My story starts in 2001 with an aggressive D & C.  This, unlike so many of you was due to a termination.  I have battled since that day with the decision I made to terminate my pregnancy.  I was single, had just left my family and all my friends to move to New York from London for a fantastic job and new experience.  I was in a new relationship and using contraception.   Against the odds I became pregnant and thought at the time that a termination was the only responsible thing to do, I had always wanted children but only when I had found the man I would marry. A decision that has been quite torturing since.  If I had had a crystal ball I would have seen that the man who I was dating then would become my husband.  I lost my periods after the termination and investigations began in earnest about 4 months later.

To keep as brief as possible, it was discovered that I had Ashermans Syndrome and when my then fiancé and I moved back to London I had several surgeries.  The first was a laparoscopy that found my uterus to be completely obliterated, in addition I had moderate to severe endometriosis affecting ovaries, pelvis, bladder and abdominal wall.  Through 3 operations over an 18 month period the uterine cavity was opened and a pre-existing septum was also found and removed along with the endometriosis. I had hormone treatments (HRT), vitamin treatments, acupuncture, everything I could do, I did.  The lining of the endometrium remained thin, but gradually over time it crept up to a quite astonishing 6mm!!!

It was not until 2005 that we were given the green light to conceive and it was suggested that IUI might be helpful. On my second course of IUI with clomid I became pregnant and almost keeled over with excitement. Unfortunately at my first scan at 7 weeks the pregnancy was found to be ectopic but was still growing at the normal rate and in danger of rupturing.  The next day I had my pregnancy and left fallopian tube removed.  I am sure I don’t have to explain the emotions that I felt at that time.  We persevered and had another 2 attempts at IUI both unsuccessful.  By this time the pain of looking at a negative pregnancy test was just too much.  I was worn out by 4 years of hoping.

I had all but given up.  My life had been on a 2 week cycle of expectation and upset for so long that it was not doing anyone any good.  My husband and I went on holiday and decided we would do nothing at all for 3 months and over Christmas of last year we actually enjoyed ourselves.  Not having to be scanned every 5 minutes, no ovulation and pregnancy tests it was a reprieve.  We had almost resigned ourselves to failure and never having a child.  We decided one go at IVF was worth it.

In January this year I felt rejuvenated from the break we had taken and approached the IVF treatment with an incredibly positive attitude, something had changed.

It worked.

I am 9 weeks pregnant with twins and whilst it is still early days I just feel differently this time.

We had been given a fairly dim outlook from the word go but if you can persevere the unexpected can happen.  I hope that all of you can try to keep strong and positive .... I am quite convinced that it was this belief that I got from nowhere and a change in my outlook that made all the difference.  It can happen even when you think things are impossible your body may surprise you.

I sincerely hope that all of you get your happy endings, you all deserve it!!

Sam x