Clare – Interview 03
Clare and her husband have had one cycle of failed IVF and a miscarried a baby conceived naturally. Clare is just about to embark on another cycle.
Clare and her husband started to try for a baby and assumed that it would happen quickly. She started using ovulation kits, but she became concerned when they showed she had stopped ovulating. Initially her GP was dismissive but when she saw someone else at the practice they referred her to the fertility clinic at her local hospital. As Clare was several stone overweight, doctors thought she might have polycystic ovaries. Messages were confusing, but she was told it was important to try and lose some weight before embarking on treatment. She went away and lost weight and went back to the clinic six months later ready to start. About 2 ½ years after they had started trying to have a baby, she started on Clomid, with high hopes. But she hyperstimulated on the drugs, and a scan showed that both her fallopian tubes were blocked, so she would need IVF. Clare and her husband were devastated as they felt that they had wasted lots of time (almost three years) to discover they would need IVF. Their first cycle of IVF resulted in her conceiving twins, but they quickly died in utero and she miscarried. After a break, she started another cycle on IVF but things did not seem to be working as they should. A scan showed that she was in fact pregnant, in spite of the blocked tubes. But she miscarried again, which was a devastating blow. A laparoscopy showed that her tubes were very damaged, and the only option would be IVF. She was just beginning to talk to her consultant about embarking on a third cycle at the time of the interview.