Cheer up

This week is supposedly the most depressing week of the year. I can say that I have certainly felt that way. Ever looming is the start of my ivf. I have no idea what to expect. Will the price be competitive? Will i be able to afford it? Will I need to consider making my eggs into embryos? what will that mean?

All these questions have been spinning and spinning. I know they will be answered in time, but as with many aspects of my life.. crossing bridges when they come has never been a strength of mine.

This week a group of us with MRKH have decided to meet up in Cardiff. I am looking forward to it but also worried to hear about others struggle to get funding and go through the process. I am at the start of the journey and know that there is a battle ahead. Part of me does not want to know how ferocious the battle will be.

I have finally managed to draft the letter to the ccg. I am also going to go to my mp as i cannot just sit aside will some women get IVF cycles and others do not. I pay my taxes as the next person. I understand that the NHS is stretched but I expect the same service as the next person in the country. I do not want to be discriminated against.

I have finally managed to write this letter as I have actually won one of my battles recently. The council when we bought our house put us on band c whereas others in the area are band b. I did not think that I would be able to win so this was a nice surprise. I wanted to frame it. A battle won but the war is still yet to be determined.

I am finding that pushing myself to do all this is very hard. I have become even more overly critical and pursue to be perfect. I know this is counter productive and that I should just concentrate on being happy., At the end of the day how many people at their death regret their life pressures. I doubt many.

I somehow need to learn to move forward. This process is not going to be a short one. but how does one compartmentalize without going mad. So much is riding on a few people and I have no control. I am just waiting on them to decide my fate. and to know that they have probably become desensitized with the number of people they see but I need them on my side.

I need them to be caring and motivated in order to get done what needs to be done and to give me the best opportunity of having a gorgeous baby.

a baby. I suppose it seems all so surreal to me. I cannot imagine going through surrogacy. I just am starting a journey I cannot even contemplate.

thank you for reading this week’s blog.
It will get better and we will all succeed

The start of the next

I have again decided to become more diligent. I need to share my story. I want to help other feel less alone then I have felt.

I am just about to come to my 24th Birthday. I have a stable job; I ahve just bought a new house with my partner. From the outside my friends say how happy I look.

From the inside is a different story. I dont want to whine or appear like I dont appreciate what I have. I really do.

But underneath the surface of a good life is a dark hole that is yet to be filled. A dark hole I walk around trying not to fall in as I am not sure what is at the bottom.

In previosu blogs I have explained the start and various viewpoints about my condition.

Now I am starting on the road to ivf and completing the goal of being able to produce a child.

I can already say this is the hardest thing I have had to contemplate. I feel alone and I have struggled with the old feelings and the depression associated with the MRKH.

My partner’s family do not know that I cannot carry a child and I worry they will think I am not good enough for their son when they find out.

I am scared that it will not work.

I dont want to wish my life way but to this particular path I want to know the conclusion and have the reassurance that it will turn out okay.

I do not want to become one of those women who define themselves by having a child and keep going through ivf which is traumatic in itself.

All these thoughts have swirled around my head.

This has come to the front of the thoughts as I am trying to get my eggs frozen. I have been refused funding which in itself is a huge mental difficulty. Apparently my condition is not rare enough and then when I went to an appointment the nurse said how rare it was. The irony of the NHS is unreal. Because I will have surrogacy apparently that is a reason to refuse funding of the part that most women get access to… The logic of this I cannot explain…and so, like many other women with my condition, have to fight, not just to feel accepted in a world where whether we like it or not women are sexualised and expected to produce children, but also to fight institutions who are unfairly discriminating against our condition.

The complexity of emotions is so hard to untangle. I love our NHS but sometimes it just baffles me. The doctors themselves think it is ridiculous. therefore I ask, which person came up with these rules and why.. Why did they single out women like me. What logic did they make this decision on.

and then I have to pay for a service and do not know whether I am getting a comparatively good deal or whether the NHS is ripping me off just to make money.
Worst of all is the attitude of the fertility unit themselves. Considering I am going to be paying you would expect some sort of service but no.

I want to share this journey I am about to begin to raise awareness of the fight I know is on the door step and for women to know – You are beautiful the way you are!