Nicola Adams expecting first child with partner Ella Baig after miscarriage and IVF
Nicola Adams has announced she and her partner Ella Baig are expecting their first child, after experiencing unsuccessful attempts with IVF, with Baig having a miscarriage.
Adams, 39, and Baig, 23, shared their happy news on social media, with two moving black and white photos, one of the pair together, embracing and kissing, and one of an ultrasound.
The accompanying caption read: "We’re so excited to announce that our family is expanding.
"After what feels like a lifetime, we can finally say we’re going to be parents!
"We’re so excited to share this magical journey with you all, the ups, the downs everything in between.
"Welcome to the world little one."
Many flooded the comments with their support, including her Strictly Come Dancing partner Katya Jones with, "I am beyond excited and happy for you!!!!!!! What a beautiful news!!!!!!!!! You gonna be such amazing parents!!!"
Adams made history on Strictly in 2020 when she competed alongside Jones as part of the the show's first same-sex couple.
Singer Alexandra Burke also wrote, "Awwww how exciting!!!!!! So happy for you both !", while many fans wished them congratulations.
However, conception hasn't been easy ride for the couple. With Baig now pregnant again and in her second trimester, Adams said "We'll tell our kid, 'you have no idea how much we wanted you" in an essay written for British Vogue, detailing the pair's journey so far, in order to de-stigmatise IVF and raise awareness of the process for same-sex couples, also bringing light to the heart-ache many families going through the process endure.
Vogue introduced the article, sharing an image of Adams on its Instagram from her shoot for the August 2016 issue, shot by Matthew Brookes.
In the article, Adams says, "I've always wanted to have kids. I can't wait to pass down my knowledge and experience, and for them to see the world and all of the beautiful things it has to offer.
"It's always been a dream but, as a lesbian, I grew up wondering if it might be harder."
She details how, as an athlete, she was encouraged to freeze her eggs, as their careers often have to be put before family. However, this gave her the opportunity to make the decision to try and start a family when she was ready, "removing that added pressure women often feel when it comes to their fertility and the sense of time running out," she said.
After meeting her partner Baig, and them both knowing they wanted kids from the beginning, they started to have more serious conversations about it around a year into their relationship. They began dating in 2018.
Read more: Dermot O'Leary urges men to not lose hope of becoming a father after struggle to conceive
Watch: Adams: 'Creating history' keeps me going
"For us, it was more complicated than it would be for a straight couple and there were a lot of different factors to consider. Who was going to carry the baby? Whose eggs were we going to use? And what about the sperm?" she wrote, giving an insight into the questions they had to ask.
Starting their fertility journey in 2019, with many appointments and tests taken before hand, they decided Baig would carry the baby, and use Adams' egg, with a sperm donor that resembled Baig.
However, they later discovered Baig had gone through two rounds of IVF with an underactive thyroid, which can impact the chances of having a healthy pregnancy. "It's something that's easy to diagnose with blood tests and treat with medication. Our first attempt failed and Ella had a miscarriage," wrote Adams.
With this being something that could have been preventable, they changed clinics and underwent the correct tests and processes for someone with an underactive thyroid, getting Baig's levels to a safe point.
Due to this experience, Adams urged, "I would encourage people going through IVF to speak to multiple doctors and get different opinions," as well as having your own blood work done, and all the available tests. While Adams is aware of the additional expense of this, she adds, "but, in the long run, it may save you money and pain that comes with unsuccessful attempts."
Sadly, despite doctors then being happy with Baig's thyroid levels and all her other tests, the couple didn't have any luck. "We had two failed attempts in total. I was really upset," said Adams. While she knew the odds, she added "it's had to see those two lines on a pregnancy test and feel elated before having that ripped from you just a few weeks later."
Speaking on her partner's physical pain, she said, "I was also more upset for Ella as she was the one going through the process physically. You don't really know what to say or do – you just have to be supportive."
Read more: Woman who endured 18 miscarriages and 16 years of IVF shares how she finally became a mum
Then, a few months ago, they found out Baig was pregnant again. "I'm so happy, but it's also been emotional." She acknowledged the concerns over getting too excited because of their previous experience, but added, "I think it's really important that we try to enjoy it rather than dwelling on what could go wrong."
However, Adams has some hopes for how things could be improved, including the fact that they experienced "a lack of parenting books that discussed same-sex families" and that "people need to be educated about this process [IVF] so that they're not going into it completely blind."
She says her and Ella would like to have more kids in the future, and is confident that next time around, the process will be a lot easier for them.
In vitro fertilisation is one of the several techniques that can help people with fertility problems to have a baby, fertilising an egg from a woman's ovaries with a sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, or embryo, is then returned to a womb to grow and develop. You can either use your eggs and your partner's sperm, or eggs and sperm from donors, in which ever combination works for you and your partner. To find out more, visit the NHS website, or speak to your GP.
