Every journey begins with a first step

Happily married couple Nina and Kersti Butler had a dream – bringing a child into their loving relationship and starting a family of their own.

The couple met in Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal over 12 years ago and will celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary in May.

Shortly after getting married, Nina and Kersti decided it was time to start their family.
Being two women and thus not being able to make this happen on their own, they knew from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be an easy journey.

They had many decisions to make, the first of which was to decide which one of them was going to carry the baby. Nina decided to try first.

After finding a fertility clinic in Johannesburg to assist them, their excitement was palpable when they went for their first artificial insemination in 2015, using donor sperm.

Sadly, the procedure was unsuccessful.

Following Nina and Kersti’s first unsuccessful artificial insemination attempt, a long rollercoaster ride of excitement and disappointment followed with two more unsuccessful attempts to conceive the child they so desperately wanted.

As a result, the couple decided that Kersti should try. She went for the procedure twice, both of which were unsuccessful.

It was a difficult and trying time as the couple lived in (Hoedspruit) and had to travel to Johannesburg for the procedures, often at short notice due to their ovulation period. This meant that the couple had to arrange time off from work, at short notice.

“It was difficult. There was also no personal touch at the clinic in Johannesburg, and we were just a number. As a result, anxiety and stress started taking a toll,” says Nina.

“By (2016), we had spent over R70 000 each time. We decided to take a break to put our lives into perspective,” adds Kersti.

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Your IVF Fertility Journey

Scheduling a fertility consultation with one of our fertility expert gynecologists:

  • Dr Richard Joubert 013 7457605
  • Dr Pieter Steyn 013 7552106
  • Dr Wilhelm Combrink 013 7457988
  • Dr Jean Nel 013 7458054

*Your fertility journey timescale might differ from the one described here.

  • 1

    The fertility specialist will do all necessary tests and evaluations on you as a couple in order to make a fertility treatment diagnosis.

  • 2

    To start the treatment program you will call the fertility specialists rooms on the first day of your next menstruation.

  • 3

    You will see the fertility specialist on day 2 or day 3 of your cycle for a sonar examination to determine the state of the ovaries and uterus before you start taking the medication. The specialist will explain how the stimulation drugs are used henceforth on your own or with the help of your partner.

  • 4

    Your next appointment will be on day 8 or 9 of your cycle. The Doctor will again do a sonar to see how your ovaries have responded to the stimulation and he will start monitoring them in terms of count as well as diameter. You will also be sent for blood tests to correlate the hormonal value increase with the number of developing follicles on the ovaries.

  • 5

    Once the biggest follicle measures more than 20mm in diameter, the doctor will determine the day of aspirating the mature eggs and a trigger drug will be administered to mature the eggs.

  • 6

    In the meantime, you will be referred to Surgiclinic Fertility to open your file and hospital admission. Your eggs will be harvested 36 hours after taking the trigger drug. This is usually scheduled for 9pm at night so we can do the harvest around 8am 36 hours later. You need to be fasting from the previous night and report to Surgiclinic Private Hospital at 7am sharp to be ready for the aspiration procedure scheduled for 8am

  • 7

    The anesthetist will give you conscious sedation to not feel any pain or discomfort while the oocytes are harvested. This process is the same as when the doctor monitored your follicles in the rooms with the only difference that the aspiration needle is now attached to the sonar probe.

  • 8

    In the meantime, your partner needs to be available on the day of aspiration to give a very much needed sperm sample. He is usually expected to have 3 to 5 days of sexual abstinence to give a good sample by means of masturbation. There is a special private facility close to the IVF lab where he will find all that is needed to do his very important part in this procedure.

  • 9

    Once all the follicles are aspirated the doctor will put a small armband around your wrist with the exact number of eggs retrieved written on it. You will be served some tea and toast once you wake up.

  • 10

    You should be ready to go home at around 10am. Try to rest at home and do not plan any other activities as you might not feel up to it. There might be some lower abdominal discomfort as well as bleeding.

  • 11

    The embryologist will continue the preparation of both eggs and sperm sample to be able to do the fertilisation on the very same day the aspiration has taken place.

  • 12

    Each morning the embryologist will evaluate the development of the eggs starting with fertilisation to embryo development. You will receive a Whatsapp picture every day to explain what they look like at that time.

  • 13

    The fertility specialist will decide when the embryo transfer will be, either day 3 or day 5 of development.

  • 14

    You and your partner will be expected to report to Surgiclinic Fertility an hour prior to embryo transfer.

  • 15

    Your partner will sit next to you while the embryos are transferred by sonar guidance. The Doctor will give you a note to do a pregnancy test, usually 14 days after the oocyte harvest took place. This is a blood test and all values above 25 are considered positive and repeated within 48 hours to ensure an ongoing value.

  • 16

    When your test is positive, we will contact you for an appointment for the first scans at 7 weeks into your pregnancy. Celebrate and rest a lot.