Katherine – IVF, Azoospermia, Pregnancy After Loss, Royal Women’s Hospital

Katherine’s path to motherhood began when she met Aaron in late 2021. On their very first day together, Aaron mentioned he couldn’t have children naturally, and Katherine appreciated his honesty from the start. “Having children can mean a whole lot of different things,” Katherine reflects on her response at the time. “I had a very strong belief from an early point in my life that my purpose or part of my purpose in this life was to have children.”

After learning about Aaron’s azoospermia diagnosis, which affects less than 1% of males, they began exploring IVF options. “I feel very grateful that we were in a position to even know what Aaron’s diagnosis looks like,” Katherine says. “I really feel for people who go through this journey and don’t have any idea why they can’t fall pregnant.”

Their IVF journey began in early 2023 with Aaron’s sperm extraction. “Aaron was really fortunate that there were plenty of sperm that they were able to extract,” Katherine explains. “For him going to that appointment, there was so much weight in whether he would be able to have children or not.”

Katherine and Aaron opted for public IVF, which meant Aaron’s sperm was frozen before Katherine’s egg collection the following month. “We were really fortunate that we got 12 eggs, and four embryos made it to day five,” she shares. Due to her polycystic ovaries, doctors recommended waiting until her next cycle for the embryo transfer to avoid ovarian hyperstimulation.

Their first embryo transfer resulted in a pregnancy, but Katherine experienced complications. “I got a bit of brown spotting and I spoke to the team and the nurses and they weren’t too worried about it,” she recalls. However, the situation worsened: “I remember just sitting on the toilet bleeding and Aaron was hugging me on the toilet and we were just both crying.” After further tests and scans, they discovered it was a blighted ovum.

“I felt really empty after that, but at the same time, I was just so glad that I had an answer,” Katherine says about the loss. She chose medication to induce miscarriage at home rather than surgery, which she describes as “by far the most physical and emotional pain I’ve ever been in my life.”

For their second transfer, Katherine and Aaron switched to private care with Dr. Daniel Landsberg from Melbourne IVF. “As soon as I met him, he was so calm, he was so gentle,” Katherine shares. This time, she approached the process differently: “I definitely made the decision to not share as much this time with people.”

When they received the positive pregnancy news again, Katherine was more cautious: “I probably didn’t get as excited as I did the first time… When we saw the scan and heard the heartbeat, that’s when I think I properly felt connected to the pregnancy.”

For her birth care, Katherine chose the Royal Women’s Hospital and also engaged a student midwife, Bella, for continuity of care. “I knew I wanted someone in the room with me that if needed to advocate for me wouldn’t hold back in doing that,” she explains.

Katherine went into labor two days after her due date, experiencing comfortable contractions that gradually intensified. After laboring at home for over 24 hours, they went to the hospital where Katherine had to advocate for her birth preferences. “Once they read my birth plan, the whole thing changed. They were fully understanding of what my preferences were and they really came to the party.”

A concerning drop in the baby’s heart rate meant Katherine needed to stay in hospital on continuous monitoring, which ruled out her planned water birth. After breaking her waters, contractions intensified rapidly: “It was relentless. And at this point I’m exhausted, you know, like I’ve been, it’s been almost 48 hours now.”

After hearing a midwife comment that she wasn’t going to birth anytime soon, Katherine requested an epidural: “I never thought I would feel hard on myself for asking for it. I knew that whatever happened in that birth was meant to be.”

Two hours of pushing later, with the baby’s heart rate dropping, Katherine agreed to a small episiotomy. “They did a really small incision. It was only about one centimeter,” she notes. Zendaya was born on November 10th at 8:48am after more than 48 hours of labor.

“We didn’t know what we were having either. So that was like a really, really special moment,” Katherine shares. The name Zendaya had special significance, as it was the name they had chosen for their first pregnancy that ended in miscarriage.

Reflecting on motherhood and returning to work as a business owner, Katherine shares: “I think I am so much more present and better in myself for having the days where I do work and the days that I am with her, I’m like so present with her.”

Katherine’s story beautifully illustrates the challenges and triumphs of conceiving through IVF, navigating pregnancy after loss, and finding her way as a new mother while balancing her identity as a business owner.

Check out Katherine’s business People Haircare here and connect with her on Instagram here