Aggregated News
The day Ruth drove her car up to Howth harbour in Co Dublin and contemplated driving off the side, she realised it was time to stop preparing for a third cycle of in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
“I figured nothing was worth that and I stopped taking it,” she says of the medication she had been prescribed to suppress her immune system and that had caused upsetting side effects. Two previous IVF cycles using different protocols had failed.
When she had blood tests for auto-immune problems, “it turned out that my body was attacking my thyroid and also my ovaries, that is the reason my [egg] count was so low for my age,” explains the 37-year-old, who asks that her full name not be used to protect her privacy.
“It was frustrating to find out at that stage, as it obviously meant that the two rounds that we had wasted 16 grand on would never have worked anyway because my body would have attacked anything.”
Ruth wants to share her experience because she believes not enough attention is paid to the...
