Starting a family does not always follow the timeline you expect. For Georgia and Adam, what began as a relaxed decision to stop using contraception gradually became a year of questions, difficult moments, and big decisions. This is their story, shared in their own words.
When we started trying
Adam and I had been together around two years when we decided to start trying for a baby in December 2022. We took the “not actively trying but not using contraception” approach, with both of us quietly expecting to conceive quickly. Adam was 29 and I was 27.
Like most young couples, we assumed I would get pregnant within the first three months. A quick Google will tell you 60 to 70 percent of healthy young couples do.
After six months, we were starting to feel a bit worried and wanted some reassurance that we were “normal”.
Our first fertility tests
In August 2023, shortly after Adam’s 30th birthday, we both had fertility tests completed with Care Fertility Sheffield.
We chose Care Fertility Sheffield based on online reviews and how close the clinic was to us. It’s about a 30 minute drive from where we live on the outskirts of Sheffield into the city centre.
My results came back normal and Adam’s showed a very borderline low sperm count. After discussions with the doctor, we felt confident that with a few lifestyle tweaks, healthier eating and all the so called superfoods, we would conceive.
I also decided to add ovulation tracking into the mix. I had the whole works. The app, the basal body temperature thermometer, and the urine ovulation sticks.
Trying, waiting, and unhelpful comments
A few months later, in December 2023, we decided to go on a much-needed holiday to Morocco for a break away. Cue the “my friend stopped trying and went on holiday and got pregnant” comments from well-meaning friends and family. Anyone who has struggled to conceive knows how unhelpful those clichés can be.
While we were away, Adam’s cousin called to tell us his girlfriend was pregnant and due in August 2024. Whilst we were happy for them, it still broke our hearts.
It might sound bitter to anyone who has not been through fertility struggles, but it takes over your life. You start to feel jealous, resentful, and angry towards people who are pregnant. Every time you open Facebook or Instagram, someone else is announcing a pregnancy, or a friend stops contraception and gets pregnant straight away.
A positive test, then a loss
In the first week of January 2024, about seven days before my period was due, I noticed some spotting. I took an early pregnancy test and it was positive.
We couldn’t believe it! All the stress and sadness from the past year felt like it had finally led to something good.
I rang my GP straight away to get put on the list for a midwife.
A week later, I started bleeding heavily and pregnancy tests were negative. It was a chemical pregnancy. Adam and I were distraught. Everything we had been carrying for the past twelve months seemed to hit us all at once.
Why us? Why is this so easy for everyone else? What is wrong with us?
Deep down, I had felt something wasn’t quite right with the pregnancy, and the early miscarriage confirmed that feeling.
I had to call the GP to be taken off the midwife list, which was awful. The GP tried to reassure us by saying it showed we could conceive as a couple.
More waiting, more answers
Another Google search told us your chances of getting pregnant increase after a miscarriage because of hormone changes. We were convinced the next three months would be it.
Spoiler alert. I did not get pregnant.
We contacted Care Fertility Sheffield again in spring 2024 and Adam repeated his fertility test. This time, his sperm count had dropped significantly and was now borderline infertile.
We were advised it would be sensible for Adam to freeze a semen sample in case his levels continued to fall, so we did.
Around the same time, we took our results to the GP and were told we would qualify for NHS IVF. The waiting list, however, was at least two years before even having a first consultation.
For us, that felt impossible. We were lucky enough to be in a position to go ahead privately.
Deciding on IVF
We told Care Fertility that we wanted to proceed with IVF. Based on our situation, we were advised that IVF with ICSI would be the best option.
We were approved for finance with Access Fertility, paying half upfront and repaying the rest over ten months.
In June 2024, Adam proposed to me in Greece. We were still very much in our engagement bubble when my period started on 1 July 2024, meaning I could begin IVF medication.
Going through treatment
Before IVF, I had only heard negative stories. People talk about awful side effects and how hard it is on your body. For me, that wasn’t the case. I had no side effects and managed the process well.
A couple of weeks later, we went into the clinic for my egg collection and for Adam to give another sperm sample. If that sample couldn’t be used, the frozen one could be used instead.
I was so nervous about egg collection because it sounds invasive and painful, but luckily, I didn’t feel any pain or discomfort during or afterwards.
We got some unexpected news when the nurse told us Adam’s sperm count that day had not only returned to his original level but had gone above average. This meant we could have switched to IVF without ICSI, but I chose to stick with the original plan.
The wait and the result
The next couple of weeks were full of nerves. When I took the pregnancy test and saw it was positive, it felt completely different to before. To say we were over the moon would be an understatement, and this time I just knew that everything was going to be okay.
My pregnancy was straightforward. No awful morning sickness, no strange cravings.
I was due in April 2025 but went into hospital for an induction on 29 March. After a failed induction, I chose to have a caesarean section.
At midday on 31 March 2025, Sylvia was born, and our lives were changed forever.
Georgia and Adam meeting Sylvia following her birth by caesarean section in March 2025.
Looking back
We conceived on our first round of IVF and only have positive memories of our experience with Care Fertility Sheffield. I’m very open and honest with people about our experience with IVF and would make the same decision again without hesitation.
Every member of staff we met was kind, clear, and professional, which made a huge difference to how we experienced the whole journey.
Sylvia, pictured as a newborn and later as a baby, after being born following Georgia and Adam’s IVF treatment.
