Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh has shared a glimpse into her IVF journey, as she detailed a ‘small scare’ she had earlier this year.
At the start of the month, Maria revealed to her followers that she is pregnant with her first child after undergoing IVF treatment alone.
She shared the happy news, hopeful that her personal journey could help other single women and those in the LGBTQI+ community to become mothers if they desire to do so.
Speaking on Ireland AM on Monday morning, the MEP detailed the arduous process of IVF treatment, confirming that she had done all the injections solo.
Having started the egg retrieval in July, Maria admitted it was ‘wild to think we’re now in May.’
Despite having a plan of action, things didn’t go the way Maria intended due to delays, including too much estrogen and issues with her lining.
In January, the 38-year-old finally got the egg transfer and underwent the nine-day waiting period before taking the pregnancy test.
In February, she had a slight scare, revealing: ‘I thought I had miscarried…They have a great team at Fertility and Foetal Health in Galway, and then they work with Repromed in Galway, just reassured [me] and we checked everything.’
Maria went on to share that she now realises how many of her friends and family went through fertility, but she wasn’t aware previously.
‘I guess when I wasn’t talking about it, then nobody else is going to talk about it with you, and it’s remarkable just how many shared stories we have of that,’ she told Ireland AM’s Muireann O’Connell.
‘There’s these hidden conversations happening. People like me might be holding it to themselves or having smaller conversations, but we’re just not having it at a national or European level.
It comes not long after Maria opened up on the trolling she received during her IVF treatment.
She told The Sunday Times: ‘It’s not just your Twitter space where often negativity is found — it’s also in forms of Meta and Reddit too. There has been more and more sexualised, quite abusive and incredibly personalised language used, particularly around my weight.
‘I’m pumping so many hormones into my body to be able to do what I’m doing under the guidance of incredible care, but I’m doing that to get [my] body ready. Naturally, your body will change on top of the emotional weight, too.
‘Certainly, from my lived experience, I add weight when I’m going through something really emotional, and then you go online, and you’re posting something about canvassing or agriculture, or cardiovascular healthcare or mental health and the commentary has been very, very grotesque around my body and my shape. We think it’s only bots, but it’s really not any more.’
The Rose of Tralee winner said that regardless of how ‘thick-skinned’ someone is, the comments can hurt.
‘The on and offline world has really blended. Do I think it’s all of society as a whole? No, but it’s certainly growing, and in a really grotesque way,’ she added.
On Sunday, Maria took the opportunity to thank followers who had wished her congratulations following her pregnancy news.
She said: ‘Thank you very, very much for all the kind messages, comments, phone calls, text messages that I’ve gotten, and not just me, but also my family and friends, my team, both here in Brussels and in Ireland, overwhelmed we are with the kindness from so many of you.
‘There’s just so much love out there, and I’m forever grateful,’ she added.
