About 2020

Let’s be honest and put things straight from the start… 2020 sucks! I know I should not use this word, but can you possibly find a better one?

This pandemic has affected me strongly. Both personally and professionally. It stopped me being able to help my patients in the way I would have liked. It changed the approach to the problem and I had to find alternatives to play around borders, lockdowns and curfews.

The pandemic initially wrote a full stop to all fertility treatments around the world and this has placed thousands of patients on hold with significant negative impact to those hoping to have fertility preservation before cancer treatment or those with low ovarian reserve or advanced age.

Lots of people lost their lives. Lots of people lost their jobs. Honestly, I was stressed because I did not have any control on this.

Then I read this beautiful blog of our own Rachel and I started to add a lot of ‘and’ in my life. Yes, there were lots of things I could not do or control but also many more meaningful things that I could still do. And today I want to add another word to the equation: with!

We can live with Covid. We can live with the restrictions. We can go almost anywhere with a mask. We can travel with the protocols in place. We can have meetings, attend conferences and so much more with an internet connection and camera.

So, I want you to stop thinking of all the inconvenience that this pandemic is bringing and focus on what you can do instead. You can travel and have your treatment even with all the restrictions!

Will the pandemic stop you? Will the travel restrictions stop you? I don’t think so. I know for sure you would go to the moon and back to have your baby. Coming to Barbados complying with the protocols is not so difficult. You will need to have a negative Covid test done within 3 days of arriving in Barbados and wait until you have your second negative test that can be done 4-5 days after your first one. So you will need to “quarantine” possibly by the pool with a fruit punch in your hand for about 2-3 days. It sounds like it could last a bit longer, right? ?

You are a warrior! You have been through so many needles and tests and disappointments. I know this will be a piece of cake for you!

Thanks to these strict protocols Barbados was able to keep all of us safe, or as safe as possible at least and gave us a safe haven where we can still have a “normal” life. Breath the breeze of the Caribbean Sea, have a dinner by the beach or just go shopping. Just as life was before Covid. Feeling NORMAL again. I used to hate the word normal but right now normal is as good as gold!

And finally focus on your ultimate goal of building a family. What a great story this will be to tell your children, you went through and against a pandemic to have them. I am sure it is worth it!

 

Roberta