Those are the words from an email someone sent me about a month ago when I asked her about her experiences of PGD.
The main question I have ever really wanted answered on IVF has been how long? How long for the referral? How long for the PCT funding? How long until we start our cycle?
We did get answers when we asked. But so far, and we’re only in the early stages, the answers do not really seem to tie into reality. I’m not really complaining, but for those who are thinking of going ahead with PGD, I think it’s fair to jot down a kind of timeline of how long things have taken so far. And I will try to keep this up to date.
Year 0, Week 0: requested appointment with our local genetic counsellor to talk about PGD and to get the referral. Yr 0, Wk 14: Appointment with counsellor, and referral passed on. The waiting list is four weeks long. Yr 0, Wk 18: Letter received from London with appropriate forms to be filled in. Our London appointment is in the next 8 weeks. Yr 0, Wk 18: Forms completed and sent back.
I thought originally that the waiting list being four weeks long would mean that our appointment would be within four weeks, or that at least a letter notifying us of out appointment would be within four weeks. I didn’t realise there was another stage in between.
And time can be a funny thing for those of us with HD. I don’t want to waste any of it. I want to pack my life full of everything, and I want us to start our family as early as possible so that we can give them as much of my time as possible. This is why time is important, and is why I wanted to move forward with PGD as soon as possible after we’d got the test. OK, it’s been a fair while since the test but we had things to sort out first. Many people want a family house, pay off their loans, get married, get a better job … before they actually start a family. And we were the same. But now looking back, I think if we’d known that even the first stage could be three times longer than we expected, we would have applied much earlier.
Those are the words from an email someone sent me about a month ago when I asked her about her experiences of PGD.
The main question I have ever really wanted answered on IVF has been how long? How long for the referral? How long for the PCT funding? How long until we start our cycle?
We did get answers when we asked. But so far, and we’re only in the early stages, the answers do not really seem to tie into reality. I’m not really complaining, but for those who are thinking of going ahead with PGD, I think it’s fair to jot down a kind of timeline of how long things have taken so far. And I will try to keep this up to date.
Year 0, Week 0: requested appointment with our local genetic counsellor to talk about PGD and to get the referral.
Yr 0, Wk 14: Appointment with counsellor, and referral passed on. The waiting list is four weeks long.
Yr 0, Wk 18: Letter received from London with appropriate forms to be filled in. Our London appointment is in the next 8 weeks.
Yr 0, Wk 18: Forms completed and sent back.
I thought originally that the waiting list being four weeks long would mean that our appointment would be within four weeks, or that at least a letter notifying us of out appointment would be within four weeks. I didn’t realise there was another stage in between.
And time can be a funny thing for those of us with HD. I don’t want to waste any of it. I want to pack my life full of everything, and I want us to start our family as early as possible so that we can give them as much of my time as possible. This is why time is important, and is why I wanted to move forward with PGD as soon as possible after we’d got the test. OK, it’s been a fair while since the test but we had things to sort out first. Many people want a family house, pay off their loans, get married, get a better job … before they actually start a family. And we were the same. But now looking back, I think if we’d known that even the first stage could be three times longer than we expected, we would have applied much earlier.
A marathon and not a sprint.