Tess Souray - IVF, pregnancy loss & Genetic Testing
This week's episode comes with a trigger warning as we are discussing pregnancy loss. If you are struggling right now, perhaps leave this episode for when you are feeling a little bit stronger and please do access all the support out there that is available to you.
On what is Baby Loss Awareness Week, I am delighted to be joined by the lovely Tess Souray, model, actress and wellness influencer in the US. Tess shares her experiences of IVF, pregnancy loss and her decision to try genetic screening.
- Whilst navigating her fertility journey, Tess found out that her ovarian reserve levels were much lower than they should be for her age and that in fact her egg age was 10 years older than her biological age. This came as a huge shock as Tess assumed that as she young she wouldn't have any problems getting pregnant.
- Tess shares her frustrations of not being able to progress her fertility journey during the pandemic and the isolation she felt during this time, which has been common to many.
- Tess tells me about how much IVF has taught her about herself and her body, and that during a fertility journey you have to learn a whole new language with all the different words and acronyms that she had to get familiar with.
- We talked about the decision to go through IVF and the support that she had from her friends and other women who had gone through fertility treatments.
- Tess talks openly about how she coped with IVF and the challenges they went through.
- Tess explains how it felt, to find out at her 10 weeks scan, that there was no heartbeat. The devastating news no one wants to ever hear.
- Tess unfortunately had a miscarriage just before Thanksgiving, an American National holiday at the end of November. She talks about her down she felt during the holiday.
- Like many women, Tess felt that there was something wrong and made the decision to get further medical opinion. One specialist mentioned blood clotting, something that hadn’t been raised before with Tess.
- Tess made the decision to try an IVF add on tests and treatment, currently not available in the UK, called Pregmune which is a comprehensive, AI-powered fertility assessment. During these tests, Tess discovered that she had 3 active blood clots that were only present when she was pregnant.
- Tess shares that she was able to get the right support from her doctor and happily went on to conceive again.
- Tess offers some good advice that you are your best advocate, so research and find out everything you can to support your fertility journey.
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