As a 40-year-old woman, my life is about to change because of the generosity and empathy of the Fertility Friends Foundation. My dream as a young lady growing up was always to have children. From my early twenties, I tried to get pregnant but it never happened. After going to the gynecologist, he told me that due to my irregular periods, it would be very difficult for me to conceive. He also told me that I had a cyst on my ovary. He further stated the older I get the harder it would be for me to have a child.
I was very nervous and scared about my situation. I kept trying to get pregnant as the years went by and to no avail, I did not conceive. At age 35 I unexpectedly got pregnant. I was surprised and happy at the same time because I had convinced myself that I would never get pregnant. My happiness was cut short six weeks into the pregnancy. I had an ectopic pregnancy which resulted in heavy internal bleeding. At this time, I had to have an emergency surgery where one of my fallopian tubes was removed. I was devastated and happy at the same time that I did not lose my life. After my surgery, I was very worried that I would not be able to conceive again and have a child.
After all my devastation, I decided to go and see a fertility doctor to ensure that it would be safe for me to get pregnant and avoid having another ectopic pregnancy. After doing a series of tests, the doctor told me that my only chance of conceiving and bringing the pregnancy to full term is by doing IVF treatment. She said the other tube that I got left was damaged. I clearly remembered how emotional I was. The first person that I called was my mother and we both cried together.
I applied for government funding and, as I was about to start my IVF treatment, I received another devastating news from my doctor that I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I was so stressed out and scared. This news came to me two weeks before I was to start my IVF treatment and my fertility doctor told me that at this time that I could not continue with the treatment until I got confirmation from the neurologist that it was safe to do so.
Two months later I was cleared by my neurologist to continue with my IVF treatment. The treatment was not successful. They retrieved 22 eggs, 10 fertilized, and 3 blastocysts, out of the three none came back normal. I knew in my heart that I had to do a 2nd round of IVF treatment but I did not have a clue where the funds were coming from to do this. This caused me anxiety, stress, and many sleepless nights.
The Fertility Friends Foundation is truly a remarkable organization. My husband and I would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation because, without your help and support, we would be hopeless in living out our lifelong dreams of becoming parents. We are truly grateful and from the bottom of our hearts we want to say a big, big, thank you.