Emma Barnett, host of Woman’s Hour, is expecting her second child after enduring trying reproductive therapy, which included a tragic loss.
The 37-year-old had one round of IVF before giving birth to her son four years ago, but five further efforts to conceive another child were unsuccessful.
Following her sixth and last round of chemotherapy, she happily announced yesterday that she and her husband are expecting another child.
‘All going well, my husband and I want to have a kid early next year,’ she added. “We anticipate,” you said. Trying to believe that this will, might, could, or will occur. This is the situation we are in after six IVF cycles, one miscarriage, and 2.5 years.
It is somewhat ironic that this round succeeded, she continued, “as it was genuinely the last time we were going to try.”
The journalist and presenter has been open about her experience trying to conceive in her blog, Trying With Emma Barnett.
The cycle of “injecting, never-ending early-morning blood tests, egg harvesting, embryo transfers, and then the negative pregnancy test result striking you in the face – all while holding down a job and attempting to manage the toll it has on your relationships” is described by the author.
Six years ago, Ms. Barnett received a diagnosis of endometriosis, a painful disorder that causes tissue to develop in various locations, including the ovaries, that resembles the lining of the womb.
The former BBC Newsnight host described her “socially uncomfortable” reactions to congratulations on her pregnancy: When I previously informed one of my BBC supervisors that I was pregnant, I used the following response: “But let’s see, eh? We are unsure about the baby’s prognosis. Let’s avoid jumping the gun.
His sad expression will be remembered for a long time. But I did mean it.
She says on her blog that she wants to assist other women in a similar situation by sharing “the misery of infertility contemporaneously while attempting to conceive my second child.”
Over the last 30 years, IVF has been more successful across all age ranges. According to NHS statistics, birth rates are 32% for those under 35 but just 4% for women over 44.
Ms. Barnett discussed the suffering of continuing with IVF earlier this year. I used to read accounts of people who had persevered through six, seven, or eight rounds of IVF and wonder how on earth they had managed to do it.