The VERY mixed blessing of being SUPER FERTILE
All these mums conceived while on contraception (and, yes, they did follow the instructions). So what’s it like to have LOTS of happy little surprises?
WHEN it comes to the subject of fertility, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the plight of those who struggle to conceive. But it turns out there’s another group we should spare a thought for — the women for whom contraception is seemingly no bar to pregnancy. Through bitter experience, these super-fertile specimens know that no matter what precautions they take, there’s still a chance that an intimate encounter with their other half may lead to a baby.
Not surprisingly, it’s a situation that can impact on their love lives and marriages.
‘Whenever I go to bed with my partner, it does always pass through my mind: what if I get pregnant?’ says Becky Gower. ‘I try not to let it get in the way of our time together, but it’s a niggling thought that’s always there.’
Becky’s got good reason to be concerned. The mother of four has conceived not once, not twice, but three times while on different types of contraception. And she’s insistent she followed instructions to the letter, too.
She first became pregnant just three months after meeting her partner, Ed, 33, who works in sales, while taking the combined pill.
‘This time, I noticed my period didn’t come within the monthly seven- day break,’ says Becky, a 29-year-old social media manager.
‘I took a pregnancy test a week later in my lunch break while I was waitressing. I had all these plans. I’d just finished my degree and was applying for jobs in London, but when I saw the two pink lines on the test, I went into shock. I couldn’t understand how I could get pregnant.’
She went to see her GP, an older man, and his reaction was that of a head teacher telling off a pupil for bad behaviour.
‘He said I must have done something wrong, such as missed a pill or taking it at the wrong time, but I insisted that wasn’t the case,’ recalls Becky.
It was only when she went for her first appointment with the midwife that the blame was shifted away from Becky.
‘She said the Pill wasn’t 100 per cent effective and these things did happen, even though it was rare, which did make me feel a bit better.’
With a baby on the way, the couple decided to settle in Ramsgate, Kent, and concentrate on raising a family.
Soon after Dylan, now five, was born, Becky gave birth to Archie, four, a year later — a planned pregnancy — then decided that her family was complete. ‘We were happy with two children and wanted to stop at that, at least for the time being,’ says Becky, who, after the failure of the combined pill, decided to switch to the mini-pill, a progestogen-only form that users take at a certain time every day.
After her last experience, Becky was a model patient and never missed her slot.
But Archie was only 16 months when Becky started to feel tired and bloated. ‘I bought a pregnancy test and had this horrible feeling of dread,’ says Becky.
‘When the two lines came up, I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t averse to having three children, but we’d wanted a break of a few years. Ed was pretty shocked, too. The first time, with Dylan, he’d been great, but this time, it took him a few weeks to get his head around it.’
Becky went back to the same midwife, who was also surprised.
‘She made a joke about me being super- fertile, but reiterated it wasn’t my fault and these things did happen,’ says Becky.
After Finn, now two, was born, Becky decided the pills weren’t working and they would use oldfashioned condoms instead.
But then, disastrously, one split and Becky bought the ‘ morningafter’ pill at Tesco, taking it 18 hours after she’d had sex, well within the most effective 24-hour time period.
Such pills are said to be effective as long as they are taken within three days, although none boast a 100 per cent success rate.
But, despite Becky taking it within the first day, it wasn’t long before the tell-tale signs of pregnancy kicked in — a missed period, tiredness, a swollen tummy.
‘I put off taking the test, wanting to stay in denial, but I knew I was pregnant again,’ says Becky. ‘We’d never thought of having four children and all so quickly after each other, but when I told Ed, he joked: “What’s another one, hey, when we’ve already got three?”
‘When the test confirmed the pregnancy, my midwife — who by now knew me very well — laughed and said I was her best customer.’
Becky had Cora, now 11 months, and, not surprisingly, they’re now looking into a vasectomy for Ed and have given up on any sort of pill entirely.
‘We’re not avoiding sex,’ says Becky. ‘But we are using contraception very, very carefully and are mindful of my cycle and when I’m likely to be most fertile.’
While there’ll always be sceptics — indeed, Becky has encountered her fair share of unbelievers over the years — the fact is that these ‘super-fertile’ women do exist.
As no form of contraception is ever 100 per cent effective, these statistical anomalies will come up every now and then. There is even a school of thought that strongly suggests the metabolism of some women may make them resistant to contraception.
The Pill is prescribed to around 3.5 million women in the UK. A recent study in the journal Human Reproduction found a fifth of unplanned pregnancies happened among those using this form of contraception. Manufacturers always warn it is 99 per cent effective at preventing a pregnancy, when taken 100 per cent properly.
