BEFORE GABRIELA – Approximately 10 failed ICSI cycles, 2 miscarriages
We were directed to IVF following initial tests that suggested challenges with my husband’s sperm motility and count. We had a Day 3 transfer following our first cycle, resulting in a positive test result. However, we miscarried at 5 weeks and 2 days. This started the push-pull of ART.
We tried again and were unfortunately unsuccessful. We were dissatisfied with being treated like it was our fault and that we were just pawns in a chess game. We decided to keep trying naturally after this experience. We followed the advice of every well-meaning person in our lives and relaxed, had some holidays, and tried some pretty strange ‘wives tales,’ but two years later, we were still not pregnant.
We became friends with an ART doctor, who suggested assisting us with treatment. Following a few tests, he suggested our only course of action was ICSI. So we started it all again—five ICSI cycles in one year, no new adjustments, just doing the same thing repeatedly.
I felt hopeless, truly hopeless. All sense of control was gone, and it felt like I was the problem. I thought I was not doing something right or my body was not capable. I became obsessed with cycling through each cycle, occasionally questioning why it was not working, only to be told it takes time and will happen. I started questioning the treatment model and made some small changes I had researched. Unfortunately for us, though, we were still years away from finding Gabriela Rosa or her amazing team.
We continued on the ICSI bandwagon but failed. We kept on keeping on and found that the more we had failed attempts, the more disconnected we became and the more obsessed I got.
Following a further 3 years of ART, with no new adjustments to the approach, we decided to stop ongoing treatment. We needed to regroup and consider that we may live without children. We traveled together, relaxed, and considered the pros and cons of letting go of our dream of becoming parents. We decided to accept we would not have children, and a sense of freedom came with this.
Strangely enough, though, when on a trip to France, I was enjoying a beautiful view of Lyon, searching the internet, and I discovered Gabriela and her Fertility Breakthrough website. A Fertility Challenge™ (now replaced by The Fertility Accelerator Program™) had just commenced, so I signed up.
I was instantly blown away by the information I was provided and how it might help us understand and make a difference in our fertility. I showed my husband, and together, we watched the fertility challenge videos, chatted about it, and decided to do this to ensure we tried everything.
AFTER GABRIELA
At completing the Fertility Challenge™ (retired and replaced by the educational video series — The Fertility Accelerator Program™), I submitted the detailed questionnaire for The Fertility Breakthrough Program™ (yikes, that was detailed) to assess our case—we did not wait, procrastinate, or think about it; we hopped right in.
Following our initial consultation, we made the very challenging decision (at the time) to pay more money in hopes of creating our family. To say we were nervous and worried that it was just another example of people ‘helping’ while they were just building their own business was an understatement. When we met Gabriela for the first time, this likely came through in my husband’s skepticism and sarcasm. We were so worried and scared.
Lucky for us, though, we were in great hands. We did our homework, had LOADS of further tests done, made the suggested changes, and asked those around us to do the same when we were around. We prepared our bodies, detoxed our home (and those close to us), and found a glimmer of hope that strengthened with each passing day.
I started acting pregnant now to get pregnant later, including talking to my little person whenever I was driving to and from work or exercising (in a low to moderate way 😉). We followed through with our course of supplements and herbs (yuck), and I kept telling myself that these tablets and herbs were helping my body prepare for pregnancy.
We attempted natural conception for some time with no success. Then, we decided to take the recommendation and next step on the journey and pursue ART in conjunction with The Fertility Breakthrough Program™. We were positive and hopeful, knowing that our 7-month-long preconception period had prepared our bodies—we were ready to be pregnant!
Although we were so hopeful, we found some resistance from the specialists, and they wanted to start from the beginning. That is right, all over again, as though we did not have a history of about 10 failed ICSI cycles.
We made a further tough decision and returned to our ‘friend’ and his clinic, given that they knew us and our history and were likely to be amenable to our desired course of treatment. But now we were armed with much more knowledge and options and the support of the entire Fertility Breakthrough Program™ team.
We tried a few more cycles, still with no success, before deciding that perhaps we needed to look at donor options. We had tried a sperm donor throughout our treatment, as the suggestion was that my husband’s sperm was the problem. However, this did not work, so we asked my best friend if she would act as an egg donor. We were 7 years into our infertility journey by this stage. She said yes, and we started a whole new process.
Fortunately, we fell pregnant with twins on our third transfer from her two IVF cycles (she had two children conceived naturally with no delays in conception). Our twins were born 9 years after our fertility journey commenced and only 2 years after finding out about Gabriela and her program.
This was the end of our journey to parenthood, or so we thought. Not long after, I experienced a fatigue like I had only experienced when pregnant with my twins—a rather bizarre set of circumstances! On a whim, I bought a home pregnancy test that I messed up royally because it came out positive! I quickly found an excuse to go to the shops, and while there, I peed on another stick that very promptly demonstrated something I had only experienced when I was pregnant with the twins—a decisive, strong double line. We were pregnant without planning, realizing it, or ever expecting it.
To say we were overwhelmed is the greatest understatement. We were baffled, confused, excited, nervous, and I was expecting the worst—believing it would be like those other times when we had an early miscarriage. No, wrong—this would turn out to be a strong and healthy pregnancy that resulted in the birth of our beautiful third child, Charlotte.
Our lives were forever changed following the knowledge, support, preparation, understanding, and changes we made while participating in The Fertility Breakthrough Program™. Nothing else in the treatments we endured through ART made this difference.
We would never have been here without Gabriela, her team, and her methodology coming into our lives. Our three precious miracles are a testament to our determination, the knowledge we gained, and the trust we put in the whole team.