How we went from fertility heartbreak to identical twins with our first IVF cycle

Aged just 18 and in the middle of her A-Level exams, doctors discovered a benign tumour on Georgina’s right ovary which resulted in the loss of the ovary and right fallopian tube. Believing that children were an unlikely part of her future, Georgina threw herself into her career as a chemistry teacher. But thanks to IVF and the team at TFP Nurture Fertility, Georgina and husband Michael welcomed twin boys, Freddie and Jack, in October 2025.

Georgina & Michael’s story

Like most 18 year olds at the time, Georgina was busily preparing for her A-Level exams having applied for early entry to study medicine at University. But with something at the back of her mind stealing her focus, she decided to book an appointment with her GP to discuss the loss of her menstrual period.  

“I’d always been slim but I had started to put on a bit of weight and was deemed to have a healthy BMI so I knew that the loss of my period wasn’t normal and I wanted to get it checked out,” explains Georgia. “I was referred for an ultrasound scan and 24 hours later I received a phone call from the GP asking me to come back in.” 

Back at the doctor’s surgery, Georgina was given the news no 18 year old should have to hear: a tumour had been found on her right ovary.  

“I was dumbfounded, I didn’t know what to do or what to say,” shares Georgina. “I went home and told my parents and they were understandably very upset. From there it was a bit of a whirlwind.”  

Within a week, Georgina had been referred to her local gynaecology department who advised that she would need a CT scan to assess whether the tumour was cancerous.  

“Thankfully, everything moved quite quickly back then and on Christmas Eve my oncology nurse rang me to say that the tumour was benign and to have a good Christmas,” recalls Georgina.   

“It was a huge relief to know it wasn’t cancer but the tumour still needed to be removed and because of its size, I was told keyhole surgery wasn’t an option.” 

Worried about her upcoming January exams and the recovery period post-surgery, Georgina agreed with her consultant to wait until the February half term to have the benign tumour removed.  

Awaking from surgery, sore and confused, Georgina was met with more devastating news: due to its significant size, the removal of the tumour had resulted in the loss of her right ovary and fallopian tube.  

“I was determined to have a career because I didn’t know if I’d ever have a child.”

In the wake of her surgery, Georgina wasn’t explicitly told what impact the loss of the ovary and fallopian tube would have on her fertility. But aged just 18 at the time, children felt like a very distant future, so after an 8-week recovery period, she threw herself back into her schoolwork and exams and later went off to University in pursuit of a normal life.  

Recognising her own teachers as her role models, Georgina went on to train as a chemistry teacher, admitting to giving her all to her career in the fear that she may never conceive a child of her own or experience that part of life.  

“I didn’t know what the future would hold for me in that regard so I decided that if a career was all I was going to have then I was going to make the most of it - I was going to be the Head of Science, and then the Head of Sixth Form, and I would have a nice life that way,” she confesses.

“As I got older, I could see people around me that had both a career and a family.” 

As Georgina, now 34, grew older and after meeting her now husband Michael, 42, in 2018, the pull for a family of her own became more recognisable.  

“I started to realise that having both a career and family would have been possible. That for a lot of people, it’s never a choice of either or,” expresses Georgina. “And then when I met Michael, someone that I could see myself having all of those things with, it became even more difficult to ignore.” 

Still unsure of what their route to parenthood would look like, Georgina and Michael began trying to conceive shortly after their wedding in 2023. After a year and a half without success, Georgina opted to see a local fertility specialist to explore their options.  

At the clinic, Georgina had some fertility tests carried out, including an internal ultrasound scan to assess her reproductive organs. Almost 14 years after the first tumour was found, Georgina’s world would be rocked once again with the discovery of another mass on her remaining ovary.  

“Honestly, the specialist was flummoxed. He couldn’t say exactly what it was but he thought it could be an ectopic pregnancy and recommended that I make an appointment with my GP for further investigations,” explains Georgina.  

“When I did see my GP, he was shocked that a fertility specialist had suspected an ectopic pregnancy and not immediately arranged for me to be taken to hospital. I wasn’t in any pain so hadn’t been too worried myself but I was told that ectopic pregnancies could be life threatening and it should have been treated as a matter of urgency.”  

“I remember asking if there was time to freeze my eggs.” 

Georgina’s GP referred her for an urgent appointment at her local hospital to have the mass investigated. Unfortunately, even an urgent appointment wasn’t available until five months later in November 2024.  

In a state of panic at the risk of losing her only ovary and her fertility along with it, Georgina knew her only option was now to pay to see a specialist privately to get the much needed answers about the mass growing inside of her. 

