HAMASIKA

Fertility Success Stories

Ilana's Story

Ilana Portway
Home: Lakeville, Minnesota
Children: Madeline Abigail, 4, and Robert Henry, 5 months

by Connie Matthissen

When she was trying to get pregnant with her first child, Ilana Portway was diagnosed with "unexplained infertility." She was 30 when she began trying, and it took nearly two years, fertility drugs, and an intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedure before she became pregnant with Madeline, now 4 years old.

When Ilana, who works as finance manager for a large corporation, and her husband, Julian, decided to try again, they figured that they'd have a similar experience the second time around. "We were optimistic starting out, because we got pregnant after the first IUI the first time," says Ilana. "But by then I was 34 years old and considered to be of 'advanced maternal age'— it's an awful, awful term, isn't it? So my doctor decided to be more aggressive."

Ilana sounds like a physician when she recounts her infertility treatment regime: "Three months of Clomid, a hysterosalpingogram, laparoscopy, and hysteroscopy, then an aggressive series of ovulation drugs with IUI. I took drugs to grow as many eggs as possible, other drugs to slow the growth down to give as many eggs as possible a chance to reach maturity, and still more drugs to maximize the growth of the eggs. I took progesterone to thicken the lining of the uterus. When the eggs were at their maximum maturity, I took an hCG shot to release the eggs and more progesterone and waited the cycle out."

"One drug I took made me crazy -- I was ready to murder my husband. You look at yourself and don't recognize who you've become."

Some of the fertility drugs she was taking had disturbing side effects. "They really do a number on you," says Ilana. "One drug I took made me crazy. I was ready to murder my husband. You look at yourself and don't recognize who you've become."

Fertility drugs are expensive, too, and many insurance plans don't cover the costs. "I'll never forget the time I drove up to the drive-through window at the pharmacy to pick up some medication, and the bill was $600!" Ilana recalls.

After she underwent four IUI procedures with no success, Ilana asked her doctor for a prescription for antidepressants. "I was embarrassed to ask, but my doctor was actually relieved," she says. "She told me she often prescribes antidepressants for people going through infertility treatment, because the experience is so difficult."

Last year, after 18 months of fertility drugs and IUI, Portway and her husband decided to take a break over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Their doctor recommended that they try IVF next, and they wanted to think it over before making a decision.

But after her first cycle without any fertility interventions, Ilana discovered she was pregnant. "We couldn't believe it," she says. "We don't know if it was due to some residual effect of all the drugs, or whether just taking it easy and forgetting about getting pregnant was what did the trick." Last July, Ilana gave birth to a little boy, Robert Henry.

It helps to find things to laugh about if you can, says Ilana, reflecting on her experience. "I had to have a shot in my butt every month, and my husband was too chicken to do it. So I had to go to my neighbor's house, and she'd give me the shot. The running joke on our street was that her husband hoped to take over the job when she was out of town. If you can find humor in the situation, it helps keep you going."

Ilana and her husband hope to have one more child, but if it doesn't work out, she says, they're happy with what they have: "I feel so lucky to have a girl and a boy. My husband and I love being parents. Like any mother, I'm convinced I have the most beautiful, brilliant, talented children in the world."

Source: http://www.babycenter.com