A COUPLE in County Durham who feared their dream of having a family together would never be a reality are expecting their first baby this year.

Emma Johnson, from Ferryhill, had to jump many hurdles on her journey to pregnancy, including not being able to get NHS-funded IVF because her partner Jimmy had a child from a previous relationship.

And with private IVF being expensive due to most couples needing more than one round to be successful, the couple were at a loss until they found out about Access Fertility, which enables couples to fix the cost of private IVF treatment, ultimately making a saving if they’re successful in conceiving.

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Access Fertility is the first, largest and most trusted provider of private IVF treatment in the UK – offering a range of different programmes to suit individual couples’ needs and budgets.

The service means that patients can fix the cost of private IVF treatment, ultimately making a saving if they’re successful in conceiving, and receiving a refund of up to 100 per cent if they don’t have a baby.

Emma said: “I’ve always wanted to have children, but even from an early age, I was aware that it might not be a simple thing to do.

“When I was 23, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The doctor told me, “if you don’t have a child before you’re 30, you’ll probably never have one”. Talk about pressure! At that age I don’t think many people are ready to have children, and I wasn’t in a position to either.

“I’ve known my husband, Jimmy, since we were kids. When we finally got together in 2015, we knew it was forever. We thought “let’s get a jump start on starting a family” because we knew, due to my PCOS, that we’d probably have to put some effort into it.

“After two years with no success, we went to the GP for some help. Jimmy has a daughter from a previous relationship, so we assumed the issue lay with me.

“They referred us to the assisted conception unit, where the consultant was lovely, but told me that I needed to lose four stone. I’ve always been curvy, but never huge, and it was a bit of a shock. It was all about getting my BMI down for treatment.

“Having spent 18 months getting my BMI down, they started giving me a fertility medication. Nothing really happened – I only created four follicles. The second time they changed the dosage but unfortunately that didn’t really work either.

When they increased the dosage again, I suffered from ovarian hyperstimulation. That was October 2018. I was told I wouldn’t be able to receive any further hormone treatment, due to the risk. I was so frustrated – how was I meant to ovulate if I couldn’t get the treatment to help with that?

“In the end, we knew our only option was to go private. We investigated the clinics and every one of them was an NHS clinic that also saw private patients. I just couldn’t bring myself to sit in an NHS waiting room, alongside people receiving that treatment for free, when I was going to have to pay thousands of pounds.

"We found the Woodlands Hospital in Darlington and went for our first appointment there in August 2020. The clinic didn’t really discuss the financial options with us, so I came across Access Fertility on the internet.

"I got in touch, and they replied really quickly with all the information I needed and explained how they could help. It was clear that everything would be covered, except that initial clinic consultation and the medication.

"My husband and I agreed to go for the IVF Refund Programme with three cycles included, and the 50 per cent refund option. We used the refund from a holiday we’d booked that had to be cancelled due to Covid to pay for it, along with some savings. It was a relief that we wouldn’t have to get ourselves into debt.

"We looked at how much we could afford to spend and worked out that the only way it could be cheaper doing it without the IVF Refund Programme was if it worked first time, without even needing a frozen embryo transfer. I knew that with our luck, we’d need more than one cycle.

"We were meant to start in December 2020, but after I had an ‘abnormal ovarian response’, we had to cancel. Instead of making lots of eggs, my ovaries had only made one. The consultant explained there wasn’t any point in doing the egg collection. He took me off all the medication and sent us off to try on our own for a while.”

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Sadly, Emma suffered several miscarriages, and got a refund from Access Fertility.

However, when the couple's wedding day came around on September 8, 2022, there was plenty to celebrate. We discovered on the day itself that I was pregnant. It came as a total shock.

Of course, we’re remaining very cautious, but we’re so hopeful that this time round, we’ll get the baby we’ve dreamed of for so long. Everything is going really well, other than suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum. We’re now planning on using our refund money for the baby shopping we never thought we’d get to do.

To find out more about Access Fertility and read more stories like Emma’s, visit www.accessfertility.com.