Parents have welcomed a miracle baby after turning to GoFundMe to help pay for a third round of expensive IVF treatment.
Zoe Nickless and her husband Ben endured years of heartbreak as they attempted to conceive. In 2011, the couple discovered they wouldn't be able to have a baby naturally and tried artificial insemination. Devastatingly, it had failed.
Their pregnancy attempts were soon halted when Zoe's dad became ill, but the couple, who then lived in Devon, decided to turn to IVF treatment in 2019. But sadly, this had also "failed", leaving Zoe and Ben reluctant to try again.
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Zoe, 37, told the Liverpool ECHO it was "emotionally and physically draining" so the pair continued with their lives, moving to Chester in early 2020 before they realised "something was missing". Zoe added: "It was very difficult seeing everyone enjoying their time and it was very apparent something was missing in our life and we hadn't actually given up trying for a baby."
So when lockdown lifted, the pair turned to IVF once again and it was "third time lucky" as they found out they were pregnant. But devastatingly, at 13 weeks pregnant, they were told their baby boy was extremely poorly.
Zoe explained: "It took 11 weeks to get a diagnosis because it was so rare. While we were trying to decide what to do for him, he died at 25 weeks. It was the worst experience of our lives after all these years of trying."
Having almost all but given up, a friend of theirs suggested they set up a Go Fund Me page to help in raising funds for the expensive treatment. Having raised £8,000 in just four weeks, Zoe said it was "insane".
She added: "We tried another round at a different clinic and it didn't work but they let us try again. It was an overwhelming time. It ended up being third time lucky after Billy and we managed to get there.
"I keep saying this isn't just our baby it's a lot of people's baby. We almost gave up after Billy died."
Teddy was born on June 15 as the delighted parents are sharing their journey in the hopes of raising awareness of IVF treatment. Zoe said: "My husband was on Britain's Got Talent last year and the day of, we just found out we had another negative pregnancy test and it was really hard."
Despite the struggles, Ben Nickless made it to the final of BGT last year after impressing the judges with his impressions.
In her advice, Zoe said: "A lot of people say to keep going but it's not always possible. We gave up, not everyone can afford to do that, it's a postcode lottery. When all you see are prams or pregnant people and that's all you want, it's devastating. People who go through fertility go through the same roller coaster of emotions as people with cancer. It's quite shocking, and I've been there.
"Even with lockdown, people having lockdown babies, it was really frustrating to see people get pregnant and not endure years of tests, tablets and scans. And when we got pregnant and made it to 12 weeks, everyone said that's a hurdle over but that's when we found out everything was wrong.
"Not everyone does get this bad luck though, we were told it's extremely bad luck but it's important to make time for yourself. Don't worry about others, look after your own emotions."
According to GoFundMe, thousands of fundraisers have been created in recent years mentioning ‘IVF’ as more families use crowdfunding as a means of paying for their fertility care. For those successful in funding their treatment, many IVF patients now have children thanks to money raised online.
So far in 2023 GoFundMe has seen a 52% increase in the number of donations to fundraisers mentioning IVF, IUI or fertility treatment.
