After surgery IVF helps Jodene

Following an operation in her teens, Jodene Khan, 33, from Oxford knew it would be hard for her to become pregnant, but thanks to the experts at Oxford Fertility she’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day this year.

When I was thirteen I was rushed to hospital with an infection in my ovaries. After surgery, I was told my fallopian tubes had been impacted and I may struggle to conceive. So when I met my husband, Arnold, 37, and we tried for a baby for a number of years, I wasn’t surprised when we weren’t successful.

On visiting my GP, they referred me immediately to Oxford Fertility. I was delighted with his recommendation as I knew friends who’d been there and they were very happy with the treatment given. I’d also looked at the clinic’s website and video which confirmed the decision – 30 years of experience sounded good to me.

Arriving at the clinic I was really impressed. It was fresh, clean and modern but also had a homely feel about it too. I especially liked being able to see the embryologists hard at work looking after the embryos in the lab. It was very different to attending a hospital appointment, where I’d potentially be sitting next to pregnant women. It felt like everyone was in the same boat.

Our consultant understood my condition and provided us with clear and balanced advice on the next steps. She recommended that for the best outcome, my fallopian tubes should be removed before starting IVF. She explained that if fallopian tubes aren’t working properly, during the IVF procedure leaks from the tubes can negatively affect the success.

Once my tubes had been removed, I was ready. During IVF, the clinic collected lots of eggs and together with Arnold’s sperm, six good quality embryos were produced. This meant that we would be able to freeze some embryos in case any more were needed in the future. Unfortunately this cycle didn’t work. I had been advised it may take more than one cycle, but I had convinced myself it would work and so it took me a while to process this.

But a few months later, as we had good quality embryos frozen, we decided to try again. Again we went through embryo transfer and this time we were successful. We were so emotional; pregnant – it was what we’ve always wanted. Scarlett arrived in December and you have never met a cuter, good girl!

The team at the clinic were genuinely as delighted as us. They had gone through our journey with us, done everything they could for us, going well beyond what we would expect.

We plan to return to Oxford Fertility this summer to give Scarlett a sibling, and we trust Oxford Fertility to know how to best make it happen.