April is what we call our Sisters in Loss Fertility Awareness Month. All month long we will be talking to women who have had fertility challenges, gone through alternative fertility treatments like IUI or IVF, and continue to push through the barriers to grow their families.
In today’s episode as we end Black Maternal Health Week we have LaTaunya Andrews who shares her PCOS journey and infertility challenges. LaTaunya is a Navy Military wife residing in beautiful San Diego, California, while her husband is currently on deployment. LaTaunya was diagnosed with PCOS when she was 21, and her doctor told her she wouldn’t be able to have children. She started her journey to motherhood back in September 2015, after changing her lifestyle to shrink her cysts, she conceived in December 2016 with the help of Clomid. She was so happy and felt quite blessed, however on January 6, 2017 just 2 days after hearing the babies heartbeat for the first time she found out she was miscarrying. LaTaunya left the hospital defeated, but determined to have a baby. She went on to conceive again in January 2018 and that ended in a chemical pregnancy. In this episode LaTaunya shares where she is now currently in her journey after a hysteroscopy removing precancerous cells, hyperthyroidism diagnosis, and a benin tumor on her pituitary gland. LaTaunya is determined to bring home her rainbow baby and shares how she keeps going inspite of set back after set back, and how she stays grounded. This episode is for you to listen to if you have PCOS, hyperthyroidism, Pituitary gland tumor, or infertility challenges that make you question “why me God.”
LaTaunya Andrews Bio
My name is LaTaunya, I am 31 years old. I am married to a wonderful man who currently serves in the U.S. Navy, and this year will make 7 years since we said I do! I am the second to oldest of 5, there are 3 girls and 2 boys. I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, however, I consider beautiful San Diego, California home. I enjoy reading, traveling, spending time with family, and spoiling my dogs. At this time I am a student pursuing a degree in Cultural Anthropology, with hopes of working as either a Military Family Life Counselor or in Community Development.
When I was 21 (2009), I was officially diagnosed with PCOS, and my doctor told me that I wouldn’t be able to have children. I was devastated and because I was young I accepted that, and learned to live with the idea of never being a Mom. My journey to motherhood started in September of 2015. I was already aware that there would be somewhat of a challenge trying to conceive, however, my husband and I were up for the challenge because we wanted to at least try before fully giving up the idea of expanding our family. After months of lifestyle changes to shrink cyst and a deployment, we finally conceived in December 2016 with the help of clomid (our second round). We were sooo happy and felt quite blessed! Unfortunately, January 6, 2017 just 2 days after seeing our babies heartbeat for the first time we returned to the hospital to find out there was no longer a heartbeat (6weeks 5days). I felt defeated and I immediately shut everyone except for my husband out. One year later January 2018, after another deployment we were able to conceive naturally and unfortunately it resulted in a chemical pregnancy. In May of 2018 I finally had a hysteroscopy done to check for leftover tissue from my previous pregnancy, and there was leftover tissue and a polyp which had pre cancerous cells that were removed before anything could fully develop. Thank God! About 2 months later I stared my first round of Letrozole that I didn’t respond to, and 1 month later I started a second round that failed. Because I went through a lot emotionally with my last round of letrozole, I decided that I wanted to take a break from trying to conceive. Three months later in November 2018 I was diagnosed with Sub clinical Hyperthyroidism, and currently I am trying to find the cause, and also prepare for new fertility treatments. I have had a lot of emotional breakdowns through this journey but prayer along with counseling has gotten me through some of the darkest moments of my life. I have faith that God will continue to guide me through this and my Rainbow will come.
JOIN THE UPCOMING GRIEF AND INFERTILITY COURSE at sistersinLoss.as.me/groupcoaching
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