Earlier on this week, the Sher Institute shared the photo on its Facebook page, along with the sweetest caption stressing how much love goes into making IVF babies.
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Here's the incredible photo:
ivf baby
The mom, who wants to be known only by her first name, Angela, told ABC News that "the needles were the easy part." She stressed that "the emotional struggle, the ups and downs" are what really took a toll. "I'm single and waited a long time for a husband to come," Angela said. "And then by that time it was difficult to get pregnant."
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Angela's doctor at the clinic, Dr. Molina Dayal, revealed that, despite the jarring number of syringes in the photo, those weren't even all the supplies the mother used to conceive. According to Dr. Dayal, Angela had been through multiple IVF cycles over the course of a year and a half.
This stunning photo of course isn't the typical newborn photo — and that's important. It shows women struggling with infertility that they're not alone and that there is hope. So many women undergoing IVF feel embarrassed or uncomfortable talking about their journey of trying to conceive — as well as sometimes hopeless — but this beautiful photo, which not only shows the gorgeous result of IVF but the grueling process, has women talking. And talking about a subject like this is crucial.
At this point, the photo has been liked more than 10,000 times, and there's a seemingly endless string of sweet, supportive comments from mothers, talking about their infertility journeys. Many added photos of their beautiful children who were conceived via IVF, offering words of encouragement. "Every injection and every tear was worth waiting for these two miracles!" one mother wrote, sharing a photo of her 7-year-old twins. Another woman said, "Trying to conceive and am currently doing treatment right now, I pray for success for myself and the thousands of other women on their ventures. Baby dust to everyone! XO." And another happy mother commented, "Amazingly moving picture, brought tears to my eyes. Every single shot, ultrasound, pill & blood draw is completely worth it. My living IVF miracle is 9."
Beautiful.
In vitro fertilization is one of those things society isn't yet completely comfortable talking about, but hopefully a photo like this and the encouraging words of all these mothers and women hoping to become mothers will make it less taboo. IVF is hard enough. You don't have to do it alone.
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Congratulations to this beautiful baby's mother. She's incredibly strong for sharing this photo — and of course incredibly strong for going what she went through to get her miracle.