IUI with donor sperm has given us ‘our little ray of sunshine’

“The IUI procedure was so quick and the staff so kind, I asked “is that it?” and they all giggled!” says Helen. “We still can’t believe it worked first time.”

“Sammy and I met eight years ago at work. We started as friends and then realised there was more to it. She has had a lot of commitments with her mum having primary progressive MS and initially we wanted to spend time visiting as many countries as possible together before starting a family.

Struggling with adenomyosis

“During the pandemic, instead of planning our next adventure, we started to investigate how we could become parents and spoke to others who had been through fertility treatment. I was concerned we might have left it too late to have our own family as I am eight years older than Sammy.

“I also have adenomyosis, which is a condition that causes the lining of the womb to bury into the muscular wall of the womb. It can affect the whole womb or just one part of it.

“When I was diagnosed, I was told it might affect my ability to have children and this always played on my mind. I was worried our journey could be tough.

“There was so much to consider and sometimes by the time we had thought everything through and returned to purchase the vials of sperm it had sold out! We would have to start our search all over again which was really tough as it always took a long time and then we were back to square one. We eventually decided on a donor and decided to move quickly and purchase 4 vials of sperm. The clinic had recommended three vials but Sammy didn’t want to order an odd number!

“Bourn Hall advised us throughout all of the process. The portal system was really helpful as you are alerted that you have a message or documents to complete and then everything can be completed online. The staff guided us through the process, arranged for the shipping and storage of the sperm and explained everything at each stage, answering our questions promptly whenever we needed support. We also completed the implication counselling and legal documentations so that Sammy would be the legal parent.

Timing treatment around work

“We decided that we would like to complete the first round of IUI treatment during the Summer holidays as we are both teachers and this would mean not having to take time off and being well rested. I took a short course of tablets at the start of my cycle and then went for 2 scans to measure the size of the egg follicles later on in that cycle.

The long wait

In the days that followed we couldn’t think of anything else and just tried to keep our minds occupied. The night before our first test I couldn’t sleep at all, I was so nervous about the result, so we took a test at about 6am and sat together on the bed watching the timer. We couldn’t believe it, I was pregnant. We were really happy but knew this was just the very first step so didn’t take anything for granted. As each test was completed we couldn’t believe our luck. We told our families at 12 weeks and they were so happy for us but in shock as we hadn’t told anyone that we were going through the process in case it took a while.

“At each step we felt so lucky that things were positive and it started to slowly sink in that we were actually going to have a baby! I was still so worried and found it hard to enjoy the pregnancy until the third trimester. On the 19^th April, when I was still at work, I had a show and then later on my waters broke. By 11.30am the next day Jasper was born, nine days early!

“As soon as I held him in my arms I cried with happiness that our baby had arrived safely and we could start our biggest adventure as a family. I still can’t believe it worked first time, he is our little miracle. Our families are besotted with him and he is our little ray of sunshine.

“Hopefully Sammy will carry next time and will use the remaining vials so that they can be biologically related. We can’t thank Bourn Hall enough for all their support at every stage and for making our dream come true.”