BABY, YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY
FOUR decades ago on the other side of the world, Louise Brown entered the world as the first person conceived by in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
British bundle of joy Louise was big news back in 1978, but sweettempered Aaliyah Weerasekera is just as much the modern medical miracle.
Hoppers Crossing couple Melissa and Ash Weerasekera had used IVF for several years and took part in Monash IVF Group’s genetic testing program to boost their chances of successful fertilisation.
Mrs Weerasekera and her husband met with fertility specialist Moses Abe three years ago in what was a long but ultimately fulfilling process.
“Dr Abe was fantastic. We had our first egg harvest in April 2015 and 12 eggs were collected but only five fertilised,” she said. “We had our first transfer and
four were frozen. “None of them took. So we went back to Moses again and we decided to genetically test them (the eggs) which meant we had to go to Melbourne for harvest. They collected 12 eggs again that time, only two went to fertilisation and one was genetically tested and was found to be abnormal in one of the chromosomes.” Mrs Weerasekera said the genetic testing greatly assisted with the IVF process and the Geelong location helped with travel and waiting times. “In April 2016, we went through another harvest, this time in Geelong,” she said. “We collected 12 eggs again but only three fertilised. First two, nothing happened. Third, our eighth transfer, we were lucky enough to get pregnant.
“The genetic testing means the specialists can test the quality of your eggs and embryos. Obviously, it might have been that all my embryos previously might have had something wrong relating to the chromosomes.”
The Hoppers Crossing couple shared its story to encourage couples in similar situations to be open about the IVF process.
“There’s far more people using IVF than you’d think,” Mrs Weerasekera said. “Some want to keep it hush-hush, and that’s OK, because they think it’s embarrassing but they shouldn’t be embarrassed about going through IVF.
“It’s a wonderful feeling at the end of the process.”