A couple desperate to start a family shed 20st between them in a bid to get the fertility help they need.
Kyrie Doran, 29, says she ballooned to 20 stone as a result of conditions including PCOS, endometriosis and an underactive thyroid.
However, since doctors wouldn’t take her and husband Carl seriously with her fertility issues because of their size, the pair have dropped 10 stone each and are now totally unrecognisable.
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As well as wanting to lose weight to help her fall pregnant, Kyrie and Carl, both from Dublin, wanted to shed the pounds for their wedding day.
Kyrie decided to take matters into her own hands and booked gastric sleeve surgery in Turkey, which helped her lose 10 stone before Carl had the procedure six months later.
By the time her wedding came around in November last year, Kyrie had to swap her previous size 28 dress for a size 10, which had to be reordered in a petite size from the dress factory.
Kyrie, a special needs assistant, said: “My weight has been an issue for me for as long as I can remember, and it stemmed from hormonal conditions that began when I first started my periods.
“My hormonal imbalances meant that my weight went up pretty much overnight.
“I went from being a healthy active child who did football and dancing, to being inactive and bullied because of my size as I ballooned up almost overnight.
“At my biggest size, which was 20 stone, I hated how I looked. I lacked confidence which seeped into my relationships.
“I was unhappy. I wouldn’t look in the mirror at myself and I wouldn’t take pride in my appearance at all.
“I genuinely was disgusted with myself. I hate how I made myself feel and I hate that I let the bullies win.
“However, the turning point in my life was when Carl and I decided we wanted to try for a family.
“Due to my condition, we struggled to conceive and had to start a fertility journey.
“Doctors wouldn’t help me as my weight was too high and they wouldn’t take me seriously in
regards to what our options were until I lost weight.
“They wouldn’t even look at me because of my size. I decided that was it, and I was done with struggling with my weight.
“So I booked weight loss surgery, flew to Turkey and had a gastric sleeve in May 2021.”
Carl had gotten up to 25 stone before he decided to follow in Kyrie’s footsteps and undergo weight loss surgery too.
Kyrie said: “Carl was scared to have the surgery at first, but after seeing my results within the first six months, he was ready to give it a go. We travelled back to Turkey to the same surgeon who did my gastric sleeve and Carl went under the knife to begin his lifestyle change.
“He also had gastric sleeve surgery which has helped him lose 10 stone.
“We go back to Turkey every year and stop by the hospital just to say thank you to the team. They really did save our lives.”
The couple are now being taken seriously in their journey to becoming parents. Kyrie said: “Myself and Carl have always spoken about having children. We have Carl’s daughter, my stepdaughter, and she is our world.
“She’s at the age where she’s asking for a brother or sister and we just have to keep positive that it will happen. We’re hopeful.
“I started this journey to begin trying for our family.
“We have had three miscarriages and are trying for our rainbow baby but we are having difficulty because of my medical diagnosis.
“Since losing weight, my doctors are now actually trying to help me rather than ignoring me.
“We have just begun our fertility treatments, hysteroscopy and D&C, and we have just been given the go-ahead to begin trying again.
“We’re staying as positive as possible. However, weight loss surgery has totally changed our lives.
“It’s crazy because some days I still see myself as size 28 and at 20 stone, but looking back on pictures I can see how far I have come.”
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