Brennan Moreno is in awe of her precious little girl. But Addie Jean is a blessing she had to fight for.
“She is just worth the wait!” Moreno said.
>> National Infertility Association
Moreno always knew she wanted to be a mom. In her early 20s, she married the love of her life. A few years later, they started trying for a baby.
“So I went into it very optimistic, very excited, and very hopeful,” she told Channel 9′s Erica Bryant.
[ RESOURCES: Supporting families in the Carolinas before and after pregnancy ]
She said she downloaded a tracker app and identified the days of the month she’d be most likely to conceive.
“I started tracking what was happening in my fertile window, and the signs that I was supposed to be seeing that I did not see,” Moreno said.
While she was concerned, her OB-GYN at the time was not.
“My doctor told me you’re young, you’re fine,” Moreno said.
But her gut told her otherwise.
“I knew something just still wasn’t right,” she said.
Moreno and her husband kept trying throughout the pandemic, and though they weren’t able to get pregnant, it fueled her determination.
“I needed a doctor to match the momentum that I had to bring home a family,” she said. “And so yeah, so after that, I reached out to Dr. Johnson.”
Dr. Matrika Johnson is a reproductive specialist. She said she wishes more women would seek help sooner, because there is a clear definition of infertility.
[ ALSO READ: UNC Charlotte documentary helps couples struggling with infertility ]
“If you are less than 35 years old and you’ve been trying to get pregnant for more than a year, that meets the definition of infertility,” she said. “If you are 35 and you’ve been trying to get pregnant for six months or more, that is infertility.”
According to the World Health Organization, infertility rates are on the rise, with more than 1 in 6 people experiencing it. With those numbers, experts say more women should ask for fertility assessments during their annual exams to explore all of their options.
“For lots of women, it’s the only time that we see a doctor all year,” Johnson said. “I think that it’s really something important that OB-GYN’s should be talking to their patients and saying, ‘hey, egg freezing is a thing. Is that something that you’re interested in?’”
For Moreno, IVF was the answer. She documented the journey and the moment she got the good news. She told Bryant that advocating for herself and finding the right physician changed everything.
“There were some things that Dr. Johnson found that a regular OB may not have been able to catch because she’s a specialist,” Moreno said.
Now, she has her special little one, Addie Jean. She’s also frozen her eggs for maybe more children.
“If you feel like you’re not being listened to, get another opinion,” Moreno said.
“Keep going, keep fighting and find a doctor that fights for you and with you.”
(WATCH BELOW: Former Mrs. North Carolina raises awareness surrounding infertility to support others)
This browser does not support the video element.