Jess and Myles first came to Care Fertility through the NHS after several years of trying to conceive without success. Following initial tests, Jess was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and further investigations confirmed that IVF with ICSI was the right path for them.
With support from our team in Leeds and a treatment plan tailored to their needs, Jess and Myles began their IVF journey in early 2024. Here, Jess shares her and Myles’ story—from those first appointments in Leeds to meeting their baby boy.
Myles and I met in the summer of 2014 at just 18 and 19 years old, the connection was instant and from the day we met we were inseparable. We knew very early on that we wanted a family together, but the years kept passing and we still hadn’t fallen pregnant.
In 2021, we decided to get a dog, a small cheeky dachshund named Winston, he immediately became our spoilt little baby and he knew it!
In July 2023, Myles proposed whilst we were on holiday in Cyprus, it was an easy yes! I thought if this is it, if we’re not meant to be parents then so be it, as long as I have Myles by my side to navigate through life with then I knew I’d be fine.
Finally, in 2022 I was put on the NHS waitlist for fertility treatment. We spent over a year on the NHS waitlist before we finally got a call in January 2024 from Professor Adam Balen - one of the world’s leading fertility experts!
He advised that he felt after the many, many years of unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant that IVF was our best option. It was something neither me or Myles had never even thought of but we decided to take the plunge! We felt so lucky to be given this opportunity from the NHS and Care Fertility.
In February 2024, I had my first consultation with Professor Balen. I immediately knew I was in the best care as after a few blood tests and examinations from the nurses at Care Fertility in Seacroft Leeds, I was finally diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and it was so validating to finally have answers. My partner also underwent tests and was told that he had a low motility, so with that mind, it was decided that Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) would be the best treatment pathway for us.
I was given a treatment plan specific to my PCOS diagnosis and began the invasive course of injections, I was injecting twice a day morning and night, Myles was amazing and did most of my injections for me, but then came the bloating, the fatigue, the nausea… it was really hard but I knew that it was all going to be worth it in the end. We decided to pay privately for Caremaps Ai to give us the best chance at choosing the strongest embryos.
At our egg collection we managed to get 7 eggs, 5 of those fertilised and then we finally got the call around 5 days later to say we had 3 very strong blastocysts, we were over the moon! It was finally transfer day, and I was a mix of emotions.
Watching them insert our little embryo into my womb was magical, it was like watching a shooting star. We left and immediately went to McDonald’s and both ordered a large fries (an IVF tradition…if you know, you know!).
Finally, on the 28th of May 2024 we went back to the Leeds clinic for an ultrasound scan to see if the pregnancy was viable and there it was on the screen… a tiny little dot with a heartbeat, we couldn’t believe it!
We were discharged from the clinic and had routine scans with the NHS, it was amazing to feel my little one growing and kicking as the months went by. We found out we were having a boy and we were both over the moon, then at our 20 week scan we received the crushing news that I had a rare and serious complication called Vasa Praevia; a condition where the fetal blood vessels are not protected by the placenta or umbilical cord and run too close to the cervix. The room suddenly filled with consultants and I was told I would need lots of extra scans and monitoring.
At 33 weeks pregnant I was admitted to hospital to be closely monitored; I was told I would need to have a Caesarian as a natural birth ran the risk of our baby’s blood vessels rupturing which would give our baby only a 2% chance of surviving. I was devastated, I blamed myself and kept telling myself I wasn’t meant to be a mother and this is why this was all happening to us. It was emotionally and physically draining but I did everything I could to ensure our baby arrived safely, I spent 4 weeks being monitored in the hospital every day until the consultants decided to bring our little boy in to the world 5 weeks early.
On December 10th 2024 at 4:29pm our little Archie was born via Caesarian section weighing just 5.5lbs, it was the most amazing day of our lives! He spent 4 days in NICU as he dropped a lot of his birth weight and ended up weighing just 4.9lbs, we were discharged on the 14th of December just in time for Christmas!
Archie is now 7 months old and thriving, he has completed us in ways we never thought possible, he’s the main character wherever we go and always gets lots of attention.
Our fertility journey was hard, I definitely jumped into IVF very naively, the injections take their toll, then it’s the waiting in between the egg collection to being told how many became blastocysts, to then doing the embryo transfer and then the long two week wait. It’s really, really hard but I feel so lucky to have made it through the years and years of infertility and the traumatic pregnancy because I finally have all I have ever wanted.
I have since met other mums who used the same IVF clinic as us, one of them I met at my local baby class!
We can’t thank Care Fertility, Professor Adam Balen, and the team at Seacroft in Leeds enough, we feel so lucky have been given a beautiful little boy and we knowing that in the future we have the opportunity to give him siblings from the two embryos in storage.