When a couple decides to have a child and the long-awaited pregnancy does not come, it is normal to feel that the dream of becoming parents is getting more and more away, so we wanted to share today this stunning photograph taken by Samantha Drake Packer that it has gone viral and represents hope for all those couples who fight against infertility.
The little girl we see in the center of the photo surrounded by syringes is called London O'Neill and was born on August 3 after four years, seven attempts, three abortions and 1,616 injections that his mother was given for the in vitro fertilization treatment that finally made possible the pregnancy and the birth of the girl.
A long and difficult road
The story, told in Love That Matters by the protagonists themselves, is a beautiful story full of frustration, but also of hope for couples in that situation.
The girl is the daughter of a couple of women, Kimberly O'Neil, 37, and Patricia O'Neil, 30, of Phoenix, Arizona. Both had a son, a biological and an adopted one, from a previous relationship, so they thought it would not be too difficult. They would get a sperm donor and nine months later they would be mothers. But it would not be so simple.
In 2014 Patricia underwent two rounds of intrauterine insemination, none of which resulted. Then they changed doctors and began the IVF trip (in vitro fertilization) with two egg recoveries. On the second attempt they achieved five embryos, which gave them five opportunities to have a baby.
But with each implantation the hope also diminished. The couple lost a baby at six weeks of gestation and then another at eight weeks.
The doctors then decided to do some tests and detected in Patricia a blood clotting problem called Factor V Leiden, a rare disease that causes a hypercoagulability disorder and causes a higher risk of developing blood clots during pregnancy.
Knowing this, a new attempt was made and it did not work, but a month later they tested the fourth embryo and succeeded.
At eight weeks they could hear their baby's heart beating and they knew they were expecting a child, but once again, it didn't turn out:
"We saw the heartbeat and then we went at 11 weeks and the heartbeat had stopped," Patricia told CNN.
They broke down at the loss of their baby and thought about throwing in the towel, but decided to keep trying. The last remaining embryo was his last hope.
They looked for a doctor specialized in the coagulation mutation of Patricia, who also found other factors linked to repeated abortions such as inflammation markers, low levels of vitamin D and an enzymatic deficiency that prevented her from conceiving and carrying a pregnancy to term.
The specialist indicated heparin injections twice a day and finally managed to conceive. During the first weeks, controls increased and care was maximized and finally the pregnancy came to an end after four years of attempts, much struggle and suffering.
A symbol of hope
In the photo, London appears wrapped in a rainbow blanket and surrounded by syringes that had been stored since they began their journey to IVF, and also those of heparin injections that were used in this last stage.
The couple chose the birth photographer Samantha Packer, who has taken dozens of photos of rainbow babies, who are babies born after a mother has lost a baby due to miscarriage, fetal death or loss of a newborn baby.
One week after London was born, and after having spent 40 thousand dollars in treatmentsThey decided to make the photo session more special:
"Instantly they began to cry," Packer said. "I think that's why the photo resonated with so many people. The trip, the objective and the baby, was a lot."
The image was intended to be a personal reminder for the couple, but after posting it on Facebook it had such an impact and has become a symbol of hope for people fighting against infertility.
