Gold Coast woman, 26, pays $15k to have baby on her own via IVF

The 26-year-old Gold Coast woman, who had always dreamt of being a young mum, had been planning on trying for a baby in 2021.

But after a doctor told her she was “basically infertile” Ms Bell made the decision to have a baby on her own and is now nine weeks pregnant after conceiving via IVF.

Ms Bell was diagnosed with endometriosis at age 16, a painful illness that causes tissue similar to the one that lines the uterus to grow in other areas.

Endometriosis can also cause fertility issues and after suffering for years with “very painful” periods Ms Bell had laparoscopy done in 2020.

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The surgery revealed she had endometriosis in “all different places” which doctors said would greatly reduce her chances of ever falling pregnant.

After Ms Bell split from her partner in July last year she decided to go get a test done to see what her egg reserve was like.

“The results came back and for a 26-year-old my egg reserve was really low, which was not great to hear,” she told news.com.au.

“All I ever wanted was kids. I’ve wanted a big family and all that type of stuff.”

Ms Bell went to see a fertility specialist, who said her endometriosis and low egg count, combined by the fact she had not been using any contraception for eight years, meant she was infertile.

“Not that I had been trying to have a baby, but I’d never had any accidental pregnancies and because my egg reserve was so low he deemed me infertile,” she said.

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Ms Bell’s doctor recommended she freeze her eggs or undergo IVF in the next few years when her chances of success would be highest.

In August, after a month of researching her options, Ms Bell decided to try IVF with a sperm donor now as it was her best chance of becoming a mum.

With the full support of her loved ones, Ms Bell used $15,000 she had received as a car accident payout to put towards her dream of being a mum.

“Pretty much every one of my family members or friends, everyone was very supportive because they all knew the situation that I was in, that I had suffered with endometriosis since I was 16 and then to find out I was infertile,” she said.

After seven months of gruelling injections and appointments Ms Bell found out in February she was expecting her miracle baby.

“I got four eggs, which again was not very high for my age. Three were fertilised, one died, I had two frozen, they defrosted one, it didn’t survive and I had one left,” she said.

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“So this whole pregnancy was riding on this one embryo, because if it didn’t survive I would have had to start it all over again. … when I found out I was pregnant I was just absolutely over the moon that this one little embryo had made it.”

Ms Bell has been sharing her IVF journey on TikTok where she is yet to receive “one negative comment”.

But the mum-to-be sometimes gets frustrating reactions from strangers who don’t understand her decision.

“A lot of them, their reaction is, ‘Oh but you’re so young, you’ve got so much time,’” Ms Bell said.

“It’s annoying because you’re just like, ‘No I don’t, I’ve been told I have to get this done in the next few years or I may miss out on the chance.’”

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Ms Bell hopes that by sharing her story other women struggling with fertility issues will see that it is possible to go it alone.

“I personally didn’t want to just wait around for a man to come, to then have to be in a relationship with someone, to then build, build that relationship and finally have a baby,” she said.

“I love knowing that I can do this by myself, I’m strong enough to do this by myself.

“And I think that’s what other women (should know), we are strong enough to be able to do this by ourselves.

“I don’t need a man, you don’t need a man to start your own family and this baby is going to be loved just as much as if there was a father involved.”