My story

In 2019, at 36, a long relationship came to an end, and I found myself single, facing a question I'd never really thought about. A friend suggested I freeze my eggs. I agreed, without knowing much. Like so many women, I believed that if I had a period, I could have a baby. I wish I'd known then what I know now.

At my first appointment I learned I had diminished ovarian reserve, meaning my AMH levels were low. My doctor explained that, at my age, creating embryos would give me a better chance than freezing eggs. But I was single, and coming from a Lebanese, Middle Eastern background, one thought kept going round my head: how can I have a child without a husband?

I found the courage to do it anyway. I chose a donor from a European sperm bank and started IVF.

What followed was ten rounds of IVF and six miscarriages. Some cycles gave me a genetically normal embryo, and still I lost them. Each time I was told how sorry they were, and that it must just be bad luck. Until one day I asked myself: how much bad luck can one person have?

I've always believed that where there's a will, there's a way. I read everything I could find and researched specialists in London, New York and beyond.

“Where there's a will, there's a way.”

Reproductive immunology: my experience

I eventually explored reproductive immunology under specialist care and was given a diagnosis and treatment plan. I later became pregnant and went on to have my son. That was my individual experience and does not establish that the treatment caused the successful outcome. Reproductive immunology remains an area of debate within fertility medicine.

Today I'm a mum to my son, and becoming a solo mum is the most beautiful thing I've ever done. It also comes with its own challenges, and nobody should face them unprepared.