If you’ve read any of my previous blog posts, you might remember that our last round of IVF gave us one little embryo good enough to freeze. A little bundle of cells that embodied so much hope and emotion, preserved cryogenically until we felt ready to try again. That precious embryo - lovingly dubbed “Frosty”... Continue Reading →
All over the internet, the same questions crop up time and time again under posts about IVF and fertility treatment. Below, I attempt to answer some of the clangers that those of us going through fertility treatment get asked on a regular basis... (Note: these are my own answers and are therefore based on my... Continue Reading →
Our first IVF cycle begins in January and despite the fact that it’s taken 812 days and 29 sad, unfertilized eggs to get to this point, I’m still in a state of total disbelief that we’re here. But we are here and this is happening. [For any fans of The Office (US version) – that... Continue Reading →
“When are you going to have a baby?” Shortly after getting married, I started being asked this at an alarming frequency – not by my friends and family but, almost exclusively, by people who weren’t particularly close to me (distant relatives, nosey neighbours, Barbara from accounts etc.) It’s an incredibly invasive, potentially triggering and not... Continue Reading →
At the beginning of 2018, with over a year’s worth of very decidedly unsafe sex under my belt and shortly after learning that my husband and I were working with “sub-optimal” (read: lazy) sperm, I started writing a journal…of sorts. At this point, nobody knew of our desire - let alone our struggle - to... Continue Reading →
Paying for private fertility treatment is a luxury (and I use that word lightly) that not everyone can afford. On the flip side, access to free fertility treatment on the NHS is a luxury that not everyone can take advantage of. The “postcode lottery” in the UK means that, essentially, the street you live on... Continue Reading →
Somehow, through a mixture of happy coincidences and shameless self-promotion, I've landed myself a little writing job. Over the past few weeks, I've been working with a company called abc ivf who offer the UK's most affordable IVF treatment. Professor Geeta Nargund and her team of fertility specialists recognise that not everybody is lucky enough... Continue Reading →
By day 2 of trying for a baby I thought - oh right, I'm pregnant now. Two weeks later, having spent much of that time re-imagining the next 9 months as a pregnant woman, I was totally perplexed when a very unwelcome "Aunt Flow" arrived right on schedule. How could I not be pregnant? I’d... Continue Reading →
This is my first proper blog post. I suspect that I’m supposed to open with something profound and philosophical but the truth is… I’m just a bit lost. I don’t mean in terms of the blogosphere – sure there’s that too – but I’m lost trying to navigate my way through a journey I never... Continue Reading →
Louise Brown - the world’s first baby to be born via IVF recently celebrated her 40th birthday and in doing so, marked 40 years of the extraordinary reproductive technology. Her birth was a groundbreaking development in the medical world and a momentous example of hope for millions of people dealing with infertility all over the... Continue Reading →