After 11 years, £55,000 spent, two miscarriages, and nine unsuccessful rounds of IVF, Rhona and her husband Nigel finally welcomed their ‘miracle’ baby.
And two years later, the couple couldn’t be happier to be celebrating little Kiki’s second birthday.
Rhona, 43, and Nigel Brown, 46, struggled to conceive after five years of trying naturally.
They had no choice but to try IVF, but after five unsuccessful rounds – three free on the NHS, two private – they were diagnosed with low-quality eggs and sperm.
In 2015, they sought help from a private clinic who confirmed it would not be possible for Rhona to have her own biological baby, and that egg donation was the only option.
Rhona, from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, told Metro.co.uk: ‘We had spent so much time trying for a baby without investigating my body as medics assumed it was just Nigel.
‘After 10 years, I was told I had a very low egg reserve and low quality eggs – it was devastating knowing I wouldn’t be able to sustain a pregnancy with my own eggs.
‘I selected the same characteristics to ensure the baby looks like me – such as height, hair colour and green or blue eyes like Nigel.
‘We had tried twice with different donors and it was third time lucky when an altruistic egg donor came along on our ninth round.
‘There were three eggs which were split into two rounds – the first time I got pregnant but I had a miscarriage for the second time.
‘It was truly horrendous but we refused to give up.’
Rhona and Nigel's fertility journey:
- 20/11/12 started IVF after trying to conceive for five years
- 21/12/12 negative.
- 19/04/13 negative
- 21/03/14 negative
- 09/06/14 negative
- 25/10/14 negative
- 04/11/15 positive
- 26/11/15 miscarriage
- 26/11/16 no transfer – none fertilised
- 09/12/16 negative
- 31/06/17 positive
- 24/08/17 miscarriage
- 07/12/17 positive!
- 02/01/18 pregnant
- 02/08/18 Kiki was born
Even after two heartbreaking miscarriages, each at seven weeks pregnant, the couple held out hope.
In December 2017, the parents’ last two remaining embryos were inserted in the tenth round of IVF.
Then Rhona began to feel sick over Christmas. She didn’t believe she was pregnant – until a viability scan in January 2018 revealed that she was.
Rhona said: ‘I’ve never done a pregnancy test at home – it has always been a blood test at a clinic.
‘I had two weeks after the insemination which confirmed I was pregnant and then I was so sick throughout the festive period but I thought it was the flu.
‘We had to wait until January for a scan as they were shut over the festive period but I never imagined to see a heartbeat.
‘I was hyperventilating as I was so scared – we had no eggs left and I couldn’t deal with another miscarriage.
‘I can’t even describe the feeling I had when they showed me the screen with a heart beating.
‘Even the doctors and nurses were crying as they had been through all the heartbreak with us.’
In the summer of 2018, Kiki was born, making the 11-year wait and £55,000 spent all worth it.
‘We are eternally grateful for our little girl – she is perfect,’ said Rhona.
‘I always tell her how much we love her and how special she is so it isn’t a surprise when we tell her how she got here.
‘It doesn’t matter that we used an egg donor as I still carried her in my body and care for her. She is a mini me.
‘Everyone says she looks like Nigel but I think we have similar similarities – she has my mannerisms as we are together all of the time.
‘Kiki is a bundle of joy with so much energy.
‘She doesn’t stop, she was crawling at six months and walking at ten months!
‘We are so lucky to have her.
‘There’s people who struggle like us and it never happens so we are very grateful that it happened to us.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/28/couple-celebrate-childs-birthday-spending-55k-11-years-trying-become-parents-13189780/
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