IVF Egg Donation - Help make our dream come true!
Donation protected
My name is Kirstie, I am 26 years old and my fiance is Chris, also 26. We have been together for 7 years and we live in Newmills, Northern Ireland.
It has taken us immense courage to write this story and to reach out for help, but we feel like this is now our only hope of becoming parents. We struggled with this idea for a long time thinking that it would appear selfish and embarrassing to ask for help, but it is the only option left.
I was diagnosed with early menopause (premature ovarian failure) when I was 16 years old. I was told I would never have a child of my own and my only hope of ever having a child would be through egg donation. I was so young I did not understand, my whole world was turned upside down.
Our IVF journey began in August 2016. This was our only free cycle with the NHS but unfortunately it did not work.
Fast forward to September 2018 and we decided to go abroad in our hopes of becoming parents. We went to a clinic in Crete, Greece. It ended in absolute heartbreak with another failure. The only good thing this time was that we had frozen embryos left over so we were able to try again. This emotional roller coaster just goes on and on.
We returned to Greece in April 2019 for our 3rd attempt. We were amazed - this time it worked! I was pregnant for the first time ever. The day we found out we were expecting a baby was the happiest day of our lives - we will never forget the happiness we felt that day.
We had an early scan at 7 weeks where we seen our baby's heartbeat fluttering on the screen. We cried with joy and it actually become real that we were having a baby! We had another scan a week later and seen the heartbeat again. Only this time there had been no growth.
I carried our baby 9 weeks 2 days when we found out that the heart had stopped beating.
I had no miscarriage symptoms. It was a silent miscarriage. I had to go into hospital a few days later to have a D&C to remove the pregnancy tissue. The doctor advised this was the best option as my body was not naturally letting go.
All our dreams were shattered. We had built up so many ideas in our heads of what it would be like to finally have our baby. We have cried about a lot of things in our relationship but going through IVF is the toughest thing a couple can ever experience. No one understands unless you have been through it. But we've never cried this hard or felt so empty. We are still devastated but we refuse to lose hope and give up.
IVF itself is very painful and stressful. It takes a toll financially, physically, and emotionally. All our cycles have ended in absolute heartbreak. Each cycle I have to endure months of hormone tablets, procedures, blood tests, scans & stress - the list is endless. But it is so addictive. If the one thing you wanted in life was to have a child and this was the only way you could do it, you would do it time and time again.
We fully understand that many people have problems of their own and may not be able to give anything. That is completely okay. Even some words of encouragement would be great. We debated this process and are still feeling a bit of unease at the idea, but we decided that it couldn't hurt to ask.
Thank you so much for reading our story.
It has taken us immense courage to write this story and to reach out for help, but we feel like this is now our only hope of becoming parents. We struggled with this idea for a long time thinking that it would appear selfish and embarrassing to ask for help, but it is the only option left.
I was diagnosed with early menopause (premature ovarian failure) when I was 16 years old. I was told I would never have a child of my own and my only hope of ever having a child would be through egg donation. I was so young I did not understand, my whole world was turned upside down.
Our IVF journey began in August 2016. This was our only free cycle with the NHS but unfortunately it did not work.
Fast forward to September 2018 and we decided to go abroad in our hopes of becoming parents. We went to a clinic in Crete, Greece. It ended in absolute heartbreak with another failure. The only good thing this time was that we had frozen embryos left over so we were able to try again. This emotional roller coaster just goes on and on.
We returned to Greece in April 2019 for our 3rd attempt. We were amazed - this time it worked! I was pregnant for the first time ever. The day we found out we were expecting a baby was the happiest day of our lives - we will never forget the happiness we felt that day.
We had an early scan at 7 weeks where we seen our baby's heartbeat fluttering on the screen. We cried with joy and it actually become real that we were having a baby! We had another scan a week later and seen the heartbeat again. Only this time there had been no growth.
I carried our baby 9 weeks 2 days when we found out that the heart had stopped beating.
I had no miscarriage symptoms. It was a silent miscarriage. I had to go into hospital a few days later to have a D&C to remove the pregnancy tissue. The doctor advised this was the best option as my body was not naturally letting go.
All our dreams were shattered. We had built up so many ideas in our heads of what it would be like to finally have our baby. We have cried about a lot of things in our relationship but going through IVF is the toughest thing a couple can ever experience. No one understands unless you have been through it. But we've never cried this hard or felt so empty. We are still devastated but we refuse to lose hope and give up.
IVF itself is very painful and stressful. It takes a toll financially, physically, and emotionally. All our cycles have ended in absolute heartbreak. Each cycle I have to endure months of hormone tablets, procedures, blood tests, scans & stress - the list is endless. But it is so addictive. If the one thing you wanted in life was to have a child and this was the only way you could do it, you would do it time and time again.
We fully understand that many people have problems of their own and may not be able to give anything. That is completely okay. Even some words of encouragement would be great. We debated this process and are still feeling a bit of unease at the idea, but we decided that it couldn't hurt to ask.
Thank you so much for reading our story.
Organizer
Kirstie Downey
Organizer
Northern Ireland
