This is the story of Joanna, one of the lucky entrants whose name was selected at random to receive a free round of IVF courtesy of the lovely team at Clinica Tambre in Spain.
Joanna Congratulations! Can you tell us how you felt when you received the phone call from us, and realised that you were being given a free round of IVF?
Thank you! I was in utter shock! It was quite late in the evening when I received the call and I couldn’t sleep that night! Alan and I were both over the moon and didn’t think it was true at first!
Can you tell us about your journey so far?
We have been trying to become parents for 12 long years in total, and have been doing IVF for approx 8/9 years. Needless to say it has been a very long and emotional journey so far. IVF is tough, and of course, very expensive.
Why are you unable to conceive naturally?
After tests, the doctors confirmed I was starting early menopause and had a low egg reserve.
Clinica Tambre explained that “when a woman is in menopause, the ovaries do not produce the hormones they should and therefore, they do not release eggs either as there is no ovulation. This makes it very difficult to get pregnant naturally or even with IVF. In contrast, women may be able to get pregnant with donor eggs as the uterus is not so affected by the menopause. It is also possible to use hormonal treatments so the uterus is in the best possible condition for pregnancy in spite of the ovaries”.
Have you had IVF before?
We had 2 cycles with my own eggs when I was pre-menopause. The first worked, but I lost our baby after approx 6 weeks. The second cycle didn’t work at all. We did a third round with with donor eggs, but again lost it at approx 6 weeks.
How has your journey made you feel so far?
Stressed, exhausted and mentally drained. I feel like it’s taken over 12 years of my life. Everyday is a struggle, and I am consumed with thoughts about the possibility of not becoming a mum.
Do you have a strong group of friends and family around you or have you found TTC an isolating experience?
I sort of try and deal with it all alone. I do have family to talk to about it, but its hard to express how I am feeling to people who haven’t gone through the same situation.
Had you not have been given this free round of IVF what would your next steps have been?
We were planning on going to an IVF clinic in the uk, but the cost was approx £18,000. In order to cover the cost, we were planning on remortgaging our house!
Now that you do (yes!!) have this free round, what are the next steps?
We are soooo grateful and cant wait to start, but we are going to wait for covid to slowly calm down so we can travel.
How are you feeling about the journey ahead?
I am very hopeful, I think you need to be when you go through IVF. The teams at Clinica Tambre IVF babble have all been very supportive already and are so friendly, so I feel very calm and ready for the journey ahead with you all.
Do you have any words for the team at Clinica Tambre?
I cannot wait to start this journey with you all, and thank you for trying to make us parents!
The team at Clinica Tambre had this to say:
We are delighted to be able to help so many patients from all around the world to form a family! … And if we can just give back some of the love and thankfulness we receive from our patients everyday, it is a pleasure for us to do so.
Learn more about the early menopause:
The post Joanna, winner of our free IVF giveaway, tells us about her early menopause diagnosis appeared first on IVF Babble.
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