This post is dedicated to Nichelle (@nichellewsublett) and her husband, Harold. She was crowned Mrs North Carolina in 2018 and as part of her platform, she started a movement to encourage young ladies to ask questions about their fertility. She is raising awareness about fertility and empowering women all over the world. This movement gives woman the opportunity to learn more about their fertility health early on, so they have more options/time if something seems to be not "normal". This way they feel more in control of their own health.
Let's start with a background on this couple and what motivated Nichelle to start this movement. Their journey is one filled with ups and downs but they persevered through it all. After they got married, Nichelle decided to go off birth control and "let nature take its course". After 6 months of trying, she completed some tests which showed that she was not ovulating and had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. The first step to their treatment was the use of clomid (ovulation induction pill) and timed intercourse. After the second month of use, they got pregnant. Sadly, she miscarried at 8 weeks and so they decided to have some of the fetal tissue tested. The results showed 3 chromosomal abnormalities. Its difficult to imagine exactly what this must have felt like but it was certainly not easy for them. They decided to take some time off and resumed treatment after a few months. This time, she used Letrozole (another ovulation induction pill) along with a trigger shot and timed intercourse. The first month, she had a chemical pregnancy and no success for the following two months. Next, they tried intra-uterine insemination for a total of four times with no success. At this point, they had decided to undergo IVF treatment. With her first egg retrieval, they were able to collect 36 eggs. Because of the previous fetal testing which showed chromosomal abnormalities, pre-implantation genetic screening was performed and they were left with 3 chromosomaly normal embryos. Their first transfer was unfortunately not successful. With their second transfer, Nichelle became pregnant but miscarried at 6 weeks. This was devastating for them as the chances of miscarriage with a PGS normal embryo is only 5% to 8%. Their RE specialist suggested the endometrial receptivity assay to determine whether Nichelle's uterine lining is receptive to accepting an embryo and implantation. Her tests came back abnormal, suggesting she required an extra shot of progesterone in oil for better receptivity. After taking some time off, they resumed with another 4 rounds of letrozole, ovulation predictor kit and timed intercourse. Unfortunately, no pregnancy occurred. Their next choice was to undergo another cycle of IVF to increase their number of embryos before their next round of transfer. At the end of this cycle, they had 4 normal embryos frozen. As she was preparing for her transfer, she found out that she was pregnant. This was such a shock, they had gotten pregnant on their own with no medication, no transfer, nothing. It felt like a miracle. After 11 weeks, there was no fetal heart beat and they had a miscarriage. They were devastated and heart broken. They had the fetal tissue tested again and found out that the baby had Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome which causes deletion of some genetic material and impairs development. Eventually, her beta-hCG levels dropped and she had her period. After just 3 weeks, she was pregnant again with no treatment. Yet another disappointment came at 7 weeks with an anembryonic sac. They decided to test the fetal tissue again but were not able to get the results because of some issues at the hospital. The hospital decided to pay for chromosomal testing of both Nichelle and Harold which fortunately came back normal. In 2018, Nichelle decided to run for Mrs. North Carolina and won the title. She became the voice of fertility awareness and started her #startasking movement. In fall of 2018, after she crowned the next Mrs. North Carolina, she had a transfer and became pregnant. After many heart breaks and multiple miscarriages, she is finally 40 weeks pregnant and can't wait to meet their baby boy. Their journey took 6 years and was an emotional roller coaster. They never gave up and are so close to becoming the parents they were meant to be. Their journey was definitely not an easy one. Their strength and perseverance deserves the highest amount of praise. Their story truly moved me and taught me to never give up, even if things seem to be going wrong. Writing these posts never truly captures what the couples go through and the emotional burden these treatments have. Its just a way to get their stories out there and create a sense of community. It's just a small way to help other couples cope and know that they are not alone.
Nichelle used her experience to raise awareness and help women take control of their fertility. By getting tested and understanding their fertility potential at an early age, women can be better prepared. In many cases, people don't realize that their fertility might be at risk. If they have more knowledge early on, they may have more options. This movement is empowering women and giving them the chance to speak out about their fertility issues. This topic is so taboo in some cultures and families that women feel ashamed to talk about it. Platforms like this help these women understand that they are not alone and there are treatment options out there for them. Thanks to people like Nichelle, the world is gaining more knowledge about infertility and coming together as a community to empower each other. There is no shame in having infertility treatment and people should feel comfortable getting tested early on. The topic is becoming less taboo and more of a conversation to help each other. Please get in touch with me or Nichelle if you would like to talk.