Dr Jane Dickson, vice-president of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, says: ‘The most common reason for the Pill to fail is that one has been missed or delayed, or if the user has been ill and either vomited it up or suffered severe diarrhoea.’
Dr Dickson does concede, however, that there are rare cases — like Becky’s — where there are genuine failures for no apparent reason. ‘There is no scientific evidence, but it may be that these seemingly “super-fertile” women have a speedy metabolism, which clears the Pill out from the liver quicker and reduces its efficacy,’ she says.
‘We know that certain medicines do this — strong anti- epileptic medicines and a few herbal
preparations, in particular St John’s Wort, the herbal remedy for depression, and it may be that these women are clearing the Pill out in the same way, although nothing is yet proved.’
Rebecca Underwood is another who has dumbfounded her doctor after becoming pregnant twice while taking the Pill. ‘At first, my GP asked me if I’d been sick or missed a pill, but I told her that wasn’t the case,’ says Rebecca, 27, a PR director from Cannock in Staffordshire who is married to civil servant Matt, 34.
‘ I’d only been married three months, and Matt and I didn’t even think we wanted children! In the end, the doctor just shrugged it off and said these things happen.’
Rebecca had been taking the Pill for six years without any issue and was completely thrown by the first pregnancy, but felt they had no choice but to carry on.
‘It was tough because there were lots of complications with Minnie as she was six weeks premature,’ recalls Rebecca, who went back on the Pill after their baby, now two-and-a-half, was born, thinking there was no chance the same thing could happen again.
‘But then, I started to feel a bit unwell when Minnie was 18 months old. I did another test and, unbelievably, it came up positive,’ says Rebecca. ‘It was two years to the day after finding out we were having Minnie and I was so scared. We weren’t planning another baby for another few years.’
Rebecca’s friends joked how she was super-fertile and the couple should stay apart on Valentine’s Day in future — the day they most likely conceived both Minnie and their baby Ronnie.
‘ I wasn’t going to take any chances, though,’ says Rebecca. ‘I’m now on the contraceptive injection and I’m hoping this will work, as we really don’t want any more children.
‘We try not to let it affect our love life, but the fear of falling pregnant never completely goes away.’
According to Dr Dickson and guidelines from the Family Planning Association, long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), which include the contraceptive injection, implant, the hormonal and non-hormonal coil and, of course, female and male sterilisation, should be the most effective because they don’t rely on women remembering to take or use them.
The contraceptive injection, which must be repeated between eight and 13 weeks, is more than 99 per cent effective, and fewer than four women in the UK on it will get pregnant over two years.
The contraceptive implant, inserted under the skin of the upper arm, can be left for three years and is more than 99 per cent effective, with fewer than one woman in 1,000 getting pregnant over three years. Leanne Corby, however, is one of those. The 27-year-old mother from South London fell pregnant with her son Jake, eight, with the contraceptive implant in her arm. ‘I didn’t believe it until the day he was born,’ recalls Leanne. ‘ The doctor was baffled, too, but said that for some women, it just didn’t work and I was one of the unlucky ones.’
She went for advice at her local family planning clinic and switched to the contraceptive injection after Jake was born, but after two years, started experiencing severe headaches and nausea and noticed she’d skipped a period. ‘I bought a test and was left reeling when I discovered I was pregnant again ,’ says Leanne. ‘ How could it have happened again?
‘The doctors seemed confused, too, and just repeated that not all contraception is 100 per cent effective. But I never considered getting rid of the baby, and my partner, Ali, was very supportive.’
Leanne then switched to the Pill after Zehra, three, was born and started using condoms as well for extra protection, but incredibly, fell pregnant yet again, with Iyla.
‘I was just stunned,’ says Leanne. ‘I’ve always been very hormonal and the doctor did a blood test, which showed my levels were high, and made some remark about my body not accepting the contraception possibly for that reason, but there was no real explanation. I think I’m just super-fertile.’
Dr Imran Rafi, GP and chair of the Royal College of GPs’ Clinical Innovation and Research Centre, believes women like Leanne need more targeted advice.
‘Hormones could be a factor, but more exploration of this is needed, and this can only really be done by expert contraceptive or gynaecological services, rather than by your GP,’ he says.
‘ They will know the right questions to ask and will drill down into the individual woman’s health and lifestyle and see why certain types of contraception aren’t working and adapt your future contraception around that.’
Ultimately, while it might not be good for marital relations, there is one natural method of contraception that all the experts agree is 100 per cent foolproof, even for super-fertile women: abstinence.
After her three unplanned pregnancies, unsurprisingly Leanne decided she was taking no more chances. ‘I was sterilised in April and I’m hoping that’s the end of that,’ she laughs. ‘I know my children were meant to be, and I’d never change it for the world, but I don’t want any more.’