Liberal MP Nicole Werner has shared her struggle to have a baby

Warrandyte state Liberal MP Nicole Werner has opened up on her “desperate” fight to fall pregnant, revealing her battle with a little-known hormonal condition.

Warrandyte state Liberal MP Nicole Werner has opened up on her struggle to fall pregnant after being diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Picture: Supplied

When Liberal MP Nicole Werner and her husband Fraser decided it was time to start a family, she thought it would be easy.

She had just won the Warrandyte by-election and was settling into her new life as a politician – a moment of stability after a two-year journey into politics.

But six months and dozens of negative ovulation and pregnancy tests in, the 33-year-old began to grow suspicious that something was wrong.

Five years earlier, Ms Werner had suspected that she had a little-known hormonal condition called PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

But an inconclusive test and years of birth control had masked its severity.

“We were dismayed to find that over six months I didn’t once have a positive ovulation test,” she said.

“It was then that I got a formal diagnosis.”

Fraser and Nicole Werner. Picture: Supplied

At the time, baby news was everywhere, with women in Ms Werner’s local community, social circles and workplace all falling pregnant.

Liberal frontbencher Jess Wilson, Nationals MP for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland and Labor MP for Ripon Martha Haylett all fell pregnant within weeks of one another.

“Of course, I celebrated and rejoiced with them … but it can be so hard when it’s something you so desperately want for yourself,” she said.

“One of my girlfriends even fell pregnant when she was trying not to conceive.

“Suffice to say, after celebrating her news – I left to go cry in the bathroom.”

In 2019, at age 28, Ms Werner’s GP had suspected she had PCOS – a complex hormonal condition that affects roughly one in 10 women.

The former food bank worker had suffered from irregular periods for years, and felt she had more body hair than most women – two key symptoms of PCOS.

“But when I went to get an ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis, the young male radiologist just had the worst bedside manner and I felt incredibly uncomfortable letting him conduct an internal ultrasound, so I told him not to,” she said.

Her blood test results were also inconclusive.

“At the time I was told by my GP I didn’t need to worry about it, so I didn’t, until we started trying to conceive,” she said.

Ms Werner, one of Victoria’s newest MPs, had spent two years trying to find her way into politics in her early 30s.

Nicole Werner is sworn in as a new member of parliament at Victorian Parliament House. Picture: Getty Images

“I stood for two elections, the state election in 2022 and then Warrandyte, so any thoughts about conceiving were pushed back two years,” she said.

“For my husband and I, our fertility journey felt like a convergence of unfortunate timing.”

While Ms Werner acknowledges that many women are now having children in their mid to late thirties, she said the negative tests were both “shattering” and alarming.

“You feel like biologically, time is working against you,” she said.

“I spent hundreds of dollars on different pregnancy tests, downloaded a ton of fertility apps, bought temperature monitors and obsessively Googled.

“I even started trying to dodge chemicals, avoid non-stick pans, went gluten

free, and started eating organically. Anything to get pregnant.”

The couple are overjoyed to be expecting their first baby in January. Picture: Supplied

After six months, the couple visited a fertility specialist, who put Ms Werner on ovulation medication, Letrozole.

“Usually couples wait 12 months but I am not someone who is good at waiting,’ she said.

Three months later in May, after a busy sitting week in parliament, Ms Werner finally got the news she had been praying for.

“I was at home and I did a test and I just couldn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it,” she said.

“I got into bed and cried.”

After the almost year long battle, Ms Werner is now 16 weeks pregnant and expecting her first child in January.

“I wanted to share this story because I know thousands of women across the country right now are hoping, longing and yearning to have a child of their own,’ she said.

“Fertility challenges are very common, and the pathway to becoming a parent is not always simple or straightforward.”

‘Big shock’: Sandringham woman’s dreams of becoming a mum under a cloud

Meg Winton, 25, has always wanted to become a mother.

But a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) last year put those plans under a cloud.

“I’ve always had the symptoms – really painful, irregular and heavy periods, fatigue, puffiness and have struggled to keep weight off,” she said.

“But being diagnosed with PCOS last year was still a big shock.”

Meg Winton was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) last year. Picture: Wayne Taylor

It’s impact on her fertility, however, is currently a mystery.

“I have to go off birth control to find out,” she said.

“The unknown is scary.”

Peninsula Health Clinical Director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Dr Nisha Khot said PCOS – which affects roughly one in 10 women – can make timing babies particularly difficult.

But for women like Ms Winton – who are not yet ready for children – going off birth control can be dangerous.

“If you’ve been told you have PCOS and you’re off birth control – which regulates periods and therefore sheds the lining – the lining of your womb can continue to grow and if it does it could lead to cancer,” she said.