A ‘devastated’ couple have opened up about their struggle to have a baby after enduring three failed cycles of IVF.
Joanna Brown, 36, and her husband Alan Brown, 38, who’ve been married for 12 years, said they want nothing more than to be called ‘mum and dad’.
The Kirkby couple, who both work for the NHS, have started a fundraising campaign in a last bid to raise money for their fourth attempt at IVF.
Joanna and Alan have been trying for a baby for eight years and in that time have had three cycles of IVF, along with two devastating miscarriages.
Joanna said that this year she was given the news that she had started the menopause early.
Joanna told the ECHO: "After our second failed cycle of IVF we put it on the back burner and didn’t know what to do, we thought this is it , we won’t be able to have kids.
"We thought at least we have each other so we’ll have to try and get on with it.
"But then at the beginning of last year I started getting a lot of hot flushes and headaches and just didn’t feel myself. So I went to the GP and told him symptoms and he sent me for tests and it came back that I am starting menopause.
"Because of my early menopause I was granted another cycle of NHS IVF which was amazing."
The couple decided to try egg donation for their third try because Joanna’s eggs "were no good".
Joanna became pregnant from the procedure but unfortunately lost the baby at six weeks.
She said: "All you do is want the positive result and then when you have it, even then you lose it.
"The last one we had in October was the worst because we knew then it was all over.
"It took me two or three days to even stop crying. We ended up packing a bag and just driving to Lake District , because I couldn’t bare coming home."
After the three previous failed attempts the couple refuse to give up and now have no choice but to try private healthcare.
The clinic fees start at £14,800, without any medication. The couple are re-mortgaged their house to be able to afford the fees and already have a few thousand pounds saved.
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But to help them reach their end goal of another £10,000 they’ve set up a GoFundMe page.
The 36-year-old said: "We need to re-mortgage the house to try and get it.
"We’ve been in touch with Care Liverpool, they’re brand new, so that’s who we’re going to get a consultation with.
"With us re-mortgaging the house we thought we’d also set up a GoFundMe to see how much we can get help to put towards this.
"We’re going to be paying for this over a number of years and we probably will struggle paying for it."
Joanna said that despite the process being hard on her she won’t give up, she said: “We’re definitely going ahead with it.
"I just can't even put it into words how important it is to us because we’ve been doing this for eight years.
"Unless you know somebody who has been through it you just don't realise the struggle.
"Not only has my body been destroyed but mentally it gets hard too, you're so stressed and anxious."
Joanna and Alan's friend Dave wrote them this beautiful poem for their GoFundMe page.
Before we start, a word from the heart
To our wonderful NHS
For all the love and support we’ve had
Though it’s been without success.
Thanks for all your dedication
And all the care you’ve shown
In our hopeful quest, to one day be blessed
With a baby of our own.
They’ve given us all the help they can
With funds along the way
But all the IVF we’ve had
Have failed, we’re sad to say
So our next course is to find some resources
And we need some help from you
To help us fund our IVF
And help from other couples too.
We’re thankful for the life we have
And all the love we’ve had
But we’d love one day to hear someone say
“We love you, Mum and Dad”.
It’s hard to conceive, but we truly believe
With a little help from you
That one day maybe, we’ll have our baby
Who’ll make our dreams come true
