IVF was a success for Kate Leahy, but despite not wanting more children, she is haunted by the “what ifs”
After undergoing IVF treatment, Kate Leahy and her partner Jonjo were blessed with twins, but now face a difficult decision about their six remaining embryos, which are still in storage.
Recently, Izzy Judd, parenting author and wife of McFly drummer Harry Judd, shared her emotional dilemma on Instagram: having had children via IVF, she was grappling with the decision to destroy her last remaining frozen embryo. Her struggle deeply resonated with me, as my partner Jonjo and I are in the midst of confronting a similar, agonizing choice.
Becoming a mother was a lifelong dream for me
Kate Leahy spoke to The Times about her journey sharing that in 2020, her husband Jonjo and Kate began their fertility journey after being together for six years. Due to Jonjo’s need for cancer treatment, which would leave him infertile, he had to freeze his sperm beforehand. “We knew there were no guarantees, but felt fortunate to even have the opportunity to try IVF. We were granted one round of treatment on the NHS, with any additional attempts needing to be self-funded.”
A few weeks into the process, we received incredible news: eight embryos had been successfully harvested
We were aware of how lucky we were, especially knowing that many people walk away with none. Because I was 41 at the time, we were advised to implant two embryos to increase our chances of having at least one baby.
In April 2021, our prayers were answered when our twin boys, Ted and George, were born
Time passed quickly, and soon we received our first bill for the annual storage of the remaining embryos—£350. This bill made me start thinking seriously about the embryos left frozen, waiting for a chance at life.
The weight of responsibility I felt was enormous. I hadn’t fully considered this aspect of the process when we began, but now the thought of giving each embryo a chance to become a child overwhelmed me. Of course, having eight children was never the plan, and my age alone made that impossible. However, it became increasingly clear that we would soon need to confront the reality of what to do with our remaining embryos.
That realization has made this decision much more difficult than I ever anticipated.
If you have any comments on this article or would like to share your story, we would love to hear from you at mystory@ivfbabble.com
The post Why I Can’t Let Go of My Embryos appeared first on IVF Babble.
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