The voice of Woman's Hour on Radio 4, Emma Barnett, revealed on Saturday that her efforts to have a second child have so far been in vain. The Manchester-born broadcaster and journalist told The Times that she had a miscarriage during numerous draining rounds of IVF.
Recent research, by the campaign group Fertility Matters at Work, shows that fertility issues affect up to one in seven people of working age. It also revealed that 69.5 per cent of those opted to take sick leave during fertility treatment instead of asking for time off to avoid alerting work colleagues.
Four years ago, after a single round of IVF, Emma gave birth to her only son. However, five further attempts to have a second child have since failed.
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Wanting to use her tragic experience as a force for good, the 37-year old chose to speak publicly in a bid to support other women who have faced similar setbacks when trying to get pregnant.
She said: “Over the past 18 months I have been struggling with secondary infertility. I have had five rounds of IVF, one miscarriage and more internal examinations than I care to recall.
"There is still no second baby. My womb is definitely empty and I am reporting to you live from the front lines of failure in the hope that it may be helpful and to be honest.”
The former BBC Newsnight presenter, who recently announced that she was leaving this role after three years, added: “I know there will be people reading this, women and men, who will be thinking: you have a child, what more do you want? I agree, up to a point, and nearly didn’t write this as a result.
“I remember being childless and resenting people like me. Especially the couple that we once saw bring their baby into the IVF clinic.
“But I’ve learnt that secondary infertility is very real and traumatic too. I am not looking for sympathy or pity; I am sharing my story in the hope it will help more people understand and to explore what motivates us to keep trying.”
Three rounds of IVF is often the recommended number. In addition to any phycological damage caused, this can also be a costly process, if NHS treatment can’t be accessed or all goes have been used, with prices ranging from around £3,500 to upwards of £7,000.
At times, Emma has had thoughts that wanting a second child is greedy. However, she came to realise that this is a toxic idea as the “effortlessly fertile rarely have to justify their desire to have as many children as they see fit”.
She continued: “But once you have experienced infertility, you are changed. Humbled, grateful, angered and saddened by it all.”
The challenging nature of the situation is highlighted by the fact that she had to attend hospital every morning at 5.55am for blood tests prior to the morning news meeting at Woman’s Hour, and “getting it together to present the 75th special edition of the programme, having just found out I’d lost another embryo".
Emma added: “But you have to get on with it, in silence. There are many reasons why women, both fertile and infertile, do not talk in the workplace about trying to get pregnant, but one of the main ones is fear for our jobs.”
She said that at the start of her IVF treatment, she was also diagnosed with endometriosis, a painful disorder that causes tissue similar to the lining of the womb to grow elsewhere, such as the ovaries. After becoming pregnant, following a fifth round of treatment, shortly before last year’s Christmas, she miscarried nine weeks later, dashing the newfound hope that the festive period had brought.
Far from giving up hope, Emma and her husband have agreed to try again and will soon embark on their seventh round of IVF treatment. She hopes to act as an ‘IVF fairy’ to those going through the same experiences so they don’t have to feel alone. “I only hope that sharing my experience while it is happening may help someone else trying, failing and trying again,” she said.
