After five years, four cycles of IVF, many months of fertility treatments and two lots of ovarian diathermy we were incredibly lucky and had our first baby, Isabella in 2002
5 more cycles of IVF resulted in the birth of our twins Kitty and Scarlet in 2007. Finally, when the twins were 6 months old I discovered I was pregnant with our son naturally. A miracle and a joy.
Throughout all of this I suffered from incredibly painful and heavy periods, yet we were told we were categorised as having “unexplained infertility”
As time passed my periods were coming every 23 days and the pain was excruciating. Totally debilitating, I couldn’t breathe at times. It worsened still during covid but eventually I was able to get some help and saw my Gynaecologist. After an internal ultrasound I was eventually diagnosed with Adenomyosis and bloods showed I was dangerously anaemic. It was recommended that I have a hysterectomy, the only sure fire way to deal with my symptoms and anaemia.
Adenomyosis is a uterine disorder where the cells that normally form a lining inside the uterus, also grow in the muscle wall of the uterus. The displaced tissue continues to act normally every month which means thickening, breaking down and bleeding during each menstrual cycle. This eventually causes the related symptoms and makes the uterine walls grow thicker.
There is no moral to my story but I do wonder, given how hard it is to diagnose Adenomyosis, how much of our inability to have a baby could be attributed to the condition. As women we should be made more aware of it. I had never heard of it before my diagnosis despite all the many doctors consultations and fertility treatments; pretty shocking given it seemingly had such a huge impact on my entire adult life in one way or another. I so admire Naga for speaking out and raising awareness- hence I felt compelled to send this email and share my story.
What is your infertility diagnosis? Would you like to share your story? Drop us a line at sara@ivfbabble.com.
