You all know that I am a mom of three young boys, but what you may not know is the journey that got us here. Some may look at my family and think that I am so fertile, I only need to look at my husband to get pregnant, but that really couldn’t be further from the truth.
Like many women, doctors considered me to be infertile.
And being in the infertile club, is one membership you never want to hold.
It didn’t make sense to me, I was 29 years old, healthy, married and in love, heck I even had a degree in Early Childhood Education. I had wanted to be a mother my whole. entire. life.
I didn’t expect the struggle, the miscarriage, the toll it would take on my emotions and marriage. I certainly didn’t expect, that the price tag of In Vitro fertilization could keep me from my dreams.
We had done the waiting, we had done the tests, the doctors visits, the basal body temps every morning, the standing on my head after intercourse, oh geez, we did it all. We jumped through all the hoops, only nothing worked.
It had come to this.
Sitting in the doctors office, my husband and I poured over our options and our limited savings. We looked each other in the eye and vowed to give IUI a chance for one month and then start with IVF. It didn’t seem fair, but we were committed to starting our family. Our instructions were to contact the doctor’s office at the start of my next period.
But it was that month. That one lucky month. The one where the stars aligned and God rained pity down upon us and answered our prayers. We were saved.
That is my story. But there are thousands of stories, thousands of women waiting to be mothers, thousands of men wanting to be dads, thousands of hearts that break every month.
1 in 6 Ontario couples struggle with infertility.
Please view the video below to see how the Government of Ontario can support families and include IVF under OHIP.
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And join the conversation with OHIP4IV using hashtags #ohip4ivf and #onpoli
Disclosure: I have been compensated for this blog post by Conceivable Dreams . However, all opinions expressed on this blog are my own and not influenced in any way.
Jennifer: thank you so much for sharing your story. I loved reading this post and look forward to reading more soon.
We struggled with secondary infertility – I feel your pain! I’m glad it worked out in the end for you! It really is much more common than many people realize!!! AND very challenging on everything in life – physically and emotionally.
You’re right Amanda, the emotional stress can really be hard. it’s an emotional roller coaster. I was surprised to see the one in six stat.
One of my closest friends is struggling with infertility and she is JUST 30, it is not a club you want to be a part of at all!
So glad that it worked out for you, and hope that many other families can get their happy ending too.
many people think that it only happens to people who ‘waited to long’ but that’s not the case. We were 28 when we tried to start our family.
Thanks for raising awareness of this important issue, and for sharing your story. It really is heart-breaking for many couples, but doesn’t have to be with medical intervention.
Thank you so much for posting this, Jen! I had no idea! We know MANY friends and family members who have lived with infertility. In fact, we didn’t get pregnant right away either. It took us 15 months to conceive Little One. I’ve shared your post on Twitter and FB. xo
thanks hon!
thanks for posting this. I have a few friends that needed to go the IVF route and it took all of their savings to do it (twice)
that is so unfair Ashley, makes me so sad to hear that.
Thanks for sharing your heartfelt story! Even though I have been one of the lucky ones my heart goes out to the many families struggle with this issue. Thank you for spreading awareness and being their voice!
Thank you for finding the strength to share, I know it is so hard. I too, was told we most likely would never have children. I was prepared to do what ever it took to get a family. We have 3 children, and I always say that God does have a sense of humour.
It’s very hard and emotional thing in my life the government have to support for medications and the family because every one need family