Woman told she couldn't conceive welcomes miracle babies
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September marks Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Awareness Month, PCOS is a condition that affects around 1 in 10 in the UK with millions of undiagnosed cases. PCOS is a common cause of infertility in women as it can cause irregular periods with a lack of ovulation, which can make it difficult to get pregnant.
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Hide AdGemma, who works as a Care Assistant, had always had heavy and irregular periods as a teenager so was prescribed the contraceptive pill to try and help by her GP. With later testing showing that she had PCOS, and it was highly unlikely that she would ever be able to conceive naturally.
When Gemma met her partner Daniel, a refinery worker, and they decided they wanted to try for a baby in 2020, they knew it would be a long road ahead due to Gemma having PCOS.
Gemma and Daniel were offered numerous fertility clinics, but after reading positive reviews and stories online, decided to go with TFP Fertility UK where they visited the TFP Wessex Fertility clinic.
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Hide AdThey were first both sent for testing, and Gemma went through three rounds of Clomid, which failed, to try and trigger ovulation before starting their first round of IVF in 2021.
Gemma shared how supportive the TFP Wessex Clinic staff were during the process: “I was so nervous to do the injections I needed for the egg collection to start off with, but the team at TFP Wessex were so supportive and did the first one for me. I was scared of doing it in the correct place and getting the right dosage, but they reassured me and showed me how to do it.”
During the egg collection, clinicians were able to collect 19 eggs. Gemma recalls being a nervous wreck waiting to find out if the eggs had developed into embryos, and anxiously waited for the daily updates from the clinic until she found out that they had 12 viable embryos. In December 2021, an embryo was implanted, and all the couple could do was wait to see if the process had been successful.
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Hide AdThey were told to wait two weeks to take a test, but Gemma was so excited, that she took a pregnancy test with her mum, only six days later, and found out it was positive!
Recalling finding out she was pregnant, Gemma said: “I couldn’t wait the full two weeks, I was convinced it hadn't worked, I didn’t have any pregnancy symptoms, so I was sceptical, but we did the test, and it came up positive! Daniel was a bit cross with me as we had planned to do it together, but he was over the moon, we were so lucky and grateful that it had worked first time.”
Gemma had a smooth pregnancy and gave birth to their son, Archer in August 2022.
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Hide AdBut their story didn’t end there. After thinking that she would never be able to conceive naturally, in November, shortly after Archer was born, Gemma miraculously found out she was pregnant and gave birth to a healthy daughter, Autumn, in June 2023!
On falling pregnant for a second time Gemma said “I’ve never really had a regular period and didn’t think I could ovulate. I couldn't believe it when the test came up positive, it was the biggest shock of my life, they’re both miracle babies to me! It happened a bit sooner than I would have liked, but I believe everything happens for a reason.”
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