Leah and Fiona's Story

At Care Fertility, every journey is different—but what stays the same is the personal support we offer at every stage. Leah and Fiona came to Care Fertility Sheffield after hearing about us through close friends. Over the course of their journey, they tried both intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF), working closely with our clinical team to explore the best options for their family. Their path wasn’t straightforward, but together, they navigated the challenges with care and determination. Here, Leah shares their experience in her own words:

My wife Fiona and I got married in November 2021, but we’d been discussing starting a family for a while when we were told about Care Fertility. Fiona had been through early menopause, so we always knew that I would be the one to carry our baby. Two of our close friends started their journey with Care Fertility until they decided to adopt. After their initial experience, we decided to start our journey with Care Fertility Sheffield. 

In August 2020 we decided to start our fertility journey. We had our first meeting at Care Fertility Sheffield during Covid, which meant things started off a bit differently with phone consultations and limited clinic visits. I had my first scan and a consultation with Dr Chulet where we talked through my results and options. Everything looked good, so we were advised to start with IUI. 

Due to Covid delays, we didn’t have our first treatment until the following year. We had two rounds of IUI, but sadly, neither was successful. 

Moving forward with IVF 

After the failed IUIs, I had more tests which showed that I wasn’t ovulating regularly and my TSH levels were slightly above the ideal range. After looking into the odds of success with IUI, Fiona and I decided to start IVF instead. 

I went through egg collection at the start of 2023. We retrieved a high number of eggs and waited to see what would fertilise and make it to day 5. Luckily, by day five we had six good quality embryos. Our first fresh embryo transfer was on 15th February 2023, with the rest frozen. 

We started our first two week wait, and we were both very hopeful. Two weeks later we did our pregnancy test, and it was negative. We were gutted.  

We tried again in May and once again, the test was negative. After that second round, we reviewed my medication and made a few changes before going ahead with a third IVF round in October 2023. After two negative tests, I was very hopeful that the next one would be positive. We decided to do a test a couple of days early and we were both surprised to see those two pink lines. We were finally pregnant! 

We informed the clinic and got a date for our 7-week scan. We were so excited. The week before our scan, I started bleeding. After going to hospital, it was confirmed that I was no longer pregnant. We were heartbroken.  

Finding the strength to keep going 

Following this loss we didn’t know if we could keep going with the treatments. The physical and emotional toll it had taken was massive! Despite this, we decided to try again and in January 2024 we had our fourth round of IVF. This ended in another negative result. Once again, we were gutted with the result.  

We discussed next steps with Dr Chulet and Dr Dickerson and made the decision to transfer our last two embryos together. On 22nd May 2024, we had our final embryo transfer. 

After the long journey we had been on, we were not very hopeful in the build-up to testing. Two weeks later, I woke up at 4am and decided to test. I couldn’t wait any longer. After and agonising wait, we saw the two pink lines again!  

Fiona was so pleased, but I found it hard to get excited. After our previous loss, I was so scared of something going wrong. I called the clinic, and we booked in for our seven-week scan. After an agonising wait for the scan, we went into the clinic for the scan.  

When the nurse said everything looked good and we saw that little heartbeat flickering on the screen, we both burst into tears. We couldn’t believe it. 

Pregnancy after loss  

After such a long journey, and although my pregnancy was physically easy, I struggled with anxiety throughout. I was terrified of losing the pregnancy and we had several private scans just to keep my mind at ease. Every one of them showed that things were progressing well. 

At our 12-week NHS scan, everything looked great. Then at 20 weeks, we found out we were expecting a girl. We were so happy. 

On 15th February 2025—exactly one year after our first embryo transfer—we welcomed our beautiful baby girl. She was perfect. Such an easy baby, and we quickly settled into life as a family.

Reflections and advice 

Looking back, the emotional toll it took on me was the most challenging part of the journey. I struggled with anxiety and fear the whole way through my pregnancy, and often found it very difficult to talk about how I was feeling because I didn’t think anyone would understand. 

If you’re just starting out, my advice would be: talk to someone. Your journey will be different to everyone else’s—some people get pregnant first time, for others it takes years. You need to stay positive through the hard days. Your time will come. 

Final thoughts  

Our experience at Care Fertility Sheffield was a positive one and we’re so grateful to the doctors and nurses. The nurses were fab, they’re so kind and friendly. The doctors are brilliant and always took time to explain things clearly and answer all our questions. It was a long and hard journey for us but we have our little girl, and we couldn’t be more grateful! 

We know that starting fertility treatment can feel overwhelming. Whether you're looking into IUI, IVF, or exploring donor options, we're here to guide you through every step. At Care Fertility, we’ll take the time to understand your individual circumstances and build a plan around you. 

If you’re thinking about beginning your own journey, get in touch with our Patient Enquiry Team. They’ll talk you through the next steps and help you get started.