Andraya Chuter and her husband are £8k in ᴅᴇʙᴛ after paying for endless rounds of I.V.F. Andraya Chuter, 42, lives in Portsmouth with her husband Paul, 41said: ” I’d just taken a pregnancy test for the 11th time and, once again, it had come back ɴᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ. For 10 years, my husband Paul and I ʜᴀᴅ ᴇɴᴅᴜʀᴇᴅ endless rounds of I.V.F and suffered five ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs. We were unhappy and ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ – and still childless. Paul and I met while I was a hostess on a boat in 2000. Within six months we were engaged and, as we both wanted kids, we started trying straight away. But nothing happened.
At first, we felt nature would take its course because I was only 26, but following 12 months of trying, I cried every time I got my ᴘᴇʀɪᴏᴅ. Our GP had said he would refer us for I.V.F if we still weren’t successful after two years, but we didn’t want to get sᴛᴜᴄᴋ ᴏɴ an NHS waiting list, so in late 2003 we went to a private ᴄʟɪɴɪᴄ Fᴏʀ ɪɴᴛʀᴀᴜᴛᴇʀɪɴᴇ ɪɴsᴇᴍɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ (IUI), where doctors put Paul’s ᴘʀᴇᴘᴀʀᴇᴅ sᴘᴇʀᴍ sᴛʀᴀɪɢʜᴛ into my ᴡᴏᴍʙ.
We were ᴅᴇᴠᴀsᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ when two ᴀᴛᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛs Fᴀɪʟᴇᴅ, but we refused to give up and decided to try I.V.F instead at another private clinic. We knew it would be pricey, but as we both had a decent wage – I was a sales rep earning £25,000 – and Paul had just inherited £10,000 from his grandmother, we were lucky to be able to afford it. Starting ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ in July 2004 was so exciting, even though the ʜᴏʀᴍᴏɴᴇs ʟᴇFᴛ ᴍᴇ Fᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ᴡᴏᴏᴢʏ.
But that was unsuccessful, too, which really ᴋɴᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴜs. Over the next year, we had two more rounds of I.V.F. When the first of these Fᴀɪʟᴇᴅ, it floored us even more, so when in late 2005 I found out I was pregnant, we were thrilled. But it was short-lived, as eight weeks later I ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇᴅ. It was ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ. Paul and I didn’t give up hope, and over the next six years, I had five more courses of I.V.F, costing around £4,000 each.
I was pregnant three times but lost each baby within weeks. By then we’d run up ᴅᴇʙᴛs of at least £15,000, but we would have paid anything to have a baby. Plus, as an amazing act of kindness, friends and family helped out, too – giving us £25,000 in total. The sᴛʀᴇss ᴘᴜᴛ sᴛʀᴀɪɴ ᴏɴ ᴏᴜʀ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴsʜɪᴘ ᴀɴᴅ I ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ sᴇᴇ Pᴀᴜʟ ᴡᴀs ʜᴜʀᴛɪɴɢ.
So at the beginning of 2011, we took almost a year off ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ to focus on our marriage. At the end of the year, we resumed I.V.F at a different clinic, where we got the news that my ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴄᴇʟʟs ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴀɴʏ Fᴏᴇᴛᴜs ᴀs ɪF ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴀɴ ɪɴFᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ and would try to get rid of it. It was ᴀᴡFᴜʟ to hear, but it was a relief to have a reason and I was given ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ it. In December, we had another Fᴀɪʟᴇᴅ cycle of I.V.F. By then we were heavily in ᴅᴇʙᴛ and running out of options. However, after another cycle in April 2012, ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴛᴇsᴛs ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ I was pregnant.
We didn’t dare get excited and it wasn’t until we hit the 12-week mark that we started to relax. As my ʙᴜᴍᴘ got bigger, I still had nightmares about ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀʏɪɴɢ. Then on January 28, 2013, after spending £50,000 on a total of 12 courses of fertility ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛs, our precious daughter Lauren was born, weighing 8lb 1oz.
