Hi everyone, my name is Faith and I'm a patient of BFC. I got married in my mid-late twenties and after 1year of trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, we decided to see an OBGYN. It was discovered that I had PCOS. I spent a further 18 months doing ovulation tests and taking Clomid. It didn't work.
Just before celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary, a friend spoke to us in confidence about another "friend" who had become pregnant after seeking treatment at Barbados Fertility Clinic, through their IVF programme. At this point we were frustrated with the process and with each other. All our friends were starting families and we wanted our own baby so much. We had sought counseling at church, I’m RC, LOL-well sort of…and the topic of adoption kept popping up. We wanted our own child.
Family members didn't know about my PCOS and had started wondering, not too discretely, what was wrong with us, a healthy, well educated, successful, young couple. I knew a little about IVF, but it had never really crossed my mind that this might work for us. About 2 months after hearing about BFC, we spoke to Dr. Skinner over the phone. She explained the entire procedure….and was amazing, a voice of hope at last! In no time we were in Barbados for our first IVF cycle. I have never met medical staff who are so caring, they put you at ease with their kindness. They made the entire experience seem like a team project, it was wonderful.
Everyone at home in Trinidad thought we went on a 10 day vacation, and it was a vacation too.
I left Barbados relaxed and carrying 2 embryos, only 1 survived and approximately 9 months later we had our perfectly healthy, bouncing baby boy, the true love of our lives. My husband likes to call him our little prince.
We had 4 frozen embryos left, so that was always in the back of our minds....we have children waiting for us. Just before our son turned 2 we decided to have a second IVF cycle. We were treated in Trinidad's satellite unit first, where we received all the necessary medications, and then went to Barbados for embryo transfer.
Two out of our four embryos survived the thawing process, and I came back to Trinidad pregnant again. No one knows/knew what was going on. I am due in February…another boy!!! I feel incredibly blessed to become a mother again, especially since I was told by doctors in Trinidad that I may never be able to have children.
I owe all my gratitude to the amazing people at BFC. Life for us would have been very different if we were unable to have children. As soon as I became pregnant the first time I left my job, I wanted to spend all my time and energy caring for my baby. That baby is now into the terrible twos, but I still feel the same way, and we'll be getting another precious little one to love soon.
IVF is still taboo in Trinidad, although people are educated about it, there are many more who are not and they use words like “barren” and “test tube babies”…and that is not something I’m willing to expose myself to….so not even family members know...and BFC has been very discreet and professional about it. I love the fact that we could run off for a little vacation and return home pregnant. It would definitely be more stressful for me if I were to undergo the procedure in a hospital at home…always afraid that someone would find out.
