Eggs On Ice

I was diagnosed with my auto immune condition, Eosinophilic Fasciitis, just over two years ago when I was living in London. Given how rare the condition is, it took the doctors a while to actually confirm my diagnosis. At that point I was just so focused on the treatment and wanting to feel better, I didn’t think to ask about the impacts it could have on my fertility. The only advice I received was to ensure I was on a form of contraception, as the medications I was prescribed would have detrimental impacts on a pregnancy.

When I returned from London to Melbourne in April 2020, the pandemic was in full swing. Unfortunately, the medications I am on make me immunocompromised, meaning I was considered ‘high risk’ if I was to get the virus. I was not allowed to go back to working in the emergency rooms like I was used to, or even any part of the hospitals. As a nurse, it is an extremely odd feeling to be told you have to sit on the sidelines in almost definitely (hopefully!) the biggest health crisis I would experience in my career – I definitely lost my sense of purpose for a while.

I have always had an interest in women’s health and maternity, so when the position at the fertility clinic came up I knew it would be perfect for me. But I had no idea that I would be using the fertility clinic’s services myself. Working as a fertility nurse gave me the insight and knowledge to make the decision to freeze my eggs.

Even as a teenager, I was the one that would always offer to cuddle or feed a friend’s or family member’s baby. I now have a beautiful nephew and many of my close friends and cousins have children, so I look at them and know that I want that happiness for myself one day. But the pandemic and lockdowns, particularly here in Melbourne, have really thrown a spanner in the works when it comes to dating world. It has made it hard to date and meet someone. Unfortunately, as women, our egg quality and the number off eggs we have decrease with age, particularly once we are over 35. At 29, I am definitely on the younger end of the spectrum of women who freeze their eggs, with the key reason being I am concerned about what my treatment could be doing to the quality of the eggs.

Before working in the fertility clinic, and going public on social media about my egg freezing journey, I only really knew couples that had gone through IVF. But the details were kept private, it was not really spoken about openly. I made the decision to share my story via an Instagram account so that I could help others who might be experiencing the same thing.

I am used to giving myself injections with my condition, so that was not an issue for me. Physically I was bloated, especially towards the end and after the egg collection. Just before my period came it was like experiencing extreme PMS. Mentally, I felt empowered that I was doing the process.

I was a little bit nervous leading up towards the procedure, mainly because I had not had anaesthetic before, but afterwards it was a sense of relief and happiness. Emotionally, I didn’t think I was too bad – but the people I live with might say otherwise! Whilst having the hormone injections I found myself getting emotional at things like commercials on television, or episodes of Friends. It was actually post the egg collection procedure, in the wait to get my period, that I found emotionally the hardest. I was getting agitated at small things and also bawled my eyes out crying when I got a bunch of flowers delivered from my aunty. But once I got my period, it was like I snapped back to regular me.

My advice would be that knowledge is power and egg freezing is an incredibly empowering thing to do. Also, start talking about fertility! Talk to your friends, partner, mum, aunty, whoever!

If we started having conversations about it earlier, maybe we wouldn’t see so many people struggle with fertility issues.