In this episode Rachael shares her experience of infertilty and a diagnosis of both female and male factor infertility which meant their only option was to do ICSI IVF. After grieving that they would not be having a baby naturally, they went ahead with this and in their first cycle of IVF, Rachael experienced overstimulation and then sadly miscarriage at around 9 weeks. Her miscarriage was prolonged, difficult and ended in surgery. She then discovered she had developed hypothryroidisma ...

I am so happy to bring you today’s episode with Cat. Cat chats with me from a small idyllic village in England about her fertility journey. Cat’s journey has been 10 years and included a diagnosis of unexplained infertility. They had 3 rounds of Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), 4 fresh rounds of In vitro fertilization (IVF) and 2 frozen transfers (FET). She has been pregnant 3 times, miscarrying twice and also losing an identical twin in her final pregnancy - the one that gave the...

Kathryn and her husband spent 8 years trying to coneive a much wanted child, which included IVF and miscarriage. After 8 years they made the difficult decision to let go and carry on their life in a way that didn't match their dreams. "I had the movie version of my life in my head and I had to learn to let that go." Kathryn describes her experience as incredibly isolating and at the time she struggled to find the support she needed. As a result of this, she is now a qualified li...

Esther was pregnant with her fourth child during New Zealand's first Covid 19 lockdown, and living on a high country station in rural Kaikoura. The lockdown restrictions were stong and strict and her midwife appointments had not been regular, although things were going well. At 18 weeks her midwife could not find a heartbeat and after driving to Christchurch it was confirmed her baby had died. Because of the pandemic and restrictions she was separated from her husband and two of her children,...

In this episode I am speaking with Suzie and we recorded it especially to release in baby loss awareness week. Suzie is a photographer, a photography mentor and education provider and an author. Suzie shares with us the experiences she went through on the journey to create her family. It is a story of miscarriage, baby loss, TFMR (Termination for medical reasons), and of two beautiful living children. Suzie shares the emotional complications and pain of TFMR - which includes shame, isolation ...

Arna's story - secondary infertility and miscarriage When trying to conceive her second child, Arna experienced miscarriages, severe morning sickness , IVF treatment and anxiety. She went through a lot. After all of this, Arna now holds her baby Andie in her arms. Arna's instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nz_secondary_infertility_/ Podcast instagram - https://www.instagram.com/waitingforyou.podcast/ Photography instagram - https://www.instagram.com/janinefoxphotography/

Jules went through a huge IVF journey, trying to conceive her baby. Four and a half years and 13 cycles of IVF. There were many transfers that did not result in pregnancy, many cycles that got cancelled or did not get to transfer stage, as well as three chemical pregnancies. Jules and her husband were living in a cycle of hope and grief. After much thought and working through the loss of Jules' genetics, they went on to find an egg donor and had amazing success. This is a beautiful and painfu...

Cumorah shares her experience of having a molar pregnancy when trying to conceive her second child. A molar pregnancy has to be removed surgically and followed up closely with regular blood tests as it can develop into cancer. Cumorah experienced deep depression which she describes as taking over her life. She shares with us the ways in which she worked hard to get well again. At the time of recording she was pregnant and her baby was due soon. She now has her beautiful baby in he...

In this episode I chat with Felicity who shares her story of infertiliy, IVF, multiple miscarriages and D&C's, egg donation, embryo testing and very sadly losing her young sister. Felicity was diagnosed with low ovarian reserve and endometriosis and she and her husband did multiple rounds of IVF resulting in no pregancy or miscarriage. They tested embryos from two of their cycles to try to help their decision making and increase their chances. Felicity also discovered she has Graves dise...

In this episode I chat with Josh who shares the very long and complex journey he and his wife Jo went through to have their son Wolfgang (or Wolfie). It is a story of unexplained infertility, many rounds of IVF and countless embryo transfers, miscarriages, nearly losing Jo with one of the miscarriages, providing emergency foster care, and finally having Wolfie in their arms. It is also the story of an adventurous couple who made big decisions and pushed their limits. Connect with Josh Instag...

