Katrina Gorry's done it all when it comes to football.
She's won countless accolades, tasted premiership success, travelled the world, been an Olympian and represented her country 78 times.
But there was one thing she's always wanted — to be a mum.
Enter Harper Ollie Gorry on August 16.
Gorry's journey to motherhood was a little more complicated than the path taken by many other women.
She was used to basing her life around the four-year football cycle: the Asian Cup, the World Cup, the Olympics and then a bit of time off.
When the Olympics started looking like it wasn't going to go through last year, Gorry jumped on her chance — but she was living overseas at the time.
"I knew that 2021 was kind of my year. I did want to fall pregnant, with or without a partner, so I decided that I would give IVF a go," she said.
Gorry was in Norway, playing for Avaldsnes, but she was injured at the time.
When she went in for her first IVF appointment, things started happening a lot quicker than she had planned.
"I wasn't due for my period and I actually got it half an hour before I walked into the clinic," Gorry said.
"So I sat down and spoke to him and said: 'Well, we could start today?'
"I had no reason not to."
She began weeks of hormone injections to prepare her body for the transfer of the embryo.
Then, half an hour before her flight back to Australia, returning after her Danish season ended, they transferred the embryo.
The faint red line
Days into her isolation period, a little faint line started to appear on pregnancy tests.
"I remember sitting in my bed just crying and I couldn't believe it was happening," she said.
Once out of quarantine, Gorry kept on playing for the Brisbane Roar up until 12 weeks, after which she decided to have time off.
"I was mentally and physically pretty exhausted from it all," she said.
While her Matildas teammates were in Tokyo, taking the Olympics by storm, Gorry was at home in Brisbane, 38 weeks pregnant and waiting the arrival of her little girl.
"I didn't get to go to the Olympics but I got Harper instead and it's been the best decision that I've made," she said.
Beating the odds
Gorry is under no illusion just how lucky she was to get baby Harper from her first try at IVF with a sperm donor.
Fertility expert Dr Tiarna Ernst, from City Fertility, said there had been significant increases in single women doing IVF. They now account for a third of her patients.
Dr Ernst said only 10 to 15 per cent of people using donor sperm will get pregnant their first go.
"Harper is her miracle baby," Dr Ernst said.
Not only has Gorry beaten the odds to fall pregnant but her return to sport has defied her own expectations.
Dr Enrst, who is a former AFL Women's semi-professional athlete herself, said it's probably the quickest return to professional sport she's seen.
A few weeks after birth, Gorry managed to start Pilates. By eight weeks, she began running, slowly building momentum with the help of a physio.
By three months, Gorry was back playing elite-level football for the Brisbane Roar, when her side's A-League campaign kicked off early last December.
It's the fittest and healthiest Gorry has ever felt.
"I just have so much more appreciation for my body," she said.
There were moments when she worried about the juggle of single parenthood, but her family's support made it easier.
Gorry's mum would take Harper for walks around the football field during training sessions.
"You wake up and you just figure it out," she said.
"The hardest thing is, I'm breastfeeding still, getting the timings right with training and games.
World Cup ambition
Last month, Gorry was named in the Matildas side for the Asian Cup in India.
However, Gorry made the difficult decision to turn it down because of the risk of travelling to India with Harper.
The 29-year-old has got a bigger target she's eyeing off — the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted in Australia and New Zealand.
"That was definitely my thinking [when having a baby in 2021].
"It gave me enough years to get myself back to peak performance, enough football games to put my hand up for selection.
"And to know that potentially, I could be playing at home for a World Cup — it'll make every sacrifice worth it.
"To have her, and my family on the sideline, I mean, it gives me goosebumps thinking about it."
In a few months, Katrina and Harper will set off to Europe, where she has just signed with Swedish club Vittsjö GIK for the upcoming season.
