"Nobody wants to be doing IVF, going through the process of struggling to get pregnant," said American writer and actress Erin Foster in an exclusive interview with People last month.
Those who might not be familiar with Erin may be more familiar with her work. She is the Netflix hit series ‘Nobody Wants This’ show creator. According to a lifestyle and celebrity magazine, she is also the brain behind TV mockumentary, ‘Barely Famous.’ She is the daughter of musical legend David Foster and sister of Sara Foster.
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Published by an American beauty magazine, Allure, Erin's feature highlights her journey with IVF–having to complete 20 rounds (20 egg retrievals and five embryo transfers) before she finally got pregnant. The 42-year old writer is now a living testament of the persistence and determination many moms-to-be face when trying to conceive.
What is IVF?
IVF, or in vitro fertilization, is a fertility treatment where eggs are combined with sperm outside the body, allowing fertilization to occur in a laboratory.
According to the Mayo Clinic, during in vitro fertilization, “mature eggs are collected from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. Then a procedure is done to place one or more of the fertilized eggs, called embryos, in a uterus, which is where babies develop. One full cycle of IVF takes about 2 to 3 weeks. Sometimes these steps are split into different parts and the process can take longer.”
IVF can be emotionally and physically challenging. It involves multiple rounds of hormone injections, frequent medical appointments, and sometimes repeated cycles to achieve a pregnancy. While IVF has helped countless individuals and couples to conceive, it often requires significant time, emotional resilience and financial investment. In the country successful IVF costs around half a million pesos: could be lower or higher on a case-to-case basis.
Some individuals, like Erin, would experience a long and serious battle with IVF.
"You always think it’s going to work next time. You don’t know how to stop.” —Erin Foster, American show writer and actress, on her desire for IVF to finally work
Erin’s struggle to get pregnant
Erin opened to Allure about how complex the IVF process was, which started with a curious thought: ‘she’s never had an accidental pregnancy.’
At 34, she got herself checked and found out that she has a really low egg count or ovarian reserve. She then decided to freeze her eggs. She only got three eggs the first time and two more a year after. The third round gave her additional three eggs. A year into a relationship with now husband Simon Tikhman, she decided to make use of all eight eggs and have an embryo.
However, those eight eggs turned up with nothing.
“And this is what people don’t get: Freezing your eggs is not always the solution,” Erin said in the interview.
Also Read: Fertility Treatment Special: Your First Options Before IVF (Part 1)
Betting on all the cards she’s got
Erin describes her IVF journey in the magazine as some sort of gambling addiction, “You always think it’s going to work next time. You don’t know how to stop.”
“There were so many times when I said, ‘That’s it. I’m not doing this anymore. I’m done with this process. F*ck this.’ But then, you know, I just couldn’t help myself. I’d see some sign from the universe. And I’d think, ‘This is it. This is the time. This is the time it’s going to work,” she added.
"I didn’t want to talk to my friends about it because nobody had the right thing to say. I didn’t know anyone who was going through it to the degree that I was going through it.” —Erin Foster on IVF treatments
For six years her life would revolve around IVF and after a total of 20 grueling rounds of egg retrieval and 5 embryo transfers, she finally got pregnant and would later give birth to a daughter, Noa Mimi Tikhman, in May 2024.
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The (infertility) struggle is real
Erin's experience sheds light on the often-hidden toll of fertility struggles of most women who are trying to conceive. It underscores the resilience required to navigate such a journey. It can be undeniably frustrating to a point that Erin herself was so sick of IVF and it has become a numbing experience. “I didn’t react to the highs because I didn’t want the lows, and I didn’t want to talk to my friends about it because nobody had the right thing to say. I didn’t know anyone who was going through it to the degree that I was going through it,” Erin said in the magazine interview.
Also Read: Fertility Treatment Special: Taking the IVF Route (Part 2)
She told Allure, “I shut off during IVF. I was constantly pumping synthetic hormones into my body, and I felt really disconnected from it [as a result]. I hated my body. It wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do.”
While public perception may sometimes assume that celebrities can bypass fertility challenges with ease, the reality is that they face the same struggles as many other women. From IVF treatments to miscarriages and adoption, the journey to parenthood can be an emotional and complex experience for those in the public eye. In the country we've heard of celebrity struggles on failed IVF attempts such as those of Heart Evangelista's and Cheska Kramer's.
Related Read : Fertility Treatment Special: Your Options After Failed IVF (Part 3)
Last month, to bring increased awareness and support to IVF, Erin and her sister Sara decided to team up with a network of fertility clinics, and release a line of limited edition T-shirts with the slogan "IVF, Baby."
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Infertility treatment
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that 1 in every six people of reproductive age experiences infertility. “Infertility affects millions of people – and has an impact on their families and communities.”
WHO believes that every individual is entitled to enjoy the highest achievable standard of physical and mental health. This includes the right of individuals and couples to make their own choices about the number, timing, and spacing of their children. Ensuring access to infertility treatment is therefore crucial in helping individuals and couples fulfill their right to create a family.
Hence, we’ve rounded up a list of fertility clinics to those who are struggling to conceive.
List of fertility clinics and consultancy services
Kato Medical Group
Kato Fertility Center is proud to cite that they are an exclusive Philippine IVF center which offers Minimal Stimulation IVF, showcasing impressive success at 53.2% positive pregnancy rate and 44.0% live birth rate as of 2022.
It has two branches:
Kato Rephro Biotech Center (Makati)
8th Floor Tower 1, The Enterprise Center, 6766 Ayala Avenue, Makati City
Mobile number: +63 (917) 723 9211
Conceive IVF Manila (Quezon City)
Unit 02 8th Floor Hexagon Corporate Center 1471 Quezon Ave. Brgy. West Triangle, Quezon City
Mobile number: +63 917.635.2526
Visit their website here.
Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine and Infertility (CARMI)
Ground Floor, Medical Arts Building, St. Luke's Medical Center-Global City, 32nd St. Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Contact number: +63-2-8789-7700
St. Luke’s-Global City offers fully integrated, comprehensive fertility services to 'accurately diagnose infertility problems and to assist couples who want to conceive a baby.'
“It is the Philippines’ first and only hospital-based IVF center,” according to their website. It was the first facility to introduce advanced diagnostic tests, including Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) testing to assess ovarian reserve and the sperm DNA Fragmentation Test (Halo Test). Additionally, it also offers in-house acupuncture as a complementary therapy to support infertility treatment.
Visit their website here.
Philippine Center for Assisted Reproduction (CARE)
11th/F Raffles Corporate Center F. Ortigas, Jr. Rd, Ortigas Center
Mobile number: (+63)917-863-1001
Backed by more than 20 years of experience in IVF technology, CARE boasts of its pioneering achievement in being responsible for the first 50 locally birthed IVF babies in the country.
Visit their website here.
Victory Art Laboratory
Unit D-1 Medical Plaza Makati, Amorsolo cor. Dela Rosa Sts., Legaspi Village, Makati City
Contact number: +632 8884 2290
Victory ART Laboratory offers a wide array of specialized services for your fertility needs such as basic infertility workup, IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), which involves the handling of human oocytes and sperm, or embryos, to establish a pregnancy.
Visit their website here.
Life Fertility Clinic Athens - Philippines (LFCAP)
LFCAP – Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
Mobile number: +639669239169
LFCAP is an online healthcare facilitator and fertility consultancy that provides complete assistance in adoption procedures (inter-country), IVF assistance, IUI assistance, egg donation program and surrogacy needs.
Visit their website here.
Read a woman's trying to conceive sentiments amid endometriosis here.
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