Irene lived a sad and unhappy life for almost 13 years. Despite the inner turmoil, she also experienced harsh treatment from some people that should have loved and supported her. The reality of her predicament became a harsher when her first marriage ended.
By the time Irene’s nine year marriage ended, she had been in and out of different hospitals in effort to find out why she could not conceive. Hopeful, she got married for the second time. She thought she would with ease have a baby but four years later there was no child. “I thought to myself, I am doomed. Again the burden of infertility was heavy on my shoulders.”
At the darkest again, she found hope again when she met an old friend whom she had come to discover shared the same challenge, infertility. “My friend had been able to have baby. She revealed that she had been able to conceive with treatment at Bethany Women and Family Hospital,” expressed Irene.
Her hope revived, she eagerly shared this information with her husband who was very supportive. “Together, we visited the fertility specialist at Bethany Women and Family Hospital. I had questions and doubts because I was not sure if it would work for me but I still gave it a shot,” she expressed.”
The diagnosis showed that her Fallopian tubes were blocked and she did not stop there. “In July 2013, a treatment procedure was successfully done and in September of the same year I conceived my first child,” she explains with so much calm and pride of a conqueror.
With mixed feeling of fear and hope, Irene pushed her luck and defied the doctors orders since she felt she had healed properly after the procedure. “I wanted it to work without any hindrance that I did not heed the doctors orders to be on a pill for three months. I only took it for rather three weeks and I conceived immediately after I stopped taking the pill.”
A few years later, she conceived again and had her a second child. She says that she is extremely blessed knowing that she too is normal. “I am more confident since becoming a mother. I have two children now; a boy and a girl. I too can choose to use contraceptives.”
Did you infertility affect your marriage or yourself?
Irene explains that suffering infertility affected her relationally and emotionally. “I lost my first marriage because I could not conceive. In distress, I once told my sister that I was better off dead because I was hurting so bad. I always wondered why me ?” she explains.
Advice to other women.
“I encourage other women openly to seek medical help. Be hopeful, honest and transparent with the doctor to ensure proper diagnosis because every case history is unique and so is the treatment procedure.”
By Irene
