This blog was written by a former client regarding her experience with infertility and a diagnosis of premature ovarian failure.
“It only takes one good egg.”
….so they said.
I hated the phrase.
I hated it so much I wanted to punch everyone at the clinic who said it to me when we were seeking fertility treatment.
What did it even mean when I was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure? It felt like a mixed message.
I was only 32 at the time and I couldn’t believe this was really happening. I thought I had it all together; that all together included a supportive, loving husband, secure job, our first house. And now we were ready to start our family. But, it just wasn’t happening and I knew something wasn’t right. As a result, it was not long before we off to the fertility clinic.
The Fertility Clinic:
After three months of intensive workups, monitoring and testing, we were advised that IVF was our best option. Our doctor also proceeded to discuss egg donation options, but felt we should proceed and try IVF first.
And so we did. What did that mean?
Two injections per day, a blood test every second day and the dreaded ultrasounds that took so long as they measured each follicle. They told me I was responding ok to the medication. What did that even mean?
One day, close to the retrieval I caught myself saying, it only takes one good egg. I chuckled.
Retrieval Day:
This day was far worse than we could have ever suspected. Unfortunately, they were only able to retrieve one egg. I thought the universe was playing a joke on me. The remaining four eggs that were seen on all the ultrasounds were merely empty follicles. I was devastated and lost all hope that we would ever have a family. I was confused and not even sure I wanted to proceed.
The following day, we received a call from the fertility clinic advising that our one embryo seemed to be doing good.
Four days later, we were advised of our transfer time for the next day.
We had a blastocyst.
The Transfer:
I felt hopeless and helpless, but my darling husband convinced me that we have nothing to lose by trying and transferring back our one embryo. The whole procedure took fifteen minutes and the whole time I was trying to gauge if the doctor was hopeful. I wanted her to say that phrase that it only takes one. She didn’t. Nobody did.
Two weeks later, we got our pregnancy test back and lo and behold it was positive. When they called me from the fertility clinic, the first thing the nurse said was, it only takes one egg and you got a positive beta.
9 months later we delivered baby Abe. He was perfect, just like my one good egg.
Amira is a fertility counsellor in Toronto, Ontario. She works with individuals and couples who are struggling with infertility. Amira facilitates the Mind-Body Fertility Group at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
She is also a mother of three miracles.
For more information,
visit www.healinginfertility.ca
and find her on
Twitter and Instagram.
