2024 and we were ready to try again. The doctors heard our views for an increase in medication and so our second egg collection resulted in two precious embryos. Our first transfer resulted in a positive pregnancy test and the call from Katie to confirm this was one of the best days of our lives. Sadly this pregnancy resulted in a missed miscarriage which we came to know at our 7-week viability scan. The support we received from the clinic, particularly Katie and Tracey, made the worst day of our lives just that little bit more bearable. Katie and Tracey spent as much time with us as we needed that day, and in the days that followed, comforting us and validating our feelings. We will be forever grateful for the support provided to us to help us navigate the darkest days of our lives. The staff at the clinic didn’t solely offer medical care but also offered invaluable emotional support.

 

In May 2024 we were ready to try again with a frozen transfer of our last remaining embryo. We will never forget Tracey’s words as she reminded us we weren’t to give up. Her confidence gave us hope and we felt all the staff were “rooting” for us. 

 

We transferred our last embryo in May 2024 and in June 2024 we heard the words “you’re pregnant” once more. We were absolutely thrilled but naturally nervous given our previous experiences. Over the next few weeks we experienced multiple bleeds but each time the staff at the clinic were available for advice, emotional support and ensured to offer us same-day appointments for scans when needed. 

 

Our little boy was born in February 2025 and we will forever be grateful to all the staff at Herts & Essex Fertility Centre for helping us create our rainbow. We are particularly grateful to David who was so patient during each collection/transfer (even if he is an Arsenal fan!), Sylwia who always made herself available to take my blood from my notoriously small veins (!), Charlotte who looked after all three of our embryos until they were ready for transfer and to Tracey and Katie, who I’m not sure we’d have gotten through this journey without.