Growing my family after years of hope and challenges

I’m 52, and a mother of two beautiful children. Both children have been a struggle to conceive, and I wanted to share with you my story of hope.

Married in 2000, I was 29 and Phil was 34. We started trying for a baby in 2002, and nothing happened. After much investigation, I was told I had endometriosis. After a successful laparoscopy in 2004, I fell pregnant, and William was born in October 2005. The happiest day of our lives. 

Turning points in family planning

As William turned three, we decided to try again. An early miscarriage, more laparoscopies and two unsuccessful rounds of IVF followed, and I was already 43. We both agreed to close the door on our dream of a sibling for William.

In 2015, I started an events business, and one of the events acquired was The Fertility Show. I felt I had a lot to offer in helping it grow after my own experience. During my time on the show, I discovered donor conception. By now, I was in my mid-40s, and the chance of success using my own eggs was very low. I started to think that maybe, we should give it one last try.

It wasn’t until 2018 that I got to speak to an overseas clinic. We happened to be going on holiday the very next day, near the location of the clinic — so I arranged to meet them. Phil took a bit of convincing, but we both went together and decided we’d give it ‘one last go.’

We had two blastocysts, but the clinic advised we only implant one due to the high success rate of donor eggs.

Driven by hope and perseverance

The clinic was incredible, and the whole process was much easier than we thought. In July 2018, we returned to the clinic for the embryo transfer. We had two blastocysts, but the clinic advised we only implant one due to the high success rate of donor eggs.

Next came the dreaded 10-day wait. The plan was to be away for the duration of the treatment, so we were still away when it finally came to test day. Having prepared ourselves for failure, we were shocked when the result came back positive.

Fast-forward to three and a half years: a 3 and 17-year-old make for a fun family dynamic, but I look back on it all now and feel so grateful that we decided to give it one last go. If it hadn’t been for The Fertility Show and learning about donor conception, we would not have our daughter. We feel truly blessed.