Getting pregnant isn’t always easy, especially after 35.
“Well, what did you expect? You’re old.”
After three miscarriages, this was not a response Rachel and Brad were anticipating from their fertility doctor.
Rachel Mackay and her husband Brad are one of the many couples who waited to have kids. Children were always part of the plan, but there was so much they wanted to do first: “And that seemed fine,” says Rachel, “I know lots of women who had babies in their 40s. It seemed like no big deal.” As a healthy, active person, Rachel wasn’t worried.
Despite getting pregnant easily, Rachel and Brad experienced three losses in a row, each one later than the last. Unable to get answers at their small local hospital, their doctor referred them to a specialist in a larger city. And this is where they were told that Rachel was just “old,” a callous thing to say at any point in a fertility journey, but particularly jarring after several miscarriages. Feeling like they should see it through, they stayed with the clinic for eight months. Sperm analysis was done and everything appeared normal. But no other tests were performed, Rachel wasn’t prescribed any fertility drugs, and then the couple began to struggle to get pregnant on their own. “It felt like a waste of eight months. Our time was precious and the clock was ticking,” says Rachel. Certain that this fertility clinic would never provide the answers and care they needed, Rachel and Brad spoke to their original doctor who was alarmed by their experience. She referred them to Mount Sinai Fertility, a three and a half hour drive from their home.
“Our time was precious and the clock was ticking”
