I think I’ve mentioned that BJ and I like to watch house hunters on HGTV. We started watching the show about the time we were thinking of selling our old house. We watched to get ideas about staging, to gawk at mansions and to get ideas of things we’d like in our next house.
The shows are based on young couples buying their first place or young families looking for more room. There are shows about families with older children and retired people as well. All too often it’s geared toward newlyweds that end up pregnant at the end of the show because they wanted to get started on their family building right away. Lucky them. There have been many times when I have talked to the TV and said things like “it might not be that easy!” and “not everyone gets knocked up just because they want to!” And then the woman ends up pregnant at the end anyway, despite my discord.
BJ and I were watching a show last week and the written description said that it was a young couple moving on from painful memories. I couldn’t wait for it to come on because I love a good story. Well, wouldn’t you know it was about IF! The young couple got married and wanted a baby right away. They had problems...they suffered from infertility. They saved up money to travel to the Czech Republic for an IVF since it was so expensive here in the states. Unfortunately, it did not work. They were devastated. With each interview I was so impressed with how they tried to convey their disappointment, their sadness, their overall emotional turmoil. At one point, I looked at BJ and said, “She’s been crying...look at her eyes.”
They had a small budget because on the off chance that they could afford more treatments they didn’t want to be cash strapped. They said they needed to move out of their house and start fresh and put the pain and suffering behind them and try to focus on the future. BJ tapped my leg and said to the TV, “my baby knows how that feels.” For all they knew they were done trying to have a child. The disappointment was so intense that they just wanted to run from any memory of it.
They chose a house and as usual the show comes back and films more footage to wrap the story up. The crew came back 4 months later. The woman said, “we’ve been in the house 3 months now...” and I caught a glimpse of her stomach. I asked BJ if she was pregnant. He said she wasn’t sure, it was hard to tell. The couple kept talking and made no mention of a baby and I thought for sure she was just a little pudgy. The very next scene showed them sitting on the floor looking at paint chips and discussing which color would be good for a nursery. The camera cut to the woman and she stated that they went on a trip to Italy and decided to give IVF in the Czech Republic one more go ‘round. It worked. They are now having a baby. BJ said, “I knew it...”
As pissed as I was that they ended up pregnant, I was genuinely happy for them. They seemed like such nice people and they had obviously struggled to get there. As many episodes as I’ve seen (and it’s been A LOT) they have never dealt with IF. This couple talked about the emotional turmoil of IF and of their failed IVF. They had so much invested and then to come home empty handed was devastating for them. I was glad to have their story out there and I told BJ how brave I thought they were for coming forward on TV like that.
I just wish that we all could get a happy ending like they did. All too often many of us are just left with empty arms and diminished bank accounts. And don’t think I didn’t Google the hell out of IVF in the Czech Republic. And yes, it’s very cheap compared to here and there are companies that assist couples with all aspects of their travel from airport transportation to rides to and from the clinic to sight-seeing tours. It’s amazing. All in all I think the show did a good job with this couple. I’m sorry they struggled but I am happy that they received their miracle.
7 comments:
I too want a baby and a house. Renting a house in a neighborhood with some many pregnant women just drives me batty.
Wow. That is a good story. Any chance of you going to the czech republic? (it's only a four hour flight from here - you can come visit!).
It's funny because my mom has this superstition that I'll have a successful pregnancy once we move into our new place. There TV goes again, pushing another IF myth! Ahh well, at least the story was out there. :-)
I love HH, but I missed this episode, I'll have to see if TiVO watched it for me. I read a blogger who went to the CR for IVF, which I think didn't work for her, but she has really bad endo or fibroids. It is interesting to know it is an option - and it is cheaper? Even with travel expenses too? Very interesting....
This is interesting - I wish I would have caught this! I love when TV shows talk about IF in an honest way. It helps to get our stories out there!
If you are ever intersted in talking with someone who did two IVFs in the Czech Republic I know someone. She's from there originally but she has very good things to say about the clinic she used. And for her two cycles it was still less than one cycle here, even with travel.
I remember several people telling me when they found out we were having trouble getting pregnant to "buy a new house, that always works". Hmph. That was just after being in our new house for maybe a year or two, so so much for that theory.
I have a love/hate relationship with Househunters. I could tell you at the very start of each show who'd be pregnant at the end. It was sickening. I'm glad to see an IF couple represented! Although it seems the majority of people would view it as "Well, in the end they got their baby. Isn't that always how it works?".
I scoff out loud at the couples who go on HH and say outrageous things like "this will be the nursery" and "we need lots of bedrooms for the kids we want to have" and "it will be awesome to start our family here". I'm glad that they were honest about their struggles, though...even if their ending is what people think always happens... (hug)
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