It is a cold Tuesday evening and I am a grown woman of nearly 36 reduced to a huge pulpy crying mess . Why ? Because I have just sat down and re watched the Discovery channel documentary about our road to become a family

Just before the birh of our son we received a phone call asking if my husband and I would consider being filmed for a series called ” Extreme pregnancies ” about people who had had to fight to achieve the families of their dreams . To say we fitted the bill would be an understatement !

Our story managed somehow to cover male infertility , poor ovarian reserve ,early menopause , miscarriage , immune issues ,and odds of 1 in 125,000 of ever conceiving .I almost felt like we were making it up ourselves !

And so we agreed to be part of the programme and at 8 months pregnant they started the interviews and followed the story right through to the birth of our son .

It is an amazing record of that time in our lives , of all the hurt, sadness ,anger, and dissapointment , finally culminating in a happy ending .

Watching it through again I am struck by how much we went through as a couple . As individuals  , and how well we coped .

And by ” coped ” I dont mean sailed through , but rather simply kept going , one foot in front of the other . Shouting crying and screaming along the way , one step at a time . I am immensely proud of that strength . I am immensely proud of us as a couple . And every single day I am immensely grateful for our family .

And yet . what I have just described is actually not so extraordinary , nor really so ” extreme ” . It is only what thousands of people face on a daily basis when going through Infertility .The highs and lows , sadness and crapyness that is Infertility .

I am proud then not just of myself , but sincerely for every single client , support group member and person I dont know who faces fertility issues . We are stronger than we know .

I hope you can keep going , one step at a time and give yourselves the credit you deserve .

Best wishes

Anya