FIRST PERSON
My IVF failed. I will not be a mother. And I’m OK with that
Jane Mulkerrins was 44 and single when she decided to try to have a baby. She reveals what it’s like to go through gruelling fertility treatment — and come out the other side with no regrets
Jane Mulkerrins, 46, photographed at the Do Not Disturb Bar at the Vintry & Mercer hotel in London
MARK HARRISON FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE. DRESS, MEANDEM.COM. EARRINGS, BUTLERANDWILSON.CO.UK
The Times
Yes, £25,000 is a lot to pay to answer a question, but I consider it money well spent. That’s the bill for the year-long IVF process I embarked on — including donor sperm, five rounds of egg retrieval (two of them abandoned midway through) and an embryo transfer — so that I would never wonder, “What if…?” I know now that I’m not going to be a mother — and I’m OK with that. I know you probably don’t believe me, but really, I am.
I have many friends who have long said they could never imagine a future in which they were not a mother. That’s not the case for me. I’ve always been able to imagine many possible lives for myself, of which
