On average, one in five couples will experience problems with infertility at some point in their lives.
For many, this is a very difficult and stressful matter, but as in many other situations, patience and determination can ultimately pay off.
Desiree and Ryan Fortin waited patiently for years before finally turning to fertility treatments. They hoped and prayed above all else that they would be able to have a child.
Very soon after the treatments began, they received the long-awaited news when the doctor told Desiree that she was pregnant. However, at this point, the couple could not have been prepared for what was growing in her belly…
Desiree and Ryan Fortin, who have been together since college, have been married since 2009, but one thing in their relationship had caused problems – they had not been able to have children.
Doctors diagnosed Desiree with polycystic ovary syndrome, hyperthyroidism, and low progesterone levels. She and her husband spent three long and difficult years trying to conceive naturally, before finally turning to fertility treatments.
Instead of getting positive pregnancy tests after starting treatment, Desiree found that her menstrual cycle just kept coming back and forth. It was a very difficult time, both mentally and physically.
“It wasn’t just because I didn’t get pregnant,” she wrote at the time .
– Infertility made me cry more than I ever thought I could… I lay on my bathroom floor in complete silence after countless negative pregnancy tests over and over again. I had to endure pricks, bruises, and all kinds of medication, because if you suffer from infertility and seek treatment, it’s right in front of you. It’s expensive and physically and emotionally very difficult.
So it’s easy to understand that Desiree and Ryan were over the moon when they heard that their first in vitro fertilization was successful.
When they saw the ultrasound, they couldn’t believe their eyes, because instead of one baby, Desiree’s belly was now filled with three! After all the difficulties, the couple was now expecting triplets.
However, the fight didn’t end there for Desiree or the family.
Although she had finally managed to get pregnant, doctors warned her that she would not be able to carry all three to term.
– I was too skinny, too short and it was my first pregnancy, she recalls and continues:
– however, my pregnancy scars are proof that they were wrong.
The Fortin triplets were born in the summer of 2015. Desiree gave birth to them by cesarean section at 34 weeks of pregnancy.
The couple was over the moon when they welcomed their children Sawyer, Jack, and Charlize into the world, each weighing just over 2 pounds at birth.
“I’ll never forget the birth. Like everything about parenting, it had its surprises. After the triplets were born, Ryan went with them to the pediatric intensive care unit while I was sent to recover,” Desiree told Today.
As a first-time mother, Desiree suffered complications after giving birth that caused bleeding and required an emergency c-section, meaning she was unable to see her newborn children right away.
However, Ryan made a video call to his wife as soon as she woke up so the new mother could see her little ones. After spending two weeks in the ward, all three babies were able to go home to start their lives with their parents.
Returning home with three children was a huge change in Ryan and Desiree’s lives.
“We feel blessed, but parenting is also hard work, full of enormous demands and responsibilities – taking care of little people. Our babies suffer from reflux and colic – times three. Getting into a routine is hard, because nurturing a relationship in the midst of crying babies, sleepless nights and other changes is challenging,” Desiree says.
Today, the couple’s triplets are already five years old and the whole family seems to be doing well. You can follow their news on Desiree’s own Instagram page , where she shares photos and videos of the family’s everyday life.