Written by Emily Ryan
Rowdy Roo Baby
This is not one of those years long IVF “journeys” punctured with thousands of needles and tears.
Instead, this is the story of a young couple who took charge of their fertility early on and created a family on their own terms.
Let me introduce myself.
I’m Emily, a mum of two, journalist and owner of Aussie owned and designed, ethically made, organic baby and kids wear label Rowdy Roo.
Thanks to painful, irregular periods and some truly awful acne, I’ve known since my early 20s that I have poly cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
According to the Medical Journal of Australia, PCOS is a condition which impacts 8 to 13 per cent of reproductive age women.
So after trying to fall pregnant naturally for a year without any success and despite being only 28 at the time, I took the advice of my GP and was referred to a fertility specialist.
The plan wasn’t originally IVF.
After establishing that I didn’t ovulate at all some months and did so erratically on others, my specialist initially suggested a course of a drug called clomid to help stimulate my ovaries to release an egg.
But there was one last hurdle - my husband had to be tested too.
We had no doubt his results would come back clear. After all I was the one with the “problems”.
According to Health Male, an Australian government funded provider of free health information for men, in about 30 per cent of infertile couples, the issues lie with both partners.
After tracking both our fertility for several months, the specialist told us while we could one day fall pregnant naturally it could take years and would be akin to “rolling the dice”.
Sometimes I was fertile, sometimes my husband was but we just weren’t matching up.
And so not wanting to wait any longer to welcome children, we chose to undergo IVF.
Picture credit: https://www.pivet.com.au/products/fertility-treatment/intra-cytoplasmic-sperm-injection-icsi/
I was surprised at the reaction of family and friends to this news.
Despite having received expert advice, many thought we were being “hasty” and “jumping into IVF”.
Six years later I have never been pregnant naturally but thanks to IVF I have two beautiful kids and we’re hoping for a third.
This is not a position I would have been in if I had chosen to ignore the advice of experts to get treatment early while I was young with greater prospects of success.
According to Monash IVF, the success rate for pregnancy in a woman under 30 is 46.7 per cent per cycle.
This drops to just 17.6 per cent for women aged 40 to 44.
The Australian government resource Pregnancy, Birth and Baby recommends you seek medical advice after 12 months of having regular unprotected sex without conceiving.
If you’re over 35 or have a known fertility issue, they suggest talking to your doctor after six months.
So if you’re one of those people everyone keeps telling to “relax and it will happen” I urge you to double check with your doctor as that’s not always the case.
Emily Ryan is a journalist, mum and organic baby and kids wear entrepreneur.
You can find her here:
Online: www.rowdyroo.com.au
Facebook: Rowdy Roo Baby
Instagram: @rowdyroobaby
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