When my endo was at its worst in terms of ruling my life, I decided to freeze my eggs. That was 3 years ago when my focus was on my fertility.
Daily Mail interviewed me last week about egg freezing and EndoActive. Thank you to article author Bryant Hevesi for taking an interest – as a bloke!! We need more of you!
This is a great awareness piece for endo. But I will add 2 disclaimers:
1. Egg freezing is not an insurance policy on your fertility and it hasn’t exactly ‘kept my dream alive’ of having children. It has given me another option, which, to be honest isn’t the most viable option unless I have more than 7 eggs in the freezer.
I’ve been meaning to do another round of egg freezing ever since – but have been fearful because of how much the procedure drained my energy AFTER my eggs were retrieved (I have 7 in the freezer). The actual hormone injections were fine and mostly painless.
2. My focus has since shifted from fertility. You will not hear me say anymore that the worst thing about endo is that it can cause infertility. My focus has become about pain management and women’s pain being taken seriously.
At the time of my diagnosis, my doctor told me I may never be able to get pregnant or carry a baby alive to full term. I was devastated. And all I could think about for the next three years was having babies.
But… I was only 21 and I didn’t want a baby then! I’m still not ready now! I can hardly support myself financially, let alone a baby!
What I needed was pain management so that I could get on with living my life – traveling, working, studying, GETTING OUT OF BED!
So. While I am thrilled that endo is getting big exposure like this I have to make it very clear that I do not believe the first priority for women or young girls with endo should NECESSARILY be getting pregnant if pain is her first concern. It all comes down to the individual.
Ultimately, endometriosis and women’s health and pain in general must be taken more seriously. Good on you Daily Mail for raising awareness of endo and the effect it can have on a young woman’s life.
Syl x x
