You're a Mum through IVF, can you tell us briefly about your fertility journey? 

I started trying for a family when I was 33. After coming off birth control, my cycle never returned. I was told I'd gone through early menopause and if I wanted to have a family I'd need to do it ASAP and it was likely IVF would be my only option. Our first round of IVF was unsuccessful. Our second round resulted in 1 untested embryo, and amazingly this little miracle made it all the way. I gave birth to my daughter at the age of 36. We always planned on having 2 children, so when my daughter was a year old, we decided to go back to IVF. But before we had begun, something completely unexpected happened - my cycle returned!

We thought our second TTC journey would be so much easier, but unfortunately that wasn't the way it worked out.  After trying at home for 6 months, we went back to a fertility doctor who diagnosed me with a thyroid condition, we found my fallopian tubes were partially blocked & my AMH levels were close to zero.

We were referred back to IVF but sadly, again, it wasn't successful. This was early 2020 and soon after, we went into lockdown over Covid. Every fertility clinic closed down & we had no option to continue treatment.

A couple of months later, a friend of mine sent me a link to something called "fertility yoga." I was intrigued but didn't think it would make much difference. However, we were in lockdown, I had nothing else to do & I'd already tried everything, so I gave it a go. In July that year, I fell pregnant naturally. Sadly, we lost that baby at 8 weeks, but I was so blown away by what my yoga practice had allowed my body to do, so I decided to retrain as a yoga teacher. At the end of 2020, I fell pregnant again naturally and had my son at the age of 39.
 

Can you tell us about Element Pilates & Yoga? And why did you start it? 

I started teaching Pilates in 2009 and then became a yoga teacher in 2020. I started this business as a way to support women struggling through fertility challenges, IVF and pregnancy loss. There is very little available for women in terms of exercise options when you're TTC so I love being able to support my students through safe & guided programs at each stage. I've now worked with hundreds of women from all around the world!

What are the top things you wish you had known before starting IVF? 

 I wish I'd known that it wasn't a guarantee of a baby - it felt like such a light at the end of a very dark tunnel, but it was much harder than I ever thought it would be. I thought the injections would scare me the most, but the emotional toll it took, the anxiety it created and a lot of the trauma of loss was far more difficult that any of the medications.

What are you looking forward to the most at Wish for a Baby Australia? 

I love hearing the stories of those who are on their own journeys to building their families. I see the relief on someone's face when they realise you understand what they're going through. So I'm looking forward to connecting with people and showing them some supportive tools they can use.

How can people get in touch with you? 

You can visit my website, chat with me over on Instagram, or download a copy of my Free Fertility Yoga Guide if you'd like to try some of the practices for yourself.