Fifi Box opens up about her 'brutal' IVF journey for first time: 'Odds were so slim'
By Heidi Krause|
Fifi Box has opened up about her IVF journey to conceive her youngest daughter for the very first time.
The mum-of-two and radio host ?spent over an hour bravely telling listeners of her radio show, Fifi, Fev & Nick all about the 'brutal' journey to conceive her youngest daughter in a very raw and honest way.
"It was incredibly eye-opening because it was brutal," she revealed. "This is the thing that we don't necessarily get taught at school as young girls. The decline in your egg health from about 33, 35 onwards จC it deteriorates at a rate of knots."
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Box, 45, has two girls, ?nine-year-old Trixie, who she shares with ex-partner Grant Kenny, and three-year-old Daisy.
Opening up to her co-hosts, Fifi explained that Daisy was conceived using an anonymous sperm donor จC and that she only had a seven per cent chance of falling pregnant.
"I would go to the clinic and there are endless boxes of tissues. I would see couples, you'd see women just distraught going through cycle upon cycle.
"I thought, 'I want another baby more than anything'. I've got the rest of my life to fall in love, I didn't have the rest of my life to have a baby."
"Daisy really is a gift, a miracle gift. The odds were so slim."?
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The Fox FM presenter also revealed why she chose IVF, her experience from researching, egg retrievals and the struggles and happy moments throughout.
Box did two egg retrievals จC 33 were eggs collected with three embryos made with the donor sperm.
"I will never forget the call I got from my embryologist to tell me about the success rate of the embryos." she shared. "I was actually at Lilydale at the cheese farm, enjoying some cheese and some chutney with the family. And it was such a horrible phone call. I'll never forget it. It was so flattening."
"The doctor said 'you might want to explore what your other options are. These aren't great embryos'. My egg quality had deteriorated so much."
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Fifi also revealed she chose to be very honest with her eldest daughter Trixie about the entire journey.
"Making a decision to be a single parent, that's not taken lightly. For me, I firmly believe honesty is the best policy. I talked Trixie through the whole process, the concept of an anonymous donor and that Daisy doesn't have a dad."
"She was involved in the whole process and knows what a gift Daisy is. She knew how it happened, how Daisy came to be. And Daisy will know that too."
Box first revealed she was pregnant with Daisy in February 2019.
"I am still pinching myself that I have been this blessed and that this little miracle is growing within me, a much wanted and longed-for sibling for a very excited big sister!" she wrote on Instagram.
The radio segment was prompted by a listener's message on Instagram seeking advice a couple of weeks ago จC and Fifi also had listeners call in to ask questions while talking about her own journey.
"Freeze your eggs, if it's financially viable," she advised. "It's trickier to get to your late 30s and start freezing your eggs."
"There are so many elements to going through IVF whether you're as a couple or as a single woman and I'm always happy to talk about it."
One in six Australian couples will struggle with infertility, and one in 20 babies are born from IVF.
For more real-life IVF stories, Big Miracles continues on Monday at 9.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.?
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