Everyone’s Story Is Different – Sarah’s Story Of Her Infertility Journey

When you are going through infertility and IVF, it can be helpful to hear the stories of other people and their experiences.

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It’s important to remember that although everyone’s journey is different, there are many similarities, especially when it comes to feelings and emotions. It’s useful to be able to acknowledge and normalise these feelings and know that there are people you can reach out to when you need to, for information, advice and support.

Sarah is now a mum of a 10-year-old and wants to share her story to give hope to others, but she also wants anonymity for the sake of her son.

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Sarah’s story

My husband and I had wanted a family for many years, but when I suffered from a debilitating illness in my early 30s, it put our plans on hold.

When friends and family members told us they were expecting, I’d smile, hug and congratulate them, then take myself away out of sight and cry.

Some instances, in particular, involving close friends and family, upset me more than others, many were off-the-cuff remarks and none of them intended to cause upset, but they did. I felt like no one really understood. My best friend told me in my birthday card the ‘great news’ that her sister was expecting (every birthday in my mid to late 30s was hard enough to deal with already, with my fertility decreasing rapidly). As the months passed, I felt hurt, upset, frustrated, angry, jealous and had an overwhelming feeling of ‘it’s just not fair!’

When we did start trying for a baby, we struggled to conceive and being in our mid-thirties by then, we were advised to have infertility tests. The tests didn’t show any reason why we shouldn’t be able to conceive, so we were classed as having ‘unexplained infertility.’ Due to our age, assisted conception was recommended and we tried IUI, rather than allowing time to run out.

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Going through assisted conception

IUIs were challenging for both of us and the pressure did tell in our relationship. We went through 6 cycles of drug-free IUI, each one with a feeling of hope at the beginning and a harder fall with every negative test. I’d avoided the drugs, due to a medical condition.

We were then told that we could have one cycle of IUI on the NHS, but it would have to be soon, as I was nearly 40. We knew that it was really our last chance. We did the mild cycle, IVF, with only 14 injections, as the drugs were still a risk to me.

The IVF process was challenging, physically and emotionally, but I knew it may be the only way I’d be able to have a baby, so I pushed on through.

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