Real-life inspiration:
ICSI & SUZI success stories

As these stories show some couples will do anything to have a baby! Be inspired and enjoy their stories, and we hope you experience their good luck.

Anita's story

Heather's story

ANITA: 'We gave ourselves one last chance'

After several failed attempts at trying to conceive, the biggest hurdle for us was overcoming the disappointment of failure time after time. Because of my age, time was running out, so we decided to give it one last try.

Our beautiful son, Matthew, was born 28 December 2001, 10 years from the time we first started trying for a baby. He has brought more joy to our lives than we could ever have imagined and every day we thank God we never gave up hope.

All about me…

Name: Anita
Age: 38
Job: Full time mum
Lives: Kent
Significant others: Husband Nicholas, 40 and son Matthew born Dec 2001
Type of treatment: Surgery, IVF and ICSI
Trying for: 10 years

Emotionally, prepare yourself for a roller-coaster ride. Practically, get healthy. I lost two and a half stone, cut down on alcohol and got fit. I really think it made a difference to the quantity and quality of my eggs

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After trying for two years it appeared that I couldn't conceive naturally. In 1993, after many tests and investigations I found out I had blocked fallopian tubes due to pelvic adhesions either from an old infection or mild endometriosis. My husband Nicholas and I were devastated!

I went on to have two operations to try to free the adhesions, but these were both unsuccessful. In 1997 we were told that our only option was IVF.

We had our first IVF attempt that year, but I produced just two eggs and neither of them fertilised. No one could tell us why we had so few eggs, but we were told that next time we ought to have ICSI, where the sperm is implanted directly into the egg, which means that the eggs have a better chance of becoming fertilised.

However, neither Nicholas nor I felt we could cope with the disappointment if it failed, so we didn't have any more treatment until 2000. We realised that time was running out and if we were going to have another try we needed to 'get on' with it.

This time I produced seven eggs. Six were ICSI'd, four of those fertilised and three embryos were transferred into my womb. The two-week wait to find out if I was pregnant was so very hard and when the day of the blood test came… it was negative. It's hard to describe how we felt during this time: we were so, so sad it felt like my world had ended.

We didn't know if we could cope with any more disappointment but because we wanted a child so much and because our relationship was so strong we decided to give it one last go. I went on a campaign to get fit. I lost two and a half stone and cut down on alcohol to give my eggs a fighting chance.

Then, in March 2001 I produced six eggs - five of which were fertilised, and again, I had three embryos transferred. Towards the end of the two-week wait I started to have dizzy spells and I 'knew' it had worked. The test on Friday 13th April confirmed it… positive. I was pregnant!

Our beautiful son, Matthew, was born 28 December 2001, 10 years from the time we first started trying for a baby. He has brought more joy to our lives than we could ever have imagined and every day we thank God we never gave up hope.

Infertility and assisted conception is such an emotional roller coaster filled with a lot of pain and heartache. I've realised how important it was to try to stay focused and to never give up hope, even after disappointment or failure, because otherwise, we'd never have had our baby.

Before I had Matthew I never imagined I would have a baby. Now I believe anything is possible!

HEATHER: 'Our prayers were answered… in more ways than one!

We'd always wanted four children and found that we couldn't even have one. After two unsuccessful ICSI attempts it was make or break time.

Due to my emotional state and our rapidly diminishing finances, we decided to have our third and final go. If it didn't work this time, we were going to sell up, resign from our jobs and travel the world - it sounded like the next best thing to having children!

All about me…

Name: Heather
Age: 33
Job: Full time mum and supply teacher
Lives: Berks
Significant others: Husband Paul, 35, Timothy and James, born July 2001
Type of treatment:ICSI, then conceived naturally
Trying for: 5 years

Have Faith, children are a gift from God.

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Our story begins in March 1996, when Paul and I were married. We had planned to start a family soon after as we fancied the idea of having four children. After an unsuccessful year, I underwent a laparoscopy and various blood tests. Although I had irregular periods and a hormonal imbalance, there was no reason why I shouldn't conceive naturally.

Paul then went for tests and it was these that highlighted the problem. To make things worse, we also learnt that IVF wasn't an option. At this point it felt as if our whole world had fallen apart. We both love children (I am a primary school teacher) and we desperately wanted some of our own.

Paul took the news better than I did. He remained positive about the future, whereas I moped about feeling bitter and resentful. All my friends were having babies and they all fell pregnant so easily. It wasn't fair. I cried every time I saw a newborn baby and was jealous of all those mums who stayed at home to bring up their children.

I had to keep making excuses every time we were invited to a christening, as I really couldn't face these occasions. No one understood the pain I was feeling inside.

I began to feel more hopeful when I met up with a girl with similar problems to mine. She was very open and talked me through the ICSI treatment she was having. It helped me be more open with my feelings, and with all the information she gave me I soon became quite knowledgeable about the latest advances in infertility treatment.

After my friend gave birth to a beautiful healthy boy, Paul and I talked about having a go at ICSI. We knew we'd have to fund it ourselves, so during a school break, we found a private clinic. We were told about the success rates and problems, but my friend had success first time round, so why shouldn't we?

I became a lot more positive about the future and we were delighted to become Godparents to our friend's ICSI baby. I even managed to stand at the front of the church without bawling my eyes out!

The day I started the nasal sprays in August 1999 was a big day for me. I dreaded the injections, but Paul was a great support. I was glad to get back to school as working really took my mind off things.

I was dreading the day of egg collection, as I make a terrible patient and have a very low pain threshold - but I knew I was doing it for good reason.

Paul and I prayed for success and God gave us great inner peace, but although we had three good embryos implanted, I was devastated two weeks later when the test showed a negative result and the bleeding started.

Six months later I'd overcome the physical and emotional trauma of the failure and felt ready to try again. This time, my family and a colleague knew and were all incredibly supportive. Just as before, my body responded like textbook, with three A grade embryos implanted, and three frozen. But again, devastation came two weeks later. I felt like throwing everything in and running away.

Due to my emotional state and our rapidly diminishing finances, we decided to have one final attempt at ICSI. If it didn't work this time, we were going to sell the house, resign from our jobs and travel the world - it sounded like the next best thing to having children! It was make or break time.

This time, my treatment was even better than before with three embryos inserted and six frozen. The two-week wait was like torture, and when the time came to test, I simply couldn't face it.

The clinic phoned me to remind me to test, and in the end Paul did it for me. I didn't believe him when he shouted 'You're going to be a mummy!' From then on I had such a mixture of emotions I was excited and scared that it wouldn't work.

Our first scan at seven and a half weeks was to confirm the pregnancy and find out how many babies we were expecting. We'd prayed for twins, so you can imagine how delighted we were to see two little heartbeats on the screen.

Once into the second trimester, I started to relax and really enjoy my pregnancy. Then on 18th July 2001, I went in for my elective caesarean and our two beautiful boys, James and Timothy, were born.

I love being a mummy more than any job I've ever had and I thank God each day for our precious miracles. They really are a blessing. We had 120 guests at their dedication in January - a bigger celebration than our wedding!

You'd think my story would end here, but not just yet. In November last year I discovered that I was pregnant again - completely naturally. Of course, Paul and I are extremely delighted and are looking forward to our new addition in June. I know it'll be tough looking after three children under the age of two, but I believe that God doesn't give us more than we can cope with.

And maybe we will have our four children after all!

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