AMH test

scoob70

Hi girls - Please, please can you advise me, I'm very confused and in need of abit of girly support. I'm 41 and we have been trying to conceive for 2 years now. I have never had children before -btw. I was refered to Dr Egan in Galway 6 months ago by my doctor after 5 months of clomid did not work. The first appointment I had yesterday was disappointing to say the least. We set off at 5.30am to be in plenty of time for an appontment at 10am at Galway Hospital. We were there from 10am until 3pm and we only left at 3pm because we began to complain about the amount of time we were being made to wait. In those 5 hours we sat with a student nurse for 10mins who took our details and weighed us and a further 20mins was spent with a register taking down details like lifestyle and info on my cycle etc. Dispite being advised by letter that we were there for a CONSULTATION with Dr Egan or senior member of his staff, we didn't get to see Dr Egan or have a consultation with anyone. Infact there was no one qualifed to talk to (obviously we had loads of questions). Can you believe my husband had no where to go to give a sample so he ended up having to go to a disabled toilet - he was NOT happy about this. In the end we we're told I had to have the AMH test and this had to be done at another clinic and would cost €50. Of course no one could tell us what it was for. When we got to the other clinic they told us the test is infact €100 (we are both on medical cards). We decided to not have the test and drove back to where we came from very disappointed. Sorry girls let me get to the point here. We DO NOT want to go down the route of IVF and as far as I can see on the internet this test is to check how many eggs I have left and therefore am I a viable candidate for IVF. Does anyone know if I should pay out the money (which is hard to come by at the mo ) and get this test done even if we do not want to go down the IVF route? Sorry if this post goes on abit it's just I'm so fustrated over how we were treated yesterday. Kind regards - Scoob

pwurple

AMH test is to check ovarian reserves, basically it tests how close to menopause you are.

It isn't specifically for IVF.

Lac21

Scoob, I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience. What an ordeal!
Like pwurple says its not a test specific to IVF so it might be worth your while getting it done.
I wonder should u ring the clinic, ask to make an appointment to see a consultant? I presume u paid on the day so u could try insist on this. Esp since u expected to see a senior consultant on that day. At least then u could get the information u need. I know u probably hate the thoughts of going back there but a decent consultation is the least u and your partner deserve.

Neyite

pwurple wrote: »

AMH test is to check ovarian reserves, basically it tests how close to menopause you are.

It isn't specifically for IVF.

+1.

The consultant will recommend tests that allow him/her to get the best possible picture of your fertility. In your case, with the clomid not working for you, and factor in your age, he probably has concerns about your ovarian function. Generally in my experience, the first thing they do is check ovarian function. I think the AMH test is a logical step to be honest.


In my case I had about €600 or more worth of tests to get done to give them a full picture of how to proceed. And then I went on to pay €300 per cycle for 3 cycles until I conceived.

All in all, we spent about €2,000 to get pregnant, if you count in the blood tests, and GP costs and it was not money we had spare. We scrimped and saved every spare penny each month to meet the cost - but we did it gladly because it brought us closer to our wish to have a child. I actually think you are quite lucky that you are getting costs covered by your medical card and the only thing you were asked to pay for was a test for €100.

I and several of my friends have been treated by Dr. Egan. He was the one that gave the go-ahead on my lucky cycle, yet I've never met him. I was a private patient of Dr. Conroy in the private practice, and when she was unavailable, Dr. Lowe adjusted my treatment plan, and the following month Dr. Egan did. I only had one meeting any of them - the first one, after that, it was nurses all the way to the end. Even that meeting started an hour late as the Doctor was delivering a baby. Occupational hazard for OBGYN's I imagine.

I dont think I could have sat for all the hours you did before saying something or asking for informaiton as to why the doctor was so delayed.
You say you met with a registrar -was this not one of Dr. Egan's team? Why not write a letter to Dr. Egan and keep a copy for your next consult with him?

With regard to your husband having to use the disabled toilets, I would take that up with the HSE if I were you- it is disgraceful, but its not Dr. Egan's issue. Dr. Egan's private clinic, Brooklawn Practice has a dedicated room for men to produce their sample.

scoob70

Hi girls - thanku so much for taking the time to reply. I am feeling much, much better today because we went to see our GP this morning and we explained to him what had happened. He was brilliant and explained to us all about the test and even managed to arrange for me to have the test done much closer to home. He told us what options we may be offered and what will and will not be covered by the medical card. This is what we were expecting to happen on Monday and it didn't. We are now more than happy to pay for this test now we understand what it is.

