Our Fertility Journey: An IVF Miracle with Unexplained Infertility
The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and should not be considered medical advice. Always consult your doctor, or a mental health professional, for the most appropriate treatment.
We started our fertility journey in the Spring of 2022 with a consultation at our local fertility clinic. We were nervous, excited, and feeling all the feels. We had a loose plan of how we wanted to go about conceiving our first child as a lesbian couple.
We were going to proceed with intrauterine insemination (IUI), with our first attempt happening in the Fall of 2022. We were hopeful that we would get pregnant within the first few cycles. Spoiler alert: while the plan was nice, we later found out that it wasn’t the journey we were meant to take.
After completing our preliminary tests—hysterosalpingogram (HSG), baseline ultrasounds, genetic testing—and selecting a donor, we found out that I (Lauren) was a carrier for a genetic disease, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), that would result in 50% of boys conceived having the disease. This news was devastating, as it meant our plan for IUI was replaced with a plan for in vitro fertilization (IVF).
We began the IVF process with additional genetic testing, a hysteroscopy, and by discussing how we could afford it. For our future child, we knew whatever amount we would end up paying would be worth it.
Luckily, Leslie’s job provided us with some benefits to cover some of the IVF process, and we were eligible for a loan to cover the cost of the cycle. In the early part of January 2023, we started our first IVF cycle.
We bought pineapple stickers and a medication organizer, and we prayed and kept our faith strong. We felt prepared and ready to get closer to our baby. The stimulation shots ended up not being as painful as some had described, and we “stimmed” for just under two weeks until our egg retrieval. We were able to retrieve a decent number of eggs.
After a month, we received our final count of genetically normal embryos (without the disease I carried): 6 embryos! We spoke with our fertility specialist about starting the frozen embryo transfer (FET) process. We wanted to proceed with a natural cycle (meaning we would base the timing of the transfer on when I ovulated with no medication). We were so hopeful—it was almost time to get pregnant!
I began preparing for the transfer. I nourished myself with warm foods and liquids, stayed active, ate a clean diet and minimized stress as much as possible. However, one hour before transfer number one, we received a call that 2 of our embryos did not survive the thaw, which meant that we were two chances short of having a baby.
Our first transfer resulted in a chemical pregnancy. We went on to complete two more transfers, one natural transfer and one medicated with two embryos. Both resulted in negative pregnancy tests. We had exhausted all of our embryos.
At that point, Leslie and I felt defeated. We had tried three times over three months and still didn’t have our baby. We didn’t understand why it wasn’t working. I was diagnosed with unexplained infertility. All blood tests came back normal and I was as healthy as can be. We took a beat to rest and reset before heading into another IVF cycle.
IVF cycle number two felt different: our faith felt stronger, our prayers felt stronger, and we knew what to expect. We retrieved fewer eggs and after genetic testing we ended up with one genetically normal embryo. We prepped for our fourth transfer. Our doctor decided to try a modified natural protocol this time. We were nervous, as we only had one embryo and hoped this little one would stick with us.
IVF cycle number two felt different: our faith felt stronger, our prayers felt stronger, and we knew what to expect.
Our transfer was on Halloween 2023 and on November 9th, I woke up at 2:19am to take a pregnancy test. It was positive! We went on to do our blood tests to confirm the pregnancy and had our first ultrasound at six weeks. We were so excited!
Fast forward to July 2024, and we are weeks away from meeting our little miracle baby. This journey was tough. There were times we didn’t think we’d ever have our baby. But with prayer, faith, and sticking close to each other during the storm, we now get to enjoy our little rainbow.
