The Next Step
In my previous post I talked about getting an appointment at the local fertility clinic.
Well, we got the appointment letter and pack within a week of seeing our obs/gynae consultant. I found this quite impressive; but remember that I'm used to the snail's pace of the NHS, so to get an appointment sorted in less than a month is, to me, quite impressive.
Cutting to the chase: I will be meeting an Andrologist at the clinic this week (Wednesday 18th October) to discuss in more detail the procedure for determining whether my testes are producing sperm or not. From what I can recall in the letter, I think that I will have to provide further blood samples, which the clinic can arrange to collect, or that I can arrange elsewhere (read: NHS.)
Now I don't know how common this is, but the wife and I continue to debate how we want to proceed. I realise that I am probably more keen to find out if my testes are functioning, no matter how much effort is required to extract sperm. In my mind, this will dictate which path to take.
We have, however, agreed that if a child born to us via ICSI is likely to be disabled, that we probably would not proceed with IVF. I expect that we might be criticised for this, and I don't know that my blog is the right place to start debating the moral implications of such a delicate issue. But, as my wife continues to remind me: 1) in the past, we wouldn't have had the option of such a procedure; 2) maybe there is a reason why we're infertile.
I know that the donor route is another possibility, but there are a bundle of other issues related to this. We obviously would need to investigate this route, but as I mentioned before, the odds of finding a matching donor is probably low; I don't know if the UK has access to donor lists abroad, but that would help.
Perhaps my infertility is somebody's way of telling us that we have a duty to helping other children. I know I've mentioned it before, but there are plenty of kids out there who need a little help and a loving family.
I suppose we're just trying to be realistic, and not building our hopes up too high. It really does make you re-assess what is of importance to you in life.
Well, we got the appointment letter and pack within a week of seeing our obs/gynae consultant. I found this quite impressive; but remember that I'm used to the snail's pace of the NHS, so to get an appointment sorted in less than a month is, to me, quite impressive.
Cutting to the chase: I will be meeting an Andrologist at the clinic this week (Wednesday 18th October) to discuss in more detail the procedure for determining whether my testes are producing sperm or not. From what I can recall in the letter, I think that I will have to provide further blood samples, which the clinic can arrange to collect, or that I can arrange elsewhere (read: NHS.)
Now I don't know how common this is, but the wife and I continue to debate how we want to proceed. I realise that I am probably more keen to find out if my testes are functioning, no matter how much effort is required to extract sperm. In my mind, this will dictate which path to take.
We have, however, agreed that if a child born to us via ICSI is likely to be disabled, that we probably would not proceed with IVF. I expect that we might be criticised for this, and I don't know that my blog is the right place to start debating the moral implications of such a delicate issue. But, as my wife continues to remind me: 1) in the past, we wouldn't have had the option of such a procedure; 2) maybe there is a reason why we're infertile.
I know that the donor route is another possibility, but there are a bundle of other issues related to this. We obviously would need to investigate this route, but as I mentioned before, the odds of finding a matching donor is probably low; I don't know if the UK has access to donor lists abroad, but that would help.
Perhaps my infertility is somebody's way of telling us that we have a duty to helping other children. I know I've mentioned it before, but there are plenty of kids out there who need a little help and a loving family.
I suppose we're just trying to be realistic, and not building our hopes up too high. It really does make you re-assess what is of importance to you in life.
posted by Benchimus at
10/17/2006 03:38:00 pm
2 Comments:
I can definitely understand that you'd want to confirm that everything is functioning properly.
For what it's worth - my husband dismissed going the IVC/ICSI route because he didn't feel like it was right to risk a disabled child just so he could have biological children.
So as you may remember, we tossed around the idea of using donor sperm for almost a year until we decided to move forward with this path. This whole infertility thing is a journey, and one we are still on. Just remember there are lots of other folks in similar shoes. Good luck.
By
Shop Girl, at 9:25 pm, October 22, 2006
We've tried IVF/ICSI for male factor (poor morphology and high antisperm antibodies) and after three failed attemps are looking into adoption.
These are not easy decisions, but we do have options. I try to hold on to that.
Wishing you luck as you contemplate yours. Also sorry you're having to deal with any of this at all! You are right, it makes you reexamine a lot of things in life.
By
beagle, at 3:29 pm, November 13, 2006
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