Conception Stories

'You Vill Never Be in Zee Family Vay.'

Eighty-five year old Sylvia F.* of Manchester still feels the pain after so many years. "I'd been married for a couple of years, but with no bun in the oven to show for it. So I go to a doctor, she was German, and she examines me and says, 'You vill never be in zee family vay.'"

My husband, he should rest in peace, told me not to listen to her, that if I'd just stop worrying, I'd get pregnant, no problem. And, what do you know? He was right. I ended up having four beautiful children. And in those days, they didn't have all these fancy treatments like they have today.

"The thing is, my periods were never regular. I'd stop bleeding, and a couple days later, it would start up again. It got to the point where my husband thought I was doing it on purpose; bleeding to keep him out of my bed," says Sylvia with a wicked grin. "I told him he was right."

Arlene L.* of London, now in her early sixties, tells a similar story. "I was in my early thirties with a little baby boy and I really wanted to have more children. I had a boy, I wanted a girl. But, for some reason, though I conceived and carried to term with no problem the first time, I couldn't seem to get pregnant. Most of the mothers I'd been pregnant with the first time around were on their second pregnancies, but I couldn't seem to follow suit. With the help of fertility pills I finally managed to conceive, but I miscarried a few times. Then I conceived again, this time giving birth to a still born baby in my eighth month. The hospital was full up and there was no room for me. I labored in the hallway on a makeshift bed of orange crates, knowing that I was giving birth to a dead baby. I was devastated."

'I Can Get Pregnant Any Time I Want.'

"I did go on to have two more children: a girl and a boy, but I never forgot one very painful statement from someone who was supposed to be my friend, someone who'd been pregnant with me with that first, perfect pregnancy. She said to me, and this was after the stillborn baby, 'I can get pregnant any time I want.' Why would she say something so unkind? I was never able to think of her with any affection after that."

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