Chelsea's story

Chelsea’s determination to lower her BMI for funded treatment

Jared started trying to conceive over 6 years ago, and have been together nearly 8 years. Along the way, I was diagnosed with PCOS and then eventually Endometriosis after a laparoscopy 18 months ago. Jared has a daughter from a previous relationship and has been testing throughout our journey and all is OK on his side.

After a couple of years of trying to conceive, I became quite worried about no outcome to date so my GP referred us to a fertility clinic for the next step. Throughout our time as patients, we tried monitored and unmonitored rounds of clomiphene and letrozole. Ovulation hasn't seemed to be an issue, however, still no luck so after a recent review with our doctor, we have come to the conclusion that IVF is the next step.

We are currently working towards getting on the fertility treatment public funding weight list as I'm outside the strict BMI range. It has been a constant struggle for me personally to lose weight. My doctor sat me down 4 years ago, to tell me that I need to lose weight and I have been up and down since then. I am currently working with a nutritionist to break old habits and help with mindset.

This journey can be very lonely and lots of people don't understand how it can affect you as an individual. I was starting to feel quite isolated so I am very lucky to belong to a support group through Fertility NZ - lovely bunch of ladies who are going through the same issues. I am also very lucky to have a supportive partner who is with me all the way and always understanding when it comes to my weight loss struggle.

I have my off days but I'm still very positive about our journey going forward and determined more now than ever to get on that waitlist.