MY JOURNEY
A miracle, and everything it took
Going through it,
You almost have to become your own detective.
That is what led me to this work.
2019 – 2020
Where it began
In 2019, a friend mentioned over a cup of tea that she'd had her fertility checked and her AMH levels were low. She suggested I get mine checked too. I was 36, so I went along to a clinic.
That November I met a lovely consultant who talked me through every option and took my bloods. She told me to relax and come back in the new year. In March 2020 I went back for further tests, and I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I was devastated. I'd rarely had regular periods, but I'd always been told that was just the way it was it was never investigated.
The clinic had a treatment plan in place for us, but it was cancelled due to Covid. We were essentially told they couldn't help us. No alternatives, no support. We were on our own.
2021
Taking matters into my own hands
I rang every fertility clinic in the country, but Covid had brought treatment to a near standstill. So I researched clinics abroad Spain, Greece, the Czech Republic reading through forums of other people's experiences. The Czech Republic kept coming up, so I contacted a clinic there, and from that first conversation I finally felt like we were in safe hands. That’s when we found Gennet.
In March 2021, in the middle of Covid, we travelled to Prague for our first round of IVF. We needed special papers just to leave the country. Prague was in lockdown empty streets, the military patrolling but the clinic was open. The transfer was difficult, and two weeks later we got a negative result. We were heartbroken. You assume IVF means a positive is almost guaranteed, but it's so far from the truth.
In July 2021 we flew back for a second transfer. A few days before I was due to test, I had a strong instinct something wasn't right. It was negative. I knew then I needed proper answers.
"I could have gone through twenty two rounds and still not found the reason. I knew I needed real answers."
2021 – 2022
Finding the real cause
Dr Lyuda took over my case in September 2021. Testing revealed elevated natural killer cells, and we began investigating the immune side properly an abnormal ERA test, a leukocyte antibody test, a genetic DQ Alpha test showing a 50/50 match with my partner. The root cause was autoimmune. My body was recognising the embryos as foreign.
I travelled to London for LIT therapy, then did two rounds of PRP rejuvenation on my endometrial lining, alongside intralipid therapy and everything else we could do to prepare for what I believed might be my last round.
December 2022
The one that held
We had two embryos left. This transfer, in December 2022, took just five minutes and felt different calmer, easier. I walked out with a strong sense that this was it. Two weeks later, we got a positive test. Dr Lyuda called that afternoon and told me, "Ellen, you are very, very pregnant." We suspected twins. A scan on 23rd December showed triplets.
Complications began at 22 weeks and I was admitted for bed rest. We reached 24 weeks, they had a chance then 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. On Thursday 8th June my 40th birthday Fionn, Kevin and Caelan arrived, and I went into theatre to the staff singing Happy Birthday. All three were rushed to NICU, where we spent 76 days.
Why I do this work
The lack of care, the lack of education, the lack of support along the way is exactly what led to my passion for this work. There's a missing link in this country between fertility patients and the care they need and that's where I want to be. The support for the couple, for the woman, who feels she has nowhere to turn.
I lived it. I studied it. And I don't want anyone to go through it alone.
Don't give up hope. I didn't — and now I have the family I always dreamed of.
BEYOND THE TREATMENT ROOM
Sharing what I've learned , and who made it happen
FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE OF
If any of this is your road
I've been through these myself, so you never have to explain from scratch.
Hasimotos’s Disease
Low AMH
Immune fertility issues (NK cells)
ERA & LAD testing
DQ Alpha genetic matching
LIT therapy
PRP & intralipid therapy
D&C, hysteroscopy, scratch
Recurrent implantation failure
Multiple & high-risk pregnancy
Premature birth & NICU
IVF Abroad , Gennet CZ
You don't have to become your own detective.
I'll help you make sense of it, one step at a time.