Newcastle couple Emily and John will have a tissue box handy when they watch the first episode of Big Miracles on Monday night.
Emily, a solicitor, and John, who runs a labour hire company, feature on the second season of the Channel 9 reality series which follows the IVF journeys of Australian couples.
Couples from season one of Big Miracles will return to continue their challenging path to parenthood while new couples and singles embark on their own assisted reproduction journeys.
From women with endometriosis to men with low sperm counts, same-sex couples or single mothers by choice, more than ever people are turning to highly skilled fertility specialists to start a family.
With unprecedented access to fertility clinics around Australia, Big Miracle shares the incredible work of the team of devoted doctors, scientists and nurses committed to creating new life.
Emily and John met in high school, but sparks didn't fly until years later when they attended a Matchbox Twenty concert together in the Hunter Valley.
It was John who bought Emily's ticket. They got married in 2019.
Emily and John turned to in vitro fertilisation - or IVF - eight months ago after fours years of trying to get pregnant naturally.
Doctors discovered they both suffered from fertility issues: Emily has a low ovarian reserve (egg count) and John has low sperm count and motility.
They only have a 3 per cent chance of getting pregnant naturally. IVF gives them a 20 per cent chance.
With the odds stacked against them they started looking at what they could do to increase their fertility and both went on a weight-loss journey, with Emily dropping about 20 kilograms.
"Twelve months ago I was doing a round of IVF and I was hesitant to watch the show as I was just about to have an IVF transfer and I didn't know if it would be triggering for me," Emily tells Weekender.
"But I decided to watch it so I had an idea what I could expect from a transfer, and the show was just so emotional and informative.
"During the transfer, which was the day after I watched the show, I mentioned it to my fertility specialist, Dr Denise Nesbitt, and she said that they were doing a second series and she could put my name forward.
"The next day we got a call and the rest is history."
Emily and John started thinking about having a child when they were in their 30s. If they'd known they both had fertility problems, Emily says, it would have been earlier.
"A friend of mine who is 10 years older than me was having fertility problems and looking into egg donation - I thought I'd see what my egg reserve was because I might be able to donate some eggs to her," she says.
"Little did I know I didn't have enough for myself, let alone to give anyone else."
Dr Andrew Hedges, clinical director at IVF Australia's Hunter IVF, says 30 to 40 per cent of infertility is attributed to men.
"It's fantastic to see Emily and John raising awareness about male infertility," he says.
"Going through infertility is tough, for both men and women. But for men, who often don't talk about infertility, it can be a bit isolating.
"Sperm health is so important; not only does it increase your chances of achieving a pregnancy faster, but it can also help improve the health of your future child.
"Sperm health can be improved with lifestyle changes; eating more healthily, avoiding alcohol and stopping smoking and vaping.
"And for slow swimming sperm, the IVF lab can help by injecting a single sperm into an egg to assist fertilisation."
Humour has helped Emily and John throughout their IVF journey, and this shines through on Big Miracles. Emily reckons people watching the show will be begging for them to have a child because of the way they treat their beloved dog.
"We are the weirdos on the show who are obsessed with our dog. People watching will be like 'Just give them a baby'," she says laughing.
"We knew quite early on that I had problems, but John would say to me 'Don't worry, I've got super sperm, we'll be fine'. And how did you go with those results, John?"
"The results said that they're relaxed. They don't swim forward," John replies.
"There were plenty there, they just didn't swim," says Emily, laughing again.
John, walking away, adds cheekily: "I still think the test was wrong."
"We're very relaxed, just like John's sperm. We like a laugh," Emily says.
Talking to people about her IVF journey has been helpful for Emily.
John has chosen to be "more private" about it.
"I have been very open about it - I tell people this is what we're having to do, you might want to get yourself checked out too, just in case," she says.
"I find it inspiring to be able to help other people.
"It's a hard thing to get your head around that getting pregnant can come so easily to some people, yet others can struggle significantly with it."
