Mandy Parry, 46, 7 cycles of IVF, 5 attempts at donor egg insemination

'We followed seven cycles of IVF and five attempts at donor egg insemination'

Mandy Parry, 46, is a teacher and lives in Bristol with husband Mark, 47, a community safety officer, and their five-month-old daughter Violet. Mandy says:

Having been through seven years of gruelling, heartbreaking fertility treatment, I’d urge any women thinking about delaying motherhood not to, for their own sakes.

I’d have loved children in my early 30s but I didn’t meet the right man, Mark, until I was 39.

When we started trying for a family six months later I kept miscarrying and discovered that my eggs were no longer healthy.

Then followed seven cycles of IVF and five attempts at donor egg insemination in South Africa before I finally had Violet in May this year.

We spent £50,000 — the equity from the house I sold when I met Mark and moved in with him — and it was emotionally and physically draining.

It was scary finding out I was ­pregnant last year, because I’d been pregnant four times before and lost all of them in the first three months.

I spent the whole pregnancy waiting for something bad to happen.

Mark has three children from his first marriage, but he wanted a baby as much as I did.

It’s weird to think that when he was a father of three in his 20s, I was young, free, single and partying in London. With hindsight, he feels he was too young to truly appreciate his children then.

The advantage of having a baby at 46 is that I’ve got the support of a ­wonderful, mature man. We’re financially secure and feel safe and stable in our marriage.

I don’t worry about being an older mum in terms of being around for her future. My dad was 44 when I was born and mum was 36, so I grew up with older parents. And I’ve got as much energy as any other mum.

I’ve got a few friends who feel it’s immoral to have a baby in your late 40s, but they know how much I’d have loved to have had a child years ago and what a battle we’ve been through to have Violet.

Whether we’ll have another child is a sore point. Mark thinks we should count our blessings, but we’ve got seven more embryos in South Africa that we’ve paid for, so the temptation for me is to try for another baby.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1318368/New-mothers-aged-19-54-From-contraception-failure-IVF.html#ixzz11yfXPlNO

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