In this episode Lydia shares her story of becoming a Mama to her two girls Jemima and Mabel. Their first daughter was conceived easily and she was born in 2014. When they tried for a second child, they had difficultly and were diagnosed with secondary infertility, namely very low AMH levels. They were told they would need IVF and probably egg donation. The subsequent years involved trying treatment with Lydia's eggs, becoming pregnant naturally but then losing the baby at 13 weeks, ge...

In today's episode Emily shares her story of becoming a Mama to her twins Charlie and Delilah. Emily and her partner Mark struggled to conceive and went on to have IVF treatment. From their first cycle they got 8 day five embryos but sadly Emily went on to experience recurrent miscarriages after each embryo transfer. They were going through the process of sperm donation when they decided to try with their own embryos one more time. They transferred two embryos thinking they would ...

In this episode Saira shares her experience of PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), how it affected her fertility and the treatment she received to help her have her first daughter. In her pregnancy Saira struggled with back and hip pain and also had kidney stones at 32 weeks. Saira suffered postnatal depression after her daughter was born and sought help at 10 months post partum. She shares with us the denial she went through that she wasn't well, and then all the things she put in pla...

In this episode Meg shares the experience of losing her baby Ada at 20 weeks pregnant. Meg's waters broke one day after work at 20 weeks and although her baby still had a heartbeat when they got to A&E, she was told her baby would not survive. Meg so bravely shares her experience in the hospital, waiting all day on a labour and delivery ward for things to be signed off, giving birth to Ada and leaving the hospital without her baby in her arms. Huge thanks to Meg for sharing her stor...

In this episode Russell shares his story of the journey to have children knowing that a complex chomosomal issue was always going to be part of the picture. In Season 2, Russell's wife Kelly shared their story and here we are privileged to hear Russell's perspective and experience. Russell and Kelly have two healthy living children and had to say heartbreaking goodbye s to their other two daughters as they passed away shortly after they were born. This episode is dedicated to Nin...

In this episode Cass shares her story of trying to become a Mama on her own, using a private sperm donor. Cass' story involves finding a sperm donor, trying to conceive, miscarriage and grief. She also experienced pain and unexpected symptoms following her miscarriage which culminated in surgery. It has been hard, complex and painful and Cass continues to try for her baby who she longs to have in her arms. Thank you for opening your heart and sharing your story Cass x ...

Robin was diagnosed with a thyroid issue which needed treatment and balancingAlso diagnosed with unexplained infertilityNo fertility treatment until the thyroid issue was sorted out which took 18 monthsFirst IVF cycle in USA, with no positive resultMoved to NZ and second cycle was here in NZ, which was successful and they had their daughter MoanaLater they went on to try a frozen embryo transfer and were blessed with their second daughter RubyThey then found themselves in a position whe...

- Nina lost of left ovary and falliopian tube due to ovarian cyst - She later discovered she has a unicornuate uterus - IVF treatment was the only option to try for a baby - First cycle produced 2 eggs and neither of them fertilised - Second cycle produced 15 eggs and 4 embryos, and resulted in a freeze all cycle due to OHSS - 1st frozen transfer cancelled - 2nd frozen transfer resulted in a chemical pregnancy - ...

Hayley and her husband found themselves at Fertility associates after trying to conceive for a couple of years. Hayley was very unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage 4 endometriosis. They held off on surgery for the endometriosis and also IVF treatment. Hayley felt very reluctant about IVF. After researching, Hayley worked with a nutritionist on her diet (Mikki Williden) Three months later she became pregnant but then had a miscarriage. As time went on she felt like...

Two and a half years after getting married Anna’s husband Kyle was diagnosed with Sperm Maturation Arrest, which is irreversible and is considered to be absolute infertility. Their only option to become pregnant was sperm donation. They were both on different pages about this and it caused too much tension so they decided not to do sperm donation and not to have children. Anna made the decision to leave the job she loved working with children because it was too painful. She did a ...