MY COSTLY BATTLE TO BE A MUM Now I'm helping others

LITTLE MIRACLE OTIS IS INSPIRING LISA TO FULFIL FERTILY DREAMS FOR LESS FORTUNATE KIWIS

- Leena Tailor

Taking her two-year-old son Otis on “magical” evening walks and getting peanut butter smothered through her hair are simple joys which Lisa Lord will never take for granted.

The 37-year-old Aucklander spent five gruelling years undergoing fertility treatment, which caused seemingly endless disappointment, relationship trials, guilt and tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

“The hardest thing with infertility is you don’t know when it’s going to end,” reflects the Fertility Fund ambassador. “It’s hard to remain positive when you don’t know how long you’ll be in this headspace.

“But I had to keep trying because the alternative meant having no baby. I had to keep knocking on that door and trust it would open.”

That’s exactly what Lisa’s continuing to do as she and husband Elliot now fight for baby number two. Trying to give Otis a sibling is a natural desire given Lisa grew up in a fun, blended family “like the Brady Bunch”.

With no menstrual cycle and a polycystic ovaries syndrome diagnosis, Lisa suspected she’d face challenges when she started trying to get pregnant at 30. So, after the drug Clomiphene failed to help her ovulate, then intrauterine insemination (IUI) and gonadotropin injections were also unsuccessful, the couple began in-vitro fertilisation – funding each cycle (costing $10,000-plus) themselves to avoid waiting for public funding.

“I thought, ‘Wow, I’m 31 and doing IVF.’ I couldn’t believe it, but it was also exciting because we were closer to having a baby.”