{"id":25951,"date":"2021-02-04T12:24:55","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T10:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ferringglobal.corporate.ferring.tech\/?p=25951"},"modified":"2021-05-10T15:03:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T14:03:53","slug":"blog-post-becky-kearns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ferring.com\/blog-post-becky-kearns\/","title":{"rendered":"Becky Kearns"},"content":{"rendered":"[spb_boxed_content type=”coloured” box_link_target=”_self” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n<h2 style=\"color: #0088ce\">Becky Kearns<\/h2>\n[\/spb_boxed_content] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_image image=”26046″ image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” caption_pos=”hover” remove_rounded=”yes” fullwidth=”no” overflow_mode=”none” link_target=”_self” lightbox=”no” intro_animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”][\/spb_image] [spb_boxed_content type=”coloured” box_link_target=”_self” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n<p>Being told you may never conceive naturally is very hard to hear.<\/p>\n<p>Being told you may never be a mum at all is one of the hardest things anyone can be told.<\/p>\n<p>Being told you can carry a child, but they won\u2019t be genetically related to you, is hugely complicated news to process.<\/p>\n<p>Three different moments of my fertility journey, each with their own emotional challenges.<\/p>\n<p>At the age of just 28 I discovered I had Premature Ovarian Insufficiency, self-diagnosed following a lack of interest and understanding from my own GP \u2013 based solely on my age. We went through five failed cycles of IVF and suffered a miscarriage with my own eggs before making the difficult decision to close the door on my genetics and use an egg donor. A decision which I\u2019m happy to say changed our lives for the better as I\u2019m now a proud mum to three beautiful girls.<\/p>\n<p>Although egg donation was presented as an option that could solve my specific fertility problem and allow us to build our family in a biological way, what I didn\u2019t feel was recognised was the emotional impact that infertility and the loss of <strong>my<\/strong> genetics might have on me as a person.<\/p>\n<p>Feeling alone and confused, I navigated my own way through extreme conflicting emotions, whilst trying to make practical decisions around treatment, finding that there were few stories I could relate to and little emotional support on offer.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not a simple decision, it\u2019s not a one-time decision, it can be filled with emotion and needs careful consideration, especially as the story doesn\u2019t end when you have your baby; another one begins. I now realise that support is vital when taking this path to parenthood and that building a family using donor conception is so much more than a medical procedure.<\/p>\n<p>Reflecting back, I realise just how alone I felt, which is why I created DefiningMum to share my story with others. I want people to find hope in our journey, to see the joy and immense love that can be found on this pathway, but also to know that they\u2019re not alone in the worries, anxieties and loneliness that can often come alongside it.<\/p>\n<p>As DefiningMum has grown over the past two years, I\u2019ve also realised that there is so much I wished I\u2019d have known, which is why I\u2019ve created Paths to Parent<em>hub<\/em> as a platform for people to find information, connection and support.<\/p>\n<p>I hear daily from people who are feeling alone and confused by the simultaneous mixture of sadness and hope that this route can bring. Grieving the loss of genetics, worries about feeling like the \u2018real\u2019 parent, anxieties about attachment and bonding, concerns over how their child might feel and worries about what other people might think are just some of the common themes that require validation and emotional support. It\u2019s important for us as future parents to have the means to recognise and process our grief, to understand the implications for our children and to ensure that we are prepared to tell them their story with honesty and pride, supporting them with what it means for them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I want medical professionals worldwide to recognise that donor conception isn\u2019t just a medical necessity, it\u2019s a hugely emotional decision.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I want people on this path to know they\u2019re not alone. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I want to celebrate different paths to parenthood and to break societal taboos on both infertility and donor conception. <\/strong><\/p>\n[\/spb_boxed_content] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_button button_text=”BACK TO THE ADVOCATE STORY PAGE” button_size=”standard” button_colour=”accent” button_type=”standard” rounded=”no” button_dropshadow=”no” button_link=”\/home-classic\/people-and-families\/project-family\/our-collaborations#advocate-stories” button_target=”_self” align=”center” animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[spb_boxed_content type=”coloured” box_link_target=”_self” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] Becky Kearns [\/spb_boxed_content] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_image image=”26046″ image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” caption_pos=”hover” remove_rounded=”yes” fullwidth=”no” overflow_mode=”none” link_target=”_self” lightbox=”no” intro_animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”][\/spb_image] [spb_boxed_content type=”coloured” box_link_target=”_self” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] Being told you may never conceive naturally is very hard to hear. Being told you may never be a mum at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4746,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1466],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.3 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Becky Kearns - Ferring Global<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ferring.com\/blog-post-becky-kearns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Becky Kearns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[spb_boxed_content type=”coloured” box_link_target=”_self” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] Becky Kearns [\/spb_boxed_content] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_image image=”26046″ image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” caption_pos=”hover” remove_rounded=”yes” fullwidth=”no” overflow_mode=”none” link_target=”_self” lightbox=”no” intro_animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”][\/spb_image] [spb_boxed_content type=”coloured” box_link_target=”_self” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] Being told you may never conceive naturally is very hard to hear. 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