“It was a bit of a rollercoaster to be completely honest, I was devastated. But I also knew that time wasn’t necessarily on my side and all I kept thinking was that I needed to get to the bottom of it and would have wanted to freeze my eggs if it were the worst case scenario.” 

That same week, Georgina met with a private gynaecologist who happened to know the surgeon that had operated on her 14 years previously and sympathised with her circumstances. Offering Georgina a lifeline, she was able to refer Georgina back to the NHS for an out of hours appointment and within 24 hours the mass was identified as another dermoid cyst.  

From there, things started to escalate quickly. By September 2024, Georgina was experiencing severe pelvic pain and additional tests indicated that her ovary was now starting to twist. There was now no longer time for Georgina to consider freezing her eggs as emergency surgery was deemed necessary in an attempt to remove the cyst and save her remaining ovary. 

“The specialist told me they didn’t need fallopian tubes.” 

In the aftermath of Georgina’s surgery, she was sent for a hysterosalpingo-contrast sonography to assess what remaining fertility she had left. During the scan, it became apparent that her fallopian tube now had a blockage and any hope that she and Michael had of conceiving naturally was completely lost.  

“It was heartbreaking to accept this was our reality given everything I’d been through already,” says Georgina. “Michael and I had spoken about IVF previously and we knew it was an option. And while we didn’t necessarily know if it would work for us, we were grateful that we at least had another option and were happy to trust the process.” 

Because Michael has two older children from a previous relationship, the couple were not eligible for NHS funding for fertility treatment, despite Georgina’s turbulent medical history and its dramatic effect on her fertility. Knowing they would now have to fund their IVF journey themselves, the couple put their trust in TFP Nurture Fertility, having heard of two friends that had successfully completed treatment there already.  

“We felt privileged in a sense that we were in a position to do this. I also knew that I could give them a call, book an appointment and be seen almost immediately which offered a lot of reassurance.” 

In November 2024, Georgina and Michael went for their first consultation at TFP Nurture and immediately knew they were in the right place.  

“From the receptionists to the nurses and clinicians, everyone we encountered throughout our journey was so lovely,” Georgina remembers.  

“But what we respected the most was that the specialists were really honest about our circumstances. We were told that they didn’t expect the first cycle to work and that it might take a bit of trial and error with the medication which helped to manage our expectations.”  

“Fertility treatment can start to take over your life so sometimes you just need to focus on the basics to get through.” 

In January 2025, Georgina and Michael were ready to start their IVF journey, having enjoyed one last trip together in the Caribbean. Georgina admits to focusing on one step of their treatment at a time, not allowing herself to get too carried away by the outcome. 

“Because we expected to need a second cycle, taking it a day at a time stopped us from spiraling,” she explains. “I remember thinking that we just needed to get through the next two weeks and if it didn’t work we’d go again. We just needed to follow the process.” 

“You do have to make a few lifestyle adjustments during fertility treatment and at times I was often relieved to go back to work after the weekend just so I had something else to focus on. But the hardest part for me was the swelling on my left side. 

“I’m someone that likes to be suited and booted for work but it became too uncomfortable to wear anything too fitted. Eventually, I was told I had to stop running too as it became too painful with the bloating.” 

“The sonographer asked me twice how many embryos had been transferred.” 

When it came to her egg retrieval, nine eggs were collected from Georgina’s left ovary and fertilised with Michael’s sperm. Six of these grew into healthy embryos over a five day period.  

Following a single embryo transfer in February, the couple couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw a positive pregnancy test result two weeks later; a monumental moment for Georgina after more than a decade of heartache relating to her fertility. To the couple’s surprise, there was more good news to follow when the sonographer revealed at their six week viability scan that they were not just expecting one baby, but identical twins.  

“The sonographer asked a couple of times how many embryos had been transferred and I remember thinking to myself ‘it’s OK, there’s nothing there but we can go again.’ 

“When she told us it was twins, we couldn’t believe it. We never expected to get one, let alone two,” beamed Georgina.  

In October 2025, Georgina and Michael welcomed twin boys, Freddie and Jack.  

“They are more than I ever could have dreamed. I spent a good part of my life thinking this would never be a possibility and even though having two is not easy, I wouldn’t change it for the world. 

“If I could tell my younger self one thing it would be that things might not necessarily go how you’d expect them to, or even in the order that you may have wanted, but if you trust your gut and remain open to possibilities then everything will work out in the end.”