Latest news with #BristolCentreforReproductiveMedicine
Daily Mirror
20 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'I walked 30,000 steps a day delivering for Amazon - it gave me greatest gift'
Joanna Forrester credited walking around 30,000 steps each day for her delivery job with Amazon helped her become a first-time-mum at 44 years old An first-time-mum has credited her job with Amazon for giving her a baby at 44 years old. Joanna Forrester said walking 30,000 steps a day for her Amazon delivery job helped her be successful in her IVF journey at her age. She revealed that she had heard about egg freezing and initially considered it while working in the US at 33 years old. After four years in the states, where she met her partner from Norway, she moved back home and was consulted by doctors, at the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine, that egg freezing could be difficult due to her age. Joanna said she was told she could have more luck freezing her embryos instead. She said: "My mum had said to me at one point that I should freeze my eggs - and I thought it was a bit too 'Hollywood.' But when I was in the States, I was out there for a lot longer than I planned to initially, and I started to think she had a good point. "I went to a clinic, and found that sadly, I'd missed my opportunity. BCRM said that there wasn't really much point in freezing my eggs, because there weren't many left at that stage - but they said they could possibly freeze embryos. The couple started this process but they were forced to pause when the Covid lockdown hit. At this time, Joanna, an offshore helicopter pilot from Aberdeen, said she took up a delivery job with Amazon while her partner was living in Norway when she was still in England. She said: "During COVID, we couldn't do another cycle anyway - and I needed a job to pay the bills. Amazon was the only job that fitted the bill because my parents were elderly and shielding, so I wanted something where I wasn't going to be in much contact with people. She pushed through the stress of that time and walked around 30,000 steps a day with her Amazon role. Joanna said this kept her in excellent physical health before being able to continue their IVF journey in the summer of 2020. She said: "With Amazon, delivering is crazy - I was doing around 30,000 steps per day, plus I had a very active Labrador. "I would get up early, walk the dog, do a full day of deliveries, come back to walk the dog again - and then do some yoga because I was so sore from getting in and out of the van all day. I was eating much healthier - I would have to prep things in advance to take with me, because when you're working for Amazon, you don't get time to stop for food. I was probably the fittest I've ever been in my entire life." When treatment restarted in the summer of 2020, Joanna had a second cycle which resulted in one embryo for freezing, and in September she had a third cycle. She said: "After a little while, when the fertility clinics were able to offer treatment again, the next cycle was better. The next cycle after that was better still - although I don't know whether my fitness was a factor or not!" She was able to freeze four embryos and when Covid restrictions loosened the couple tried the IVF journey again. In May 2024, she had the third embryo successfully transferred and Joanna and Sindre were delighted to welcome daughter Alia into the world, at the end of February 2025. Joanna said: "I wanted to share my story so that other women in my position might be encouraged by what is possible. I think, had I realised how hard it was going to be, I would have prioritised it more when I was younger. "I think the only thing I would do differently is that if I could speak to my 30-year-old self, I would have frozen eggs a lot younger to give myself more options."
