Hollie and Leigh Bennett tried for 10 years to add to their family.
Hollie had stage 4 endometriosis and, in her own mind, was closer to a hysterotomy than another child.
Their son Billy was at peace, if a tad disappointed, with the idea that he would be an only child.
“We tried all the different things you could think of to fall pregnant and IVF wasn’t an option for us because we were saving for our home,” Hollie said.
Things changed for the Bennetts when they moved from Gisborne to Taradale.
Hollie’s sister-in-law shared a social media post with her regarding the launch of the Public Fertility Care services across Victoria.
“It was a sign, like it was meant to happen. We’d moved to Taradale and public IVF was available in Bendigo, so we thought we’d give it a try,” Hollie said.
A month after her gynaecologist sent her referral to the Royal Women’s, Hollie had her first appointment at Bendigo Health.
Four months later she fell pregnant with Bonnie.
“With the first round of IVF nothing happened, but the second round the Doctors decided to do a flare cycle and two follicles made it to embryo stage,” Hollie said.
The overjoyed family welcomed Bonnie into the world at Dhelkaya Health in December 2024. “We gave it one last go and it happened,” Hollie said.
Her advice for others considering public IVF?
“Give it a go and let go of the control of everything. A lot of women when they go to have children want to control and overcomplicate things. And I’m like that too but in the end, I had to let go,” she said.
Bendigo Health is one of 11 partner health services across the state providing free public fertility care to Victorians.
The Public Fertility Service is led by the Royal Women’s and services include:
For more information, visit: https://www.bendigohealth.org.au/PublicFertilityCare/