Mike & Debra dated at college in 1985, but when their studies were complete they went their separate ways. Fast forward 8 years and Mike came across Debra’s address in Trinidad and sent her a Christmas card.
By now Debra was working in Atlanta, upon receiving the card she called Mike, which led to him jumping on a plane and their romance blossomed once more! By Christmas 1995, Debra took her first leap of faith and moved across the Atlantic to the UK and they married in 2000.
Debra focused on her career and hoped at some stage they would have a family, but nothing happened. By 2009, Debra was 45 so they consulted their GP. It took 6 months to see a specialist, who bluntly told them that Debra was a bit old and they only had a 4% chance of IVF being successful with her own eggs!
Mike said, “For us the decision was made, we had to use a donor egg! The waiting list in the UK was at least 18 months, so we took to the Internet and started looking for donor eggs. Debra originates from Trinidad so it was important that we found a Caribbean donor and that led us to Barbados Fertility Centre (BFC).”
They called the clinic and were delighted to get a positive reaction not only to Debra’s age but also that the cost of treatment was much lower than the UK. The clinic arranged a telephone consultation with Dr. Skinner, Head Clinician at BFC.
Mike said, “Speaking to the team at BFC was so positive, they told us the tests we needed to do here in the UK. So as is the theme in our lives, we took another leap of faith and proceeded with treatment in Barbados. BFC organised Debra’s medication and it all ran very smoothly. We had just the one trip to Barbados and got two high grade embryos – the decision now was whether to try both and hope one made it, or freeze one for a later date. Again we took that leap of faith and went with the transfer of both! It maximized our chance of success but with greater risk because now we had no back up plan! It was the right decision because Debra was finally pregnant! To say I was shocked when we went for the scan and found out there were actually two heartbeats is an understatement!”
Their twins, a boy & a girl were born in May 2010. Mike said, “Debra and I basically separated for the first year. Debra slept downstairs with our son and I had our daughter upstairs! Now 6 years on, the children are the best thing that ever happened to us. If anyone is struggling to conceive I urge you to take that leap of faith and go to Barbados! The team at BFC is so professional and our care was so personalised. Debra and I are happy to answer any questions you may have, please contact us through the clinic.”