Poppy Bilderbeck
A mum has opened up about giving birth after going through over 25 years of IVF and spending nearly £100,000.
Helen Dalglish, from Glasgow in Scotland, first started trying for a baby with her husband when she was 28 years old, but the pair struggled to conceive naturally and so turned towards IVF treatment to help the 'unexplained infertility'.
Unfortunately, the intrauterine insemination procedures and IVF they received on the NHS and later privately funded themselves didn't work out.
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The 54-year-old reflects on her time trying to get pregnant as sometimes getting 'too much emotionally, physically and financially'.
"Sometimes we stopped for a year or two," she continues. "Because they said it was unexplained we thought we’ll do some yoga, meditation, alternative health, because there’s nothing stopping us, maybe it’ll just happen if we forget about it."
However, the four intrauterine insemination procedures failed, alongside over 20 years of IVF after.
Helen explains: "Every one that fails you’re absolutely devastated. It’s like a death.
"I would get down for a couple of weeks but then I would pick myself up and say, 'Right, if you want this baby, get your act together'."
After being told by a consultant she had a tilted womb which 'wasted' her previous embryo transfers, going through three miscarriages and losing 10 strong embryos from donor eggs, Helen 'wasn't going to do the very last treatment'.
"My father had been seriously ill at home back in Scotland and he passed away. My mum said I should do another," Helen recalls. "Before dad passed away he said to her, 'What can I send you from heaven?’ and she said, 'Pease send her a baby'."
"That gave me the extra wee push in the end to go for it."
And it's just as well Helen did.
While the first attempt failed at Dunya Fertility Centre in Kyrenia, the second saw Helen fall pregnant.
The mum says: "The two of us burst out crying and screaming. I think my dad must have had something to do with it.
"It felt like 25 years of grief trying to escape and caught me at a moment where I wasn’t expecting it."
Helen is now a mum to a little girl called Daisy Grace.
The 54-year-old resolves: "It’s absolute heaven. She just keeps getting better. She seems the most placid, laid-back, happy baby. It’s almost like I waited so long and now I’m being spoilt.
"I was very near the deadline at 53. I think at 55 you can’t do any more.
"I would like to thank all the staff and doctors and everyone at the clinic.
"She’s a little darling and worth waiting another 25 years for."
If you are worried about infertility, you can visit the NHS site for more information here. Or for free, impartial support, call Fertility Network UK on 0121 323 5025 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or 07816 086694 on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 4pm.
If you need support and advice following a pregnancy loss, you can contact the Tommy’s team at [email protected]. You can also call them for free on 0800 014 7800 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).