Our Story
On 5th November 2016, after almost 5 years of heartache and disappointment, I injected myself with the trigger shot that would produce the egg that would go on to become our beautiful baby boy, Leo Jeffrey Bayona. This year on 5th November our little IVF miracle would have just turned 12 weeks and we will be running the Richard Burton 10k Road Race in Port Talbot in aid of Fertility Network UK. This run will be even more special for us as Leo was ‘created’ by the amazing team at the Wales Fertility Institute in Neath Port Talbot Hospital.
We still cannot believe how lucky we are to have our little Leo, but we will never forget how hard our journey was and will always be grateful for the support we had through the Wales Fertility Institute and the Fertility Network UK. We experienced years of heartache, loss, disappointment, anger, a hell of a lot of drugs (the hormonal kind)…. followed by a hell of a lot of tears and wine when we had a big fat negative. For me infertility went hand in hand with periods of anxiety, depression and stress and without being able to open up to family, friends and professionals we wouldn’t be where we are today.
During our journey, social media could be a dark place with constant pregnancy and birth announcements, and our friends beautiful babies filling our feeds. However I also found strength from connecting with people who were also struggling with fertility. We want to share our story to help raise awareness and remove the stigma around fertility issues which prevents so many people from talking about it, and raise money for a charity that helps people experiencing fertility problems.
Please support Rachael &Paul https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bayona-nfaw?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=20171008_108571