Georgia is a ‘little miracle’

As Mother’s Day is celebrated on Sunday, Winton mum Paula Baty shares her story about her ‘‘miracle’’ baby Georgia.

The road to motherhood has not been smooth for Paula Baty.

Her first daughter Mackenzie, now seven, was conceived naturally. Her second ‘‘miracle’’ baby, Georgia, was born on Christmas Day.

Georgia’s arrival was a happy ending to a tough run for Baty and her husband Matt.

They experienced six years of in vitro fertilisation treatments, and two ectopic pregnancies before Georgia arrived.

Infertility, Baty says, is often seen as a dirty word, but it shouldn’t be.

While the Government funds up to two rounds of IVF per eligible couple, waiting times can be long and the cost of going private, where waiting times are negligible, can top $10,000 per cycle, putting it out of reach for many.

Eager to give Mackenzie a sibling, the Batys were thrilled when Paula fell pregnant.

But it ended in an ectopic pregnancy.

That was when the couples’ IVF journey began.

‘‘When people say it’s an emotional roller-coaster ride, it’s an understatement.’’

Not long after she began taking fertility pills Baty fell pregnant, but instead of celebrating it ended in a second ectopic pregnancy.

IVF treatments began and the couple were able to hope once more.

Despite a positive pregnancy test, the first embryo implantation didn’t take but in a second round of treatments Baty became pregnant for the fourth and final time.

‘‘I was really on edge. I didn’t know whether to be excited or not. I remember telling Matt I wouldn’t be excited until the scan which shows the heartbeat.’’

‘‘My poor midwife had to deal with me freaking out, saying ‘oh my god, what if it has five heads’?’’

But Georgia was successfully delivered, happy and healthy, at Southland Hospital on December 25.

Reflecting on their journey, Baty said not many people talked about infertility.

The couple have one frozen embryo remaining and Baty now faces the decision of whether to go through it all again.

‘‘If I had to go through the eggharvesting all over again I don’t think I would, but I sort of think about that one egg, and that maybe I should.’’

When people say it’s an emotional rollercoaster ride, it’s an understatement.

Paula Baty