Case Studies
BABY ELOISE BRINGS JOY TO COUPLE WHOSE PATIENCE PAID OFF
For Deborah and John Chell the birth of their beautiful daughter Eloise came at the end of a long struggle to have a family. Deborah hopes that by telling her story she will be able to encourage other patients who may also have experienced multiple losses.
"I have found it difficult to tell my story and feel emotional about all the things that we have been through, but I feel that someone else will find comfort in knowing that others have been where they are.
"Although for us the journey has been tough, having Eloise has made it all worthwhile."
Deborah and John had only been trying for a baby for around six months, but concerns about John"s medical history led them to ask their GP for tests to discover whether there was a problem preventing them from conceiving and they were referred to the local hospital.
The couple saw a consultant at Ipswich hospital who confirmed that John had a very low sperm count as a result of cryptorchidism or undescended testicles – a condition affecting only around 1% of adult men. The doctor explained that they would need IVF with ICSI (Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection), where a single sperm is injected into an egg, in order to improve their chances of conception.
Unfortunately, there was a waiting list to receive this treatment on the NHS, so they investigated other options. Deborah and John discovered that Bourn Hall Clinic offers an egg-sharing scheme where suitable donors are given a free cycle of IVF or IVF with ICSI. Because there is a shortage of donated eggs in the UK this programme benefits both the donor and helps reduce waiting times for recipients.
"We really didn"t want to wait," explains Deborah, "so we contacted Bourn Hall about their egg-sharing programme, which would enable us to get free treatment."
Deborah and John began their egg-sharing cycle, but unfortunately, the woman who was due to receive the eggs failed to respond to the treatment, and the egg-sharing could not go ahead.
However, about this time there was a change in availability of NHS funding and Bourn Hall was able to organise for Deborah and John to have funded treatment.
"We were really relieved that we were able to get the funding, and the cycle was completed successfully with around eight eggs collected," recalls Deborah. "Everything went well through egg collection to embryo transfer. "
A few weeks later, a home pregnancy test gave a positive result, but further blood tests showed that the pregnancy was not continuing. "I was totally gutted," says Deborah. "But I knew we had to try again."
Six months later, and the couple returned to Bourn Hall. Again, around eight eggs were collected and around five were fertilised. Embryo transfer went ahead as before and a pregnancy test two weeks later gave a positive result.
"Despite the pregnancy looking fine at our seven week scan, a second scan at nine weeks found the baby had stopped growing – and we had to come to terms with another loss.
"I didn"t want to try again after that. It was emotionally very difficult. What made it worse was that my sister had got pregnant at the same time. We should have been pregnant together. I was really devastated."
Eventually, John persuaded Deborah to try again and the couple returned to Bourn Hall for a third time. The clinic recommended that Deborah had a hysteroscopy, which showed that her uterus appeared fine and healthy.
"We decided to give it one last time. There were frozen embryos from an earlier cycle, so these were thawed ready for embryo transfer. A few weeks later I had a positive pregnancy test and my hormone levels all looked encouraging, but I hardly dared to believe this time.
"The seven week scan at Bourn Hall all seemed fine, and we had additional scans at eight and nine weeks just for reassurance. Our routine 12 week scan was all OK, and eventually the worry became less and I just got on with trying to enjoy the pregnancy!"
Deborah"s pregnancy was straightforward, and baby Eloise was born in April 2010.
"I"m loving motherhood!" says Deborah. "It was a bit of a shock to the system at first – when you"ve wanted something so much and for so long, when it finally comes along, you"re a bit taken aback! But we"re both enjoying being parents. John is a nurse and works shifts, so he"s able to be home a lot of the time and help out. He loves being a dad!"
The couple are already planning to try for more children and hope that by sharing their story they may help others with similar experiences. "Bourn Hall is great – the staff are lovely, the facilities are excellent, and the surroundings make it feel less clinical because it"s so nice."
