“Even though I was fit and healthy, my body and mind were stressed.”
Name: Jodie
Age: 46
Time TTC: 1 year
Diagnoses / Treatments: IVF, sperm donor
Strategies: Fertility Herbs, Lifestyle Changes, Relaxation Techniques
My fertility story
I was 40 when I decided I didn’t want to miss out on having a child so I decided to become a single mum using a donor. I did two rounds of IVF without luck, I suspect because my brother, my last remaining family member, was enduring terminal bowel cancer and even though I was extremely fit and healthy, my body and mind were stressed. One of the eggs that was retrieved and fertilised during my second round of IVF became my daughter (collected 2 days before my brother died and a confirmed pregnancy 4 months after he died). When my daughter was 6 months old, I decided to try, just the once, to give her a brother using IVF. I conceived first try at 42 years old and had my son when I was 43.
The lowest point in my journey and what helped me recover from it
Being told by a fertility treatment nurse that my second attempt at pregnancy had been unsuccessful, just days after losing my brother. Letting go, not depending on being a mum helped. I started to prepare for plan B just in case it never happened.
Where I am right now in my journey
My daughter has just turned 4 and my son is 2 and a half.
What I have learned from my fertility experience
To relax and not put pressure on myself. If it’s going to happen it will; there’s nothing I could have done to help that I wasn’t already doing.
If I had to start my fertility journey again: What I would do differently
Nothing
My favourite resources about fertility (websites, books, blogs or articles)
What I would tell someone else going through infertility right now
Relax and be as healthy as possible.
Infertility isn’t a path you have to walk alone.
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