Daily Record
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Record
'My 30k steps a day at Amazon delivery job led to successful IVF at 44'
The couple began the process to freeze embryos and start IVF - but as lockdown hit, they were forced to pause their plans. A first-time mum has credited walking 30,000 steps a day for her Amazon delivery job for successful IVF at the age of 44. Joanna Forrester first heard about freezing her eggs years ago - but it wasn't until moving to the USA for work at age 33 that she began to consider the idea seriously. After four years in the States, where she met her partner Sindre, from Norway, Joanna moved back to the UK in 2019 and began to research egg freezing. But after an initial consultation with Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine (BCRM), she was told that due to her age and egg reserve, she would have more success freezing embryos instead. The couple began the process to freeze embryos and start IVF - but as lockdown hit, they were forced to pause their plans. Despite the stress of living in separate countries - with Joanna in England and Sindre in Norway - she pushed through, taking up a delivery job that had her walking 30,000 steps per day. And Joanna, an offshore helicopter pilot from Aberdeen, said this kept her in excellent physical health before being able to continue their IVF journey in the summer of 2020. "My mum had said to me at one point that I should freeze my eggs - and I thought it was a bit too "Hollywood," said Joanna. "But when I was in the States, I was out there for a lot longer than I planned to initially, and I started to think she had a good point. "I went to a clinic, and found that sadly, I'd missed my opportunity. BCRM said that there wasn't really much point in freezing my eggs, because there weren't many left at that stage - but they said they could possibly freeze embryos. "This was tricky because my partner Sindre and I weren't sure what the future held for us as we had both just moved back from the US, me to the UK and him to Norway," said Joanna. "But he was incredibly supportive and agreed to donate sperm to fertilise my eggs, and I began the necessary drugs and had two eggs removed on my first cycle. "The first cycle we went through failed - we collected two eggs from that and neither of them fertilised. I was in a stressful place at the time, and I wasn't enormously fit. "During COVID, we couldn't do another cycle anyway - and I needed a job to pay the bills. Amazon was the only job that fitted the bill because my parents were elderly and shielding, so I wanted something where I wasn't going to be in much contact with people. "With Amazon, delivering is crazy - I was doing around 30,000 steps per day, plus I had a very active Labrador. I would get up early, walk the dog, do a full day of deliveries, come back to walk the dog again - and then do some yoga because I was so sore from getting in and out of the van all day. "I was eating much healthier - I would have to prep things in advance to take with me, because when you're working for Amazon, you don't get time to stop for food. I was probably the fittest I've ever been in my entire life." When treatment restarted in the summer of 2020, Joanna had a second cycle which resulted in one embryo for freezing, and in September she had a third cycle. "After a little while, when the fertility clinics were able to offer treatment again, the next cycle was better. The next cycle after that was better still - although I don't know whether my fitness was a factor or not!" she said. "After the third cycle of treatment the BCRM team retrieved six eggs, which resulted in another three fertilised embryos. "With four frozen embryos now available to us - not a huge number, but not bad - I felt I had done all I could to protect my chances of eventually becoming a mother, and in August 2021 I relocated to take up a new flying job in Aberdeen." When COVID restrictions were in place Sindre was living and working in his native Norway and the couple were unable to see each other for 18 months due to border closures and rules requiring three weeks of quarantine, which was not possible to manage alongside work. Despite the odds, Joanna and Sindre's relationship flourished and at the end of 2022 he joined her in Aberdeen. Once settled, the couple decided it was time to try for a baby, and with no natural conception occurring due to her low ovarian reserve, Joanna contacted BCRM again. While her first embryo transfer didn't result in pregnancy, the second did, but although the eight-week scan revealed a heartbeat, there was none at the 12-week scan which Joanna said was heartbreaking. 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However, in May 2024 she had the third of her four frozen embryos transferred with a successful result and at the end of February 2025, Joanna and Sindre were delighted to welcome daughter Alia into the world. Once Joanna had checked there was no reason not to travel with a newborn, she flew her down for a surprise visit to meet her maternal grandparents in Surrey, and then over to Stavanger in Norway shortly after to visit her Norwegian grandparents. "She is proving to be a very sweet, happy baby and so far a chilled traveller," said Joanna. "The name Alia was one Sindre and I first heard when living in Hawaii, and loved as we felt it was simple yet pretty, so that was the name we kept coming back to even though it is unusual in the UK and Norway. "When visiting the hospital for a check-up, they mistakenly had her on their system as 'Alan' which we found entertaining so that might stick as a nickname." Joanna and Sindre are thrilled to have become parents - and Joanna is eager to share her story in the hopes of encouraging women to explore the fertility options available to them. "I wanted to share my story so that other women in my position might be encouraged by what is possible," said Joanna. "I think, had I realised how hard it was going to be, I would have prioritised it more when I was younger. I think the only thing I would do differently is that if I could speak to my 30-year-old self, I would have frozen eggs a lot younger to give myself more options. "Now, becoming a new mama at 44 marks such an exciting new chapter in my life, and we are over the moon to have our beautiful little daughter."
