Christina’s Story | Guest Post by Christina Bailey | myMindBodyBaby
I have faced many fertility challenges in my life as a member of the LGTBQ community wanting a child of my own. The path to having children wasn’t easy and I know others face similar challenges. This is a journey that has many ups and downs, but I am one of the lucky ones and I’m grateful for that.
This is just a little about my journey, and I hope others can relate to some parts of it.
My IVF story
I went through two rounds of IVF to have my first child through Reciprocal IVF. Unfortunately, my first round of IVF was cut short due to failed fertilization of my eggs.
My second round of IVF was different. During that round the retrieval and fertilization were successful. When the time came, two precious embryos were transferred. Unfortunately, one miscarried. It was a sad time for me. Following this, the pregnancy was high risk and I was told the baby would most likely not survive. It was a lot to take in.
A frozen embryo transfer (FET) was done for my second child. Again, I was told by doctors that the pregnancy might end. Fate stepped in again and thankfully, both pregnancies resulted in a happy ending. Two amazing kids were born and I couldn’t be happier.
Surrounded by love and support
I have learned so much on this journey to parenthood. I have learned how important it is to have a support team around me. It is particularly essential to me this time, as I try for baby #3, as I navigate the path to parenthood alone. (By alone, I mean not married, as I was before my divorce from my wife). Yet, I will still be surrounded by love and support thanks to the amazing network of people around me.
I have experienced so much personal growth throughout my journey and will continue to do so. I enjoy helping others through their journey. Whether that be through sharing my journey or listening to those who want to speak about their own experience, I want to be there for others who need support. The online community has been a major support to me on my fertility journey. I have made some amazing friends who have helped me through the most challenging times.
3 pieces of advice
The advice I have for those starting their fertility journey would be to have support, save, and keep busy.
- Have someone to support you, emotionally. Someone to lean on, someone to listen to you, and someone who can be a shoulder to cry on. It could be happy tears or sad tears. Anyone that you feel comfortable with as your person or persons in this journey.
- The path to parenthood can be expensive. Many people don’t grow up thinking they will need to seek medical assistance to become a parent. Even if you know fertility treatments will be in your future, there can be circumstances you didn’t plan for. So, set a little aside for these types of situations.
- Find a hobby or passion project. This will be something you can lean on during the tough times – it can be your go-to for getting your mind off the hard stuff. There are many waiting periods in this path to parenthood and keeping busy is important!
I hope anyone reading this has an amazing fertility journey and gets their happy ending, as I did.
xo
Christina
Christina is a member and advocate for the LGTBQ community and can be found on Instragram at @babybaileymamadrama
