My IVF story shows you should never give up hope
Clinics carry out thousands of IVF cycles every year for wannabe mums. For many it’s an emotional, gruelling journey. In Fertility Awareness Week, journalist Punteha van Terheyden tells her story to encourage those longing for a baby to stay strong and no
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ably due to mumps as a child. Even with IVF, we’d need ICSI, where a single sperm is injected into an egg. It felt so unfair we were both so infertile.
I started multiple daily hormone injections, tablets, pessaries and steroids.
We called it our “baby in a box” for the sheer volume of medication delivered to our door in Hemel Hempstead, Herts.
I had daily internal scans, even a dummy run of the embryo transfer procedure, which I found extremely painful. But I didn’t care. I was desperate to be a mum.
Friends’ baby announcements left me in despair. As a newlywed, I also resented flippant “when will you start a family” questions.
Infertility is an unfair taboo we’re not expected to reveal until our “miracle” is here. It’s a hard pretence to keep up.
I stopped sparing those who ribbed us to “get a move on”, allowing my tears to shut them up. Admittedly, I claimed a private victory seeing them squirm. I wanted them to feel mortified.
With one in six couples now needing IVF, nobody should ask this insensitive question. I wanted to plough on in my quest for a child but begrudgingly agreed to rest, comforting myself with the idea of transferring two embryos, hoping for twins.
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But Vidya urged us not to, citing increased risks to mum and babies. I had to agree.
In late 2015, I began treatment, following Vidya’s meticulous advice. A low GI diet to decrease inflammation, high dose vitamin D to lower miscarriage risk, no anti-inflammatory painkillers or heat pads, gentle walks to boost pelvic ture f sanity
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