Dossier
The undeniable power of hormones was made clear to me the moment I embarked on IVF. Over a period of two months in 2015, I self-administered 55 hormone injections in order to produce multiple eggs for collection, fertilisation and embryo transfer. To the outside world, I was bravely battling through in vitro with an unrelenting smile on my face. Yet, behind closed doors, the truth was anything but: I felt alone and adrift. Needles stung and thighs swelled. I cried, shouted and laughed without any understanding why. Liquid hormone slunk in every morning with a sting in its tail. It whimpered quietly at first, before wailing louder, until I was unable to distinguish my true feelings from the extreme highs and lows the folliclestimulating hormones produced. Like a kite in a windstorm, I lunged and lurched against the unpredictable current. Everything seemed distorted. I wasn’t me.
My struggle with IVF is only one isolated experience,