Heartbreak and healing: How one regional NSW woman found affordable IVF after decade of pain

After a decade of IVF attempts, three crushing losses and spending a sizeable house deposit, one woman had a miracle bub through a low-cost model. But she says more needs to be done to help women in regional NSW.

Nicolette Wittenberg and Adora.

Nicolette Wittenberg knew she wanted a family at any cost — but she didn’t expect the cost to be ten years of her life, two miscarriages, the loss of a full-term baby and $100,000 – money her and husband Blake had saved for a deposit towards their dream home.

Coupled with that plus seven rounds of failed IVF cycles – the toll it took on the 30-year-old Coffs Harbour woman was enormous.

“I had some very, very, very dark days”, Ms Wittenberg told this publication.

“It wasn’t just the financial investment – you had to take time off work, days at a time, for the process and procedures as well, she said.

Nicolette and Blake Wittenberg at the beginning of their IVF Journey.

But like many other rural and regional women in New South Wales facing similar battles to conceive, she was determined over all of those heavy costs to chase her dream.

“You’d do anything to have your own family,” she said.

“You can buy a house anytime, but you only get a certain amount of time to have children, so we decided to do that.”

The Wittenbergs’ IVF was managed remotely by a clinic that allowed them to remain predominantly in their regional town for treatment.

With their money – and hope – dwindling, the couple caught wind of a game-changing low-cost model that would slash the cost of IVF by up to 75 per cent and compared to public sector options – had a minimal wait time.

CEO of low-cost provider Adora Fertility – which has clinics in five locations nationwide including in Brisbane and Sydney – Vanessa Ferguson, said Adora aims to remove financial and logistic barriers for regional and rural women like Ms Wittenberg, despite being based in metro cities.

“We bulk-bill nearly all of the eligible expenses that we can and harness telehealth, enabling patients to have the monitoring of their treatment cycles locally so it removes the cost of travel,” Ms Ferguson told this publication.

Adora fertility clinic CEO Vanessa Ferguson said she hears time and again that travel is a major barrier in IVF treatment.

“We’re so passionate about removing the financial burden from the decision making process when patients are able to access fertility treatment.

“We know fertility declines with age so the longer people are saving up for treatment or waiting for appointments, it can have an impact on their chances of success.”

For the Wittenberg couple, the decision to try a more accessible and affordable option paid off when they fell pregnant on the first round of treatment and gave birth in November 2021 to a miracle baby girl they named Adora – after the clinic which changed their lives.

The couple named their miracle baby girl Adora, after the clinic.

“Adora is a beautiful name and if people ask what it means we can advocate for people who can’t have kids by explaining the meaning,” Ms Wittenberg said.

In a second wonderful turn of events, the family managed to fall pregnant afterwards naturally, adding baby Milla to their tribe.

While the private sector low-cost IVF model has benefits seemingly exceeding those in public, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park outlined the government’s steps towards more affordable fertility treatments.

Coffs Harbour’s Wittenberg family: Adora, conceived through IVF, Blake, Nicolette and Milla.

“There are some publicly supported lower cost IVF clinics aimed at supporting women who reside more than 100km from the clinic, which may include remote service provision depending on individual circumstances,” he told this publication.

These include a remote service available at Westmead Fertility and other options at the Fertility Unit at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and the Fertility and Research Centre at the Royal Hospital for Women.

Mr Park said the NSW Government is investing $52.2 million over four years to help eligible families undergoing fertility treatment by extending the Fertility Treatment Rebate — a one time reimbursement of $2000.

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Originally published as Heartbreak and healing: How one regional NSW woman found affordable IVF after decade of pain