Never in a million years would I have expected, nor been prepared to hear the words “You need to try IVF.”
Like so many others, I grew up educated on how not to get pregnant. Birth control, condoms, tracking your cycle to avoid your most fertile days… all of this flipped when at age 35 and I decided I needed to take action if I was ever going to make my lifelong dream of being a mother a reality.
Being single, I already knew I was going to be doing this differently than most and it wasn’t going to be easy. But after multiple reassurances from multiple clinics that everything looked “normal”, all my tests were “perfect” and I should have no issues conceiving.
I went into my first IUI hopeful that I would be one of those ‘first try’ success stories. Reality hit hard when this was not the case with IUI or the four that followed.
Two years later and I felt no further ahead than when I started. I had no explanation for why my IUIs hadn’t worked other than ‘luck of the draw’, my eggs were now two years older, and most of my ‘baby fund’ had been spent on sperm, supplements, and fertility medications.
After being told I would need to pursue IVF, my only hope was continuing to wait on the incredibly long list for government funding… or so I thought. Thanks to Fertility Friends Foundation and their wonderful partners, I have the financial support and renewed hope I need to continue on my journey.
Stacey
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