Our Journey to Parenthood – By Ingrid Robertson
C.A.R.E Fertility Clinic, Durban
When I met my husband in 2008, I was 37 years old and was aware that I would have difficulty conceiving naturally. My husband had a practical view-if you want children and can have medical assistance to achieve this, then that is all that matters. So began years of living in hope, saving, disappointments, wanting to give up, bargaining with God and the universe, being angry with the world, quietly swallowing tears at family functions that were all about children, to name a just a few of our emotions along the way.
After one successful short-lived pregnancy, Dr. Ramdeo finally recommend surrogacy. It was not something I felt I needed- I had a sense that I would be a mother and believed I could carry my own baby. It took a year to accept the recommendation. We were lucky enough to have two angels sent to us. One was a colleague from work. Everything worked in our favour and she fell pregnant on our first round of IVF for a surrogacy cycle. 35 weeks later, after a difficult pregnancy, our little girl Ruby-Rose was born. Even writing this now, I remember that day with such emotion. I was 42 years old and remember thinking once along the way, that if I did not succeed by achieving the dream of motherhood by the age of 40, I would give up! The day Ruby-Rose was born, we knew we had to have another baby. Our second surrogate, another angel we met through a nurse in the NICU took longer to achieve a pregnancy. We even started the adoption process and then decided to have just one more try, without anyone knowing. This pregnancy resulted in our little Isabelle (Izzy), who was born in 2015- I was 45 at the time.
Ruby-Rose has a feistiness that I admire. She is in Grade 2. Little Izzy is our gentle soul who balances our family perfectly. She in in Grade 00. We always thought we would wrap our children in bubble wrap and be over-protective but we are just a happy family, who are forever grateful to Dr. Ramdeo and his staff and our surrogates who made our dream possible. The girls know their story and we always remind them that they are extra special!
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