@Neyite - again thanku for taking the time to post it was very informative and helpful. However, I feel that the 3rd paragraph of your post came across as suggesting that money is more important to us than having a baby and that we should be grateful for only being asked to pay €100 so far. Please don't make assumptions about people who have through no fault of their own hit on hard times. We very much want a baby and we are indeed grateful that the medical card does cover some of the treatments but our current financial situation is dire. I understand that fertility treatment can be very expensive and therefore we're not expecting to get very far to be honest before we have to give up. Due to me being made redundant and my husband was finished from his job on medical grounds and is currently retraining we are living off €310 per week. We don't qualify for rent allowance so everything including the rent has to come out of this income. Obviously this leaves us with very little money to scrimp and save with. We are stuck in this financial rut until we can both get working full time again - by which time it may be too late for me to start this treatment. So the timing is not great for pursuing this but we hope that we will be back on our feet again in the very near future .

We did not wait for a full 5 hours before complaining. Sorry I didn't make that clear in my post. We did ask on a number of occasions what was happening but we kept being told we would see Dr Egan eventually so thats why we were happy to keep waiting. It was only at 3pm that a nurse told us we would not be seeing Dr Egan. We did see a lady who asked us medical questions but whenever we asked her questions she couldn't answer any of them. She couldn't even tell us anything about the AMH test. So yes she was a member of his team but she couldn't tell us anything. We were not expecting to be treated differently to any other patient on Monday. Just alittle communication wouldn't of gone amiss on the day - that's all.

As for my husband having to use the disabled toilet - we won't be making a fuss. The samples handed in now so move on I guess.

Anyway congrats with regards to the treatment being a success and I am sure you are enjoying every minute of it .

Neyite

I didnt for one second make any assumptions about you or your financial status - if you think I did please point it out. I was trying to get across that I and a good few of my friends struggled with the cost of things just like you are doing now. I meant it genuinely without inference that you were lucky thats all the tests suggested for you, as I know how some clinics pile them on, sometimes knowing that they wont reveal any information, yet the couple bear the cost without complaint because they are so desperate for a child. If you want to take that up the wrong way its entirely up to you.

I did feel from reading your post that the AMH was a reasonable test to get done, and the €100 is not bad as a fertility cost - but I do see that is a lot of money, especially if it was not explained why they wanted it. I couldnt care less about your financial circumstances and never mentioned them. I certainly didnt ask for an explanation, and you most certainly didnt need to provide one.

To couples who got pregnant easily, the money we spent was a huge amount, yet to friends who are having trouble conceiving I was lucky to only spend that much. One particular friend has been through every type of fertility treatment for the last 13 years, and is now going abroad. I would estimate she has spent at least 50,000 or more.

Any infertile couple will spend whatever they have (and in some cases, money they do not have) to achieve their dream of a family. In that respect my friend described above is no different from you.

I hope I have cleared up any misunderstanding, and wish you well on your subsequent appointments

scoob70

@ Neyite -No worries I guess as this is obviously a sensitive subject for all on this board and sometimes threads can be taken the wrong way/misunderstood. It's just when someone says things like 'we did it gladly' which suggests we are not doing it 'gladly and just bitching about it or 'I think you're quite lucky getting your medical costs covered by medical card' -I hardly think qualifying for the medical card in the first place makes us 'lucky'. As I said though it’s a sensitive subject for all. Also I know you didn't ask for a explanation of our financial circumstances – it’s just some peoples of idea of being 'skint' are a little different to other peoples idea and until you actually mention figures to people only then do they appreciate just how little some people in this country are living off from week to week. Again your tone in your thread 'I couldn't care less' is not the way I speak to others on this board - but each to their own eh - maybe I'm a bit too sensitive for me own good lol. I feel bad for your friend, I really do, and I hope she gets that baby but I also hope that she learns to focus on all the other wonderful things she can do with the rest of her life incase it never happens because for some of us it just isn't meant to be. I know I'm prepared for that and I'm just happy to have a wonderful husband supporting me through this. Again thanks for the post and your best wishes. Take care.