Karen and David from Essex tried for nearly 10 years to conceive naturally before turning to IVF. The result, their daughter Ruby, was one of the first 35 babies to be born following treatment at Bourn Hall Wickford.
Diagnosed with PCOS
Karen first found out that she had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in her early twenties and had to undergo years of surgery, scans and treatment for that condition as well as for endometriosis.
When her hospital consultant first suggested that she might consider fertility treatment she refused, worried of the effects that the drugs might have on her PCOS and also her emotions.
“It seemed as though having a baby would be impossible,” says Karen. “We decided that we should just carry on trying for a baby ourselves but seven years later nothing had happened. We were not getting any younger so when fertility treatment was suggested again we thought we should give it a try.”
Treatment at Wickford and Colchester
Karen and her partner David opted to have treatment at Bourn Hall and choose to go to Bourn Hall’s satellite clinic in Wickford in Essex, travelling to the full-service clinic in Colchester for the egg retrieval and embryo transfer.
“My first round of treatment didn’t work,” says Karen, “but we decided to give it another go.
Marriage and a second round of IVF
“We had been engaged for years and David decided that he really wanted us to get married before we had a baby. So I started my second round of IVF treatment, one week after our wedding in January 2014.
“Only one of my three eggs fertilised. I still remember the phone call telling me and I was convinced that it was going to be bad news and that the process wouldn’t work for us again.”
But one fertilised egg was all that was needed second time around and Karen and David were absolutely delighted when Karen was told she was pregnant.
Ruby arrives
“It was quite incredible,” says Karen. “I still get emotional thinking about it.”
Baby Ruby was born on 17th October 2014 and her proud mum describes her as a happy, smiley baby.
“I thought I would never be a mum,” says Karen. “But now I think it was meant to be!”
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