Mum shares heartache and joys of her journey to parenthood
Mum of two Dominique Durrant is keen to encourage people to extend kindness to expectant mothers, and to avoid jumping to conclusions about why a couple doesn’t have a family.
“You see pregnant women every day,” she said, “but you never know what they might have gone through to get there – for many of us it is a long hard journey.
Dominique, a hospital admissions co-ordinator from Gloucester, decided to share her story after she and husband Robert, a roofer, attended Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine’s celebration of 40 years of ‘Made in Bristol’ babies.
“We are so thankful for both our miracle babies, and I’m sharing our story partly to give hope to others, and partly to encourage those lucky people who have an easy route to parenthood to remember that one in seven couples struggle to have a baby, so please don’t make assumptions about why a couple don’t have children.”
Dominique and Robert, a roofer, now have two daughters, both born through BCRM, but Dominique knew from age 18 - when she had been diagnosed with endometriosis and low levels of AMH - that if she wanted a baby she would need to start trying while she was still young.
However when that time came in 2011 she was only 25 - too young to qualify for NHS funding - so the couple decided to pay privately, did their research and chose BCRM.
Dominique said: “IVF with ICSI was recommended and we were so lucky to be successful with our first cycle.”
Macie, was born in February 2012 and the couple were delighted to finally become parents. But Dominique is one of four sisters and she really wanted a sibling for Macie, so they knew there would be more IVF to come.
Unfortunately their beginners’ luck didn’t extend to their second cycle, carried out later in 2012, nor their third in 2014 when Dominique had two blastocysts implanted but did not become pregnant.
Dominique’s mum went with her for the next egg collection because Robert had to be at his best friend’s wedding, but he was able to be with her for the transfer.
“Then we had to endure the two-week wait again, before I could do a pregnancy test,” said Dominique.
”And I’m not the most patient person so I did a test one day early. It was negative. I was upset, angry and - more than anything - very sad.”
Then, happily, things took a turn for the better.
“The following day was my birthday,” said Dominique, “and we’d arranged to take Macie to Peppa Pig World and stay overnight. I was disappointed this wasn’t shaping up to be the celebration we’d hoped it would be - after the negative pregnancy test, I was convinced the IVF hadn’t worked.
“But my period hadn’t started, so I rang my mum as I was worried something might be wrong. She suggested I repeat the pregnancy test.
“I did it in the loo at Peppa Pig World and I didn’t even bother to check it. I put it in my bra to look at later.
“The other guests in the reception area must have thought my husband and I were very strange when, shortly after, I looked at the test, saw it was 100% positive, mouthed to him “I’m pregnant” and we both started jumping up and down. So did Macie, though she had no idea why we were all jumping.
“Our lovely Eden arrived in December 2015. The girls are 12 and nine now, and my favourite time of the week is the simple pleasure of our regular Saturday movie night, all cuddled up on the sofa with popcorn and a family film.
“We are forever grateful to the wonderful team at BCRM and we wish all the best to them and all the patients they care for over the next 40 years and beyond.”
BCRM www.fertilitybristol.com is the longest established fertility clinic in Bristol, helping people from throughout the South West and Wales with fertility treatment for both private and NHS patients. The clinic is involved in innovative research and has one of the best success rates with IVF and other fertility treatments in the UK.
