It’s not easy to write our entire journey in a concise story for others to read, because it has been such a long road, filled with so much emotion, strength and unwavering hope. It seems impossible to capture it all in a few words, but we will try.
We got married in 2017 and started trying after our honeymoon. We assumed it would happen quickly, and unfortunately we were mistaken. After trying to conceive on our own, without success, we got a referral to a fertility clinic in 2019. We started with multiple IUI’s then moved into IVF. After 3 rounds of IVF, a miscarriage and failed transfers, our clinic suggested moving to donor eggs as they suspected an egg quality issue. We took some time to come to terms with the idea and then chose a donor.
More medication, more money, more failured transfers. We then chose a second donor and experienced one more pregnancy loss, before we received results from our karyotype blood test (that had been ordered one year before). We were devastated to find out about Cleat’s diganosis of Balanced Translocation. Carriers of balanced reciprocal translocations may experience infertility or multiple miscarriages. We were angry that the results of the karyotype test took so long to come in; broken about all the money, time and resources we had used; and we were still grieving all the failures and losses we had gone through during that time. Alot of negative feelings, but we found some contentment, knowing we finally knew the reason for our infertility.
After talking with Genetic Counsellors and learning about the diagnosis, we learned a way to navigate it. We have decided to try both of our gamates again and will be proceeding with another round of IVF with the use of genetic testing. PGT-SR can identify if the embryos have a translocation or genetic abnormality. This should help reduce the amount of failures and loss we may have had to endure. We are holding out hope for a genetically normal embryo that may become our baby.
The financial hardships throughout our journey have caused added stress on top of an already emotional time. The financial gift of a grant from Fertility Friends Foundation means everything to us!! It means there is still hope to build a family!
We are incredibly blessed to be a recipient of such an incredible gift, especially right before Christmas. Thank you so much.
Randi and Cleat
For more information about our registered charity and fertility grants.