A couple who were saving to buy a house spent their £70,000 in savings on I.V.F, and had four babies in three years.
Amanda Ralls, 34, and her husband, Nathan, 35, from Orange County, California, who struggling with infertility. They decided to spend their money on I.V.F treatment to start a family rather than on a house. Amanda said: “At the start of our infertility journeywe had talked about how the money we had in our home fund could instead fund our I.V.F. My husband said to me that there was no point in having a home if we don’t have anyone to put in it. That was one of the most encouraging things he’s ever said to me. And so we decided to go full steam ahead with the treatment. In total, it has cost us around £70,000.. We could never have done this without the support of my parents and them letting us live with them.”
Amanda added: “We tried I.U.I first of all which was unsuccessful. So the doctor suggested that we should do I.V.F going forward. I was screaming, crying and panicking when I was told this. It was devastating because as a woman it feels like one of our purposes is to carry a baby and have children. My husband supported me by letting me know that he would do anything financially to give us the family we were desperate for.” In July 2016, Amanda had her first frozen embryo transfer which was successful and she gave birth to her eldest son, Anderson, in May 2017. She wanted a sibling for her son and transferred a boy and girl embryᴏin February 2018. Only one ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏtook and she gave birth to her daughter, Penelope, in October 2018.
Amanda said she had always wanted three children so decided to go again and transferred two frozen embryos again in June 2019 but unfortunately, neither of them took. She said: “In October we decided to try again and we ended up being pregnant with my twin boys who were born in June last year. “I loved being pregnant. I wish I could be pregnant every day. I just couldn’t wait to meet each of my babies. When I found out I was pregnant with twins I was ecstatic. I said to Nathan that we were going to have a football team. We are adjusting every day as we went from it being just Nathan and me to a family of six in the space of three years. It’s been a lot but I am so grateful. I couldn’t be happier. It is all I have ever wanted..”
Amanda says that it wouldn’t have been possible for her to have all of her children without the support of her parents. She said: “We wouldn’t have been able to have all of our kids if we had our own home. It just wouldn’t have been possible. But having our babies has been more important than anything. Having four kids in three years has been a lot to handle, but our family is now complete and we are so happy.”
