Maria's story

After a history of painful, heavy periods and having had an ovary removed, Maria was diagnosed with endometriosis. Because her remaining fallopian tube was blocked, the only chance she and her husband had of conceiving was through IVF.

Maria’s condition meant that fertility treatment was very painful but luckily it was successful first time and she had twins. Maria and her husband then underwent further IVF and again, they were incredibly lucky. Maria tells their story.

Diagnosis

"From the age of 17 or 18, I had very bad periods, but my GP seemed uninterested. At 21, I had emergency surgery for appendicitis and awoke to discover I had also had an ovary removed, due to a large cyst. Although I had a histology (examination with a microscope of tissue removed during surgery), endometriosis (a condition in which endometrial cells, which normally line the uterus, implant around the outside of the uterus and/or ovaries, causing internal bleeding, pain and reduced fertility) was not diagnosed until much later.

"Taking medication to suppress the endometriosis seemed to have no effect. After six months I had four surgeries with a specialist in endometriosis. The doctor then induced menopause for two years."

Treatment time

"Within a year and a half of meeting, my future husband and I knew we wanted to get married, so we had tests to see what our potential was to conceive. One of the tests showed that my one remaining fallopian tube was completely blocked, so we knew that IVF was our only chance of conceiving.

"My husband-to-be had a sperm test, which was fine. I had a monitored cycle, which involved internal scans and blood tests. After we got married, we gave up drinking and consulted a nutritionist, to be in the best possible shape for the IVF.

"I started using the daily inhaler which suppresses all your hormones, and then started daily injections to stimulate egg production. I found these one of the hardest parts of treatment but my husband was great and did them with me. Also, the injections made my endometriosis really flare up, so the scans and internal examinations were incredibly painful.

"We went to our treatment centre to have the eggs removed, and three days later we went back to have two of the embryos transferred. I found the transfer so painful that I was in floods of tears.

"Two weeks later a blood test showed that my hormone level was “very high”, which meant I was pregnant. I was ecstatic, and we just couldn’t believe it had worked the first time.

"Three weeks later we had a scan and the clinic said it was twins! We waited until after my 12th week, had another scan, and told everyone our news.

"My pregnancy was uneventful, and was followed by a planned c-section, as the first baby was breech, at 37 weeks. I gave birth to twins: a son and a daughter."

Further treatment

"We always knew we would try again. We had about 6 frozen embryos, so I came off the Pill to get my cycle ready for the frozen embryos. It took months to get a regular cycle, which was really frustrating.

"On the day of the embryo transfer the hospital called and told us none of our frozen embryos had survived. I was devastated and we went straight to our doctor to see if we could try a cycle of IVF that same month.

"This time I found the injections much easier and didn’t even use the auto-injector. They sedated me for the embryo transfer as I had found it so painful the first time.

"Amazingly, IVF worked for us again, and again I became pregnant with twins. This time I felt more daunted as I knew how much hard work twins are, and that my son and daughter would be only two and half years old when they were born. At least we had all the gear!

"I haemorrhaged twice and had a horrible pregnancy as I had a placenta previa (where the placenta attaches to the wall of the lower part of the uterus, over or near the cervix). My younger twins were born 5 weeks prematurely. After 2 weeks in special care they came home and our family was truly complete!"

Costs

"We had all our treatment privately. I have endometriosis on my bowels and ureters, so have had many problems in each of the surgeries as a result of this. We got all the drugs for IVF on the NHS. My current GP is fantastic and understands a lot about endometriosis.

"I was lucky to have private healthcare through my work and it allowed me the choice of finding the best surgeons locally. They would not have been available to me on the NHS as their NHS work was not in my area."

Feelings

"I would only tell those you HAVE to. If you tell many people, everyone asks about progress all the time and makes it much more stressful. The second time we only told the two people who looked after the children for us when we went to the hospital. It was our secret, which when you are being prodded about all the time and any spontaneity has been completely removed from the process, left us with something that was just ours.

"Our experiences brought us closer as no-one else knew about the pain I went through and only celebrated with us when we announced I was pregnant. My husband has been incredibly understanding – I have been very lucky. We talked to each other about the treatment all the time. We were very honest with each other and both shed many tears!

"The younger twins are aged 4 now, and the older ones are 7. Last year I had a hysterectomy, so there won’t be any more. Sometimes people see us with two sets of twins and say, “God, that must be awful!” They feel so sorry for us, but my husband and I look at each other and say, “Actually, we feel very lucky!”

"It has been hard work, my husband helps more than most dads I know, but we wouldn’t change a thing."

Tips

"Be positive."
"Communicate and be honest with your partner – it is so important."
"Talk to people and find good people to work with."
"Results can be skewed by all sorts of things, so go and talk to the doctor yourself. Take their advice: if it means sacrifices like not drinking for a few months to increase your chances, just do it."

Read Maria's full story:

Maria's story (87kb)

Page last updated: 28 August 2009

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