Now that I have a partner (let’s just call him M) our first step was to choose a clinic here in Spain and go and get a second opinion on what I’d been previously told regarding my chances of having a baby myself, and also to check if there were any problems on his side.

We live in a city where there’s a very well-known, internationally respected clinic which is also a research centre and therefore at the forefront of things when it comes to assisted reproduction techniques. To me it would seem silly to have such a great clinic on our doorstep, be able to afford it (fortunately), and then not go there. So that’s where we went.

On our initial consultation we were assigned Dr S. For me that was great as he is one of the leading experts on endometrium problems and “endometrial receptivity”. In our chat with him, he told us that things have moved on from looking at the thickness of the endometrium as the main indicator of whether a woman will be able to conceive using assisted reproduction techniques (ART), and that the state of “receptiveness” on the day the embryo is trying to implant is key. You could have the perfect thickness, but of the lining is not primed from a “chemistry” perspective the embryo will not stick. In his opinion, even if my endometrium is thin, if it is receptive there could be a chance that I could conceive and have a successful pregnancy using ART. The verdict was that we should prepare me for the ERA (Endometrial Receptivity Analysis) test and, based on the results, IVF might be an option for us.

Following our chat with the doctor, we went to a more discreet area of the clinic and M gave his sample so we could also check that everything was fine with his swimmers.

We came away from the clinic that day with a bit more of a spring in our step than when we went in. We have hope! There just might be a chance that we can make a little “mini us”. Eek!