Celebrated on March 8th each year, International Women’s Day is an opportunity to recognize the women who have made a difference in our past and continue to shape our society today. Since this year’s theme is about breaking the bias, we wanted to shine a light on some of the brave women that have shared their stories of infertility. While infertility affects nearly 1 in 8 women, it is still a taboo subject.
When it comes to trying to conceive, we know many women are often not comfortable with sharing their experiences or disclosing certain diagnoses, like PCOS, with others. Women have shared that this can make them feel alone, and at times defeated. To help, we’re sharing some stories of women within our viO Healthtech community who are speaking out about infertility to help break the bias on International Women’s Day.
Sophie’s Long-Awaited Journey to Pregnancy
Sophie’s TTC journey began in 2017, shortly after she and her husband got married when they decided it was time they start a family. After two years of trying unsuccessfully, Sophie learned she has PCOS, something she had suspected for some time. To aid in her journey to conceive, Sophie tried several rounds of Clomid. By the time the couple reached their third wedding anniversary, Sophie had become pregnant but unfortunately miscarried soon after.
Feeling lost and discouraged, Sophie decided to start tracking her ovulation again with OvuSense in January of 2021. She and her husband also tried using ExSeed, an at-home sperm testing device, while using OvuSense. After learning that she was ovulating naturally, that her cycles were back to 28 days, and that her husband's sperm was normal, the couple felt determined that they could conceive. Just a couple of months later, in March of 2021, Sophie and her husband found out they were pregnant. They couldn’t be happier to be preparing to welcome their little miracle to the world in December.
Cheyenne’s Journey to Her Greatest Adventure
Cheyenne never thought she would have trouble conceiving, but after six months of trying, she began to worry. She and her husband decided to run some tests to make sure everyone was okay, and all of the test results came back normal. Wanting to track her cycles, Cheyenne turned to OvuSense and she was able to confirm when she was ovulating. With the help of OvuSense, support from her husband, fertility doctors, and keeping the hope, Cheyenne became pregnant after a year and a half of trying. Although it was a difficult journey and she struggled, Cheyenne felt as if all the hardship paid off and she is now excited for her new adventure.
Kay Shares Knowledge Gained Through OvuSense
Kay never had any interest in ovulation tracking or sperm testing until she and her partner had been trying unsuccessfully to conceive for a few years. While infertility felt stressful enough to her, she eventually decided to give ovulation tracking a try after looking into OvuSense. Through using OvuSense, Kay has been able to learn about her ovulation, luteal phase, cycle lengths, and so much more.
Kay and her partner also tried using ExSeed, an at-home sperm testing device, in conjunction with OvuSense. They were able to learn about her partner’s sample volume, concentration, motility, and total motile sperm count. Although Kay has since learned that she will be unable to conceive naturally, she is happy to have this newfound knowledge of her and her partner’s bodies and has found this information helpful as she and her partner prepare to undergo IVF.
Lisa’s Path to Motherhood from PCOS and Irregular Cycles
Like many women, Lisa started using birth control as a teenager to cope with uncomfortable and irregular periods. While this did mask her symptoms and made her cycle appear regular, later in her teen years, she was told she had PCOS.
Fast forward almost a decade to 2018, and Lisa and her husband were ready to start trying for a family. Knowing her background, Lisa immediately went to have her PCOS diagnosis confirmed. As a nurse, she knew this would make getting pregnant more challenging, and was disappointed when multiple cysts on her ovaries confirmed she had PCOS.
After trying naturally without any type of formal cycle tracking for months, Lisa decided to try OvuSense. Using the device, she saw just how long her cycles were – over five months, she only had three menstrual cycles! But three cycles with OvuSense was all it took, and Lisa found out she was pregnant in August 2019.
Beya Didn't Let PCOS Win!
Infertility can be draining, regardless of how long you’ve been trying to conceive, but for one woman, this journey has gone on for longer than two decades. Beya has PCOS and has been trying to get pregnant for 21 years. After struggling to track her ovulation using oral BBT and OPKs, Beya decided to try OvuSense. Due to her PCOS, she had always assumed her body was “broken” and she wasn’t able to ovulate. By trying a new approach, she was able to learn more about her temps and how they correspond with her ovulation.
After first connecting with Beya in November 2019, we’re thrilled to share the news that she became pregnant after three cycles with OvuSense.
Let’s Break the Infertility Bias Together
Just because you and your partner are going through infertility struggles, doesn’t mean you have to keep it a secret! We applaud the women who are willing to share their personal stories in hopes that they are able to inspire others who may be going through a similar experience and have no one to talk to about their struggles. We support women helping women and hope by lifting up stories of infertility we can help bring greater awareness to the struggles that women may face when it comes to trying to conceive and growing their families. Join us in breaking the bias this International Women’s Day!
In honor of International Women’s Day, we are offering an amazing 35% off our starter packs with lifetime subscriptions for one week only. Use discount code JOURNEY until March 16th, 2022.