Family at last for Hannah after tests revealed why she couldn’t get pregnant

“When people ask about babies it is always well intentioned but without knowing someone’s situation it is just really presumptuous,” she says. “Having been on the receiving end myself it is the last thing I would ask someone.”

Hannah’s fertility journey began in her early thirties after she married Philip, who was the same age.

“We met when we were 21 through mutual friends and both knew that we wanted children one day,” says Hannah. “We enjoyed life and had plenty of nice holidays together and then after we got married decided it was time to start trying for a family.”

At that point the couple had no reason to suspect that they might have problems conceiving.

“We tried for three years but nothing happened. I was having periods but when I tried tracking my ovulation with a kit it was never very conclusive when I was ovulating,” she says. “I had been on the contraceptive pill for a long time before we started trying and I began to wonder if perhaps it had affected my cycles.”

The couple went to see their GP and were referred to their local hospital for tests.

“Philip’s tests all came back fine but mine showed that I had irregular ovulation and a very slightly lower egg count than average,” says Hannah. “The hospital tried various things including putting me on Clomid to try and boost my ovulation but I still didn’t get pregnant naturally.”

Hannah found this period in her life tough-going. “I was really busy at work and my Grandad had just died and I did get myself in to a bit of a hole emotionally, questioning stuff and asking myself why I couldn’t get pregnant. It was a hard time for me but I managed to claw my way out.”

At the time NHS-funding for IVF was still available in Cambridgeshire and Hannah and Philip were told that they were eligible for two rounds of treatment. They chose Bourn Hall Clinic.

“One of my friends had been treated at Bourn Hall and had said what a nice place it was to go to,” she says.

The couple attended an Open Day event at Bourn Hall with a number of other couples and shortly afterwards had their first appointment for their IVF treatment.

Once the couple’s treatment began Hannah was still able to continue with her busy life – even going down to London to celebrate her Dad’s birthday the same day that she had her eggs retrieved.

Hannah’s eggs were fertilised in the lab with Philip’s sperm and after the ‘blastocyst’ stage (when the embryos were allowed to develop for 5 days in the incubator) one was transferred to Hannah’s womb whilst two were frozen.

The couple carried on as usual for two weeks after embryo transfer. “I had no inkling that I was pregnant,” smiles Hannah. “I didn’t feel different at all, I was just hoping and hoping. I remember taking the dog for a walk and looking up to the sky and whispering ‘please, please.”

Hannah took a pregnancy test with Philip by her side. “It was positive and I started shaking,” she says. “I then went in to work and one of my colleagues says that she knew I was pregnant because I just had a different aura around me. Inside I was saying ‘yeeeess!’ ”

Nine months later the couple’s son Emmett was born and when he was still a toddler the couple decided to go back to Bourn Hall for treatment using their frozen embryos. Sadly this time around Hannah did not fall pregnant.

“That was really hard. In a way I felt that we had had a bit of luck and now it had run out,” says Hannah.

Hannah was dealt a further blow when her mum was diagnosed with breast cancer but she saw this as a sign that she needed to do something positive.

“I remember ringing up Bourn Hall and saying, ‘I would like an appointment as soon as possible,” she says.

As their third treatment was a fresh cycle – like her first – Hannah had to have hormone injections again before egg collection. Two embryos made it to blastocyst and one was transferred to Hannah.

The third treatment worked and in 2019 daughter Rosalie was born.

“I know it sounds corny but how lucky are we?” beams Hannah. “I cannot put it in to words. Emmett is our little person who comes out with stuff which really makes me giggle and Rosalie is so lovely, busy clapping and making us laugh.”

The icing on the cake is that Hannah’s mum has been given the all-clear after cancer treatment and really enjoys spending quality time with her two grandchildren.

Hannah’s advice to anyone else struggling with their own fertility is to not look too far ahead and just focus on the next step.

“I felt very lonely when we couldn’t conceive and didn’t feel that I could talk to people about it,” she says. “It was a tough time but there was light at the end of the tunnel.”

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