It started when I went to my gynaecologist for a checkup, and he mentioned that I could get a blood test to determine my ovarian reserve. Although I suffer from endometriosis and have had two laparoscopies to remove it, I didn’t have any other symptoms to make me think that the test would come back abnormal. So I went ahead with the test, thinking it would be cool to know how many eggs I actually have left.
That’s when my whole life changed. Following the blood test, I received the devastating news that I would go through menopause in my early thirties.
I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was walking out the door to meet a friend when my gynaecologist called to tell me the results from my blood test had come back and it wasn’t good news. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; I was in complete shock, as no one in my family has gone through menopause before the age of 50. Despite how I was feeling I still decided to spend the day with my friend to try and forget about what I had just been told.
It wasn’t until I got home later that night and saw my mum that I completely broke down. It finally hit me that my plan of taking life as it comes was not meant to be. I couldn’t comprehend how I was going to meet the right guy, get married and have children all in five years if I’ve never even had a boyfriend.
That’s when I started to think about freezing my eggs. I knew time was of the essence and I didn’t want to look back in five years time and still be single and regretting not having done anything about my situation earlier.
So after lots of time to think, and after being approved for a credit card to pay for the treatment, I completed my first round of IVF late last year where I was able to freeze seven eggs. I was happy with that number, but I decided to do another round in August this year in hope that I could freeze even more eggs; unfortunately my doctor was only able to freeze two. This was extremely disappointing as the treatment is very expensive and mentally and physically draining.
