April 14, 2020
“Giving up after 10 failed IVFs was not an option”*
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What can you feel when looking at a picture with a baby in it? The answer can only be “happiness” and this is what you see when you look at our wonderful patient Eilidh holding baby Rose, surrounded by her HSFC family – Dr Venkat, the nurses’ team and one of our lovely pharmacists.
Meet Eilidh, the amazing and inspirational woman whose dream of becoming a mother came true, for the second time, a few weeks ago, with Harley Street Fertility Clinic’s help.
Eilidh’s IVF journey
Eilidh’s journey to become a parent started 10 years ago, at another clinic. She moved to Harley Street Fertility Clinic because of its caring and professional reputation. “With my first child, Francis, my husband and I were trying for about 5 years. I got to the point when I felt that the IVF simply wasn't going to work for me. After each failed IVF it was so hard but I had to pick myself back up and try again. I was so determined to make it work.”
Undergoing no less than 10 failed IVF cycles, Eilidh recalls that the culprit was stress. “There wasn’t anything wrong with me. We were using healthy sperm; it just didn’t work. My body was too sensitive and didn’t want to accept the embryo”.
Exploring other fertility treatment options
It would have been so easy for Eilidh to give up. But she didn’t. Instead, she changed her tactics. “To give myself another focus while I was going through the treatments, I started a part-time degree in the evenings. Even when the IVF wasn’t working, I felt that I needed something else to focus on that was in my control and that I could achieve with.”
Eilidh ended up taking a more natural route, using IUI. This treatment gave them Francis, now a healthy and happy 4 year old boy. Francis, ‘the miracle baby,’ as Eilidh calls him, gave her and her husband the desire and hope for another baby.
Eilidh knew what she had to do and followed a similar route with the one when trying for the first baby – this time she had already started studying for a PhD. “With Rose- we had four attempts of IUI when we found out it worked but, unfortunately, we lost it. After 2 more trials we had Rose, who, we feel, is just ‘the icing on the cake.’”
Eilidh’s IUI success tips
Eilidh would like to tell other women who are trying to have a baby that it’s easy to hear all the negative stories, but you have to fight to stay positive. “You have to keep a feeling of love inside you, it will help your body open to conceiving.”
Another important lesson she learnt is to “trust the clinic: I started the treatment in another clinic but I had my babies with Harley Street Fertility Clinic. They treat you like a person and they treat you like an intelligent person, they communicate to you what is happening at all stages. Dr Venkat is always open and has time for you. The nurses are so fantastic and they really care, it makes such a big difference, it really does.”
Eilidh finishes her story with 3 pieces of advice:
- Make sure your body is healthy.
- Focus on something else. My babies brought me a degree, a PhD and a new career path.
- Keep believing! It’s hard but believe that it can happen. I could have just given up after 5 IVFs or 10, but I didn’t and it’s the best decision I took.”
Eilidh is now studying for her PhD in Environmental Science. The title of her thesis is “Environmental benefits of tree planting for climate change mitigation.”
We are so thrilled we could share this amazing and inspirational story about Eilidh, a woman who is also “planting hopes” for all women who are trying to conceive.
If you would like to find out how we can support you during your fertility treatment, please watch our recorded webinar "Patient support and holistic care" which took place on Friday 16th April 2021, at 7.30 pm.
* This story was initially published in March 2020. In the meantime the babies became toddlers or school children. You can see them here, as well as their mother's email to Dr Venkat and our team.
