My husband and I had been together 8 years before we got married and we were both keen to start a family straight away. We knew it could take time to fall pregnant but after a year of trying we went to see the GP and had some tests done. Everything came back normal. After 2 years of trying and feeling devastated that nothing had happened, we then got referred to our local hospital for more tests, but again they all came back normal and we were classed as having unexplained infertility. Therefore our only option was IVF. I knew a few of our friends had gone through IVF over the years but I never thought we would have to. I felt very lost, as I had always wanted to have children but this was when it finally hit me, it might not be a possibility.

We were referred to HFC in August 2018 and over the following 4 months we had consultant appointments, further tests and had to await funding approval. Initially this had been denied due to myself having a slightly lower BMI, but once I had put on some weight we were ready to start the process in January 2019. As I was struggling so much with the thought of never having children and having to go through IVF, I decided to go for some counselling, which was available at the HFC. This helped me so much throughout the whole process.
It felt like we were constantly waiting during the last 2.5 years, having to wait to try every month and wait for appointments etc, so I was happy to start the treatment. Having to inject myself with the hormones everyday was not easy, however I had to remind myself that I was doing this to have a baby. This helped me to remain calm, as it felt good that I was finally doing something about my dreams maybe coming true.

15 eggs were collected, from which 6 good quality embryos were produced. We decided to transfer only one embryo and had the others frozen. After 5 days the fresh transfer took place and as I had taken time of work I was trying to relax at home. The day of the test came and my husband and I were both nervous. I didn’t want to get my hopes up but part of me was thinking it had to have worked. Sadly the test was negative so I stopped taking the progesterone medication. However after a few days I still had not started to bleed, so I took another pregnancy test which came back positive. I couldn’t believe it, my emotions were all over the place and it took a while for the news to sink in. We went to our 7 week scan full of joy and hope, only to be told it was a missed miscarriage; there was a sac but no living embryo. We were devastated. I never knew something like this could happen. I was referred to my local hospital where I first had to have the medical treatment, which didn’t work and then the surgical treatment for it to be removed. I thought that as soon as the procedure would be done I would be able to move on but I underestimated how I would feel. I was grieving for something I so nearly had. 

I thought that we were never going to have our own baby but I was determined not to give up hope. As soon as my body was getting back in to its normal cycle, I was already planning on when we could try again. We decided to only transfer one frozen embryo. The procedure went well and I was able to relax at home, as I had taken time off work again to make sure I was giving it the best chance for it to work. After 10 days I took the pregnancy test and it was positive. I didn’t want to get my hopes up as I thought the same thing would happen as last time, so it was a complete shock when we went for our scan and seen and heard the heartbeat of our baby. We were overjoyed. I was still nervous that something would go wrong but in March 2020 our beautiful healthy baby girl was born. Every day we look at her and can’t believe she is part of our lives as it has been a long, hard and emotional journey to have her. We are so grateful for everyone at the HFC, they have been amazing and we can’t thank them enough.

'Anonymous'