A couple welcomed their miracle baby boy after only retrieving one egg via IVF.
Katie Leaning, 35, and her husband, Richard, 35, tied the knot in October 2017 and wanted to start a family straight away.
The couple tried to conceive naturally for three years and were referred for fertility treatment after doctors were puzzled why ovulation tests weren’t showing any correct day for ovulation.
Katie and Richard, an operations manager, chose TFP Fertility UK because of the clear and welcoming process and had multiple rounds of tests and medication to boost ovulation before starting IVF.
Following the egg collection, they were only able to retrieve just one mature egg.
After five days, the couple found out the process was a success and after an egg transfer, they found they were pregnant two weeks later.
Katie gave birth to her son, Nathaniel, 16 months, via c-section in April 2022 at the University Hospital of North Midlands, weighing 7lbs 13oz.
Katie, a business analyst from Stafford, West Midlands, said: “At the start, I had a smooth pregnancy.
“Everyone said how they had sickness, and they had all these horrible things happen to them and I didn’t feel sick once.
“I had a jolly old time, I felt better than I felt in years to be honest until I got to 39 weeks when I got told the baby was breech.
“When I held him, it was magical, but it was strange as I had a c-section.
“I can just remember thinking that I couldn’t believe he was our baby.
“It took us so long to get there, I couldn’t believe this was our baby.”
After tying the knot in October 2017, the couple made the decision to try for a baby in the following year in April 2018.
Unfortunately, the couple didn’t manage to fall pregnant naturally and were referred for fertility treatment.
Richard said: “I personally found the process pretty logical and at all stages the clinic team kept us both up to date on each stage and next steps.
“If the current step wasn’t successful, it always gave me hope.”
After various tests and multiple rounds of clomid and letrozole to boost ovulation, the couple started their first round of IVF at TFP Nurture Fertility in July 2021.
During the egg collection, the clinicians were only able to retrieve one mature egg and had hoped they would get between five and six. It was during egg collection it appeared Katie may have had premature ovulation.
Katie said she was “upset” and herself and Richard were worried they were to blame.
Katie said: “The timing is crucial, the storage of the drug has to be at a certain temperature in the fridge.
“That could be a failure point. But we followed the instructions when we received the delivery and set an alarm to have it at the exact time.
“The nurse was compassionate with me. I could tell that she didn’t like sharing the news with me.
“Mentally, at this point, we were convinced it would be back to the drawing board.”
Katie and Richard decided to go with natural fertilization for the one egg they were able to retrieve.
The pair were told that the egg had formed into a healthy embryo that could be implanted and two weeks later in August 2021 they were told Katie was pregnant.
Richard said: “I won’t lie, it felt like an age passed as we waited for each milestone.
“I remember saying people who get pregnant naturally wouldn’t even know all these stages as they get the blue line after week 4-6.
“Whereas we seemed to have to pass so many more hurdles.
“Even though we ‘passed’ each stage and it being joyful I remember just having dread for the time it would be until the next ‘check’.”
After a smooth pregnancy, Katie found out the baby was breech a week before the due date.
After attempting a rotation, Katie gave birth to her son Nathaniel, via c-section in April 2022 at the University Hospital of North Midlands, weighing 7lb 13oz.
Katie said: “Nathaniel is wonderful, he is a terror.
“I have had to move my sofa from one side of the living room as he keeps climbing up on the sofa to shake the window.
“He is the apple of my eye.”
Dr. Joanne Wilkins, Consultant Gynaecologist and Specialist in Fertility Medicine at TFP Nurture Fertility, said: “Katie’s tests showed her to be a healthy young woman with reasonably regular cycles and a good AMH level.
“We would have expected her to be producing more eggs, so we prescribed a course of clomid to boost egg production.
“But Katie’s body didn’t respond, so an IVF cycle was started, and she was put on a standard low dose of stimulation, in keeping with her egg reserve.”
“A natural cycle allows around an 8 percent chance of pregnancy.
“Based on age with conventional IVF, Katie should have had a 50-60 percent chance of falling pregnant in her first IVF cycle – but she under responded despite all of our best efforts and possibly had premature ovulation as well.
“Luckily, we found the right egg and she was fortunate, she got her ‘golden ticket.’
“This case highlights that there are risks throughout every stage of an IVF cycle and that we need to expect the unexpected.”
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
