‘We love you Uncle Bill!’: Meet Tassie’s little IVF miracles
Hundreds of Tassie parents have said ‘thank you’ to TasIVF’s Dr Bill Watkins ahead of his retirement. See our BUMPER gallery with even more babies added | SEE 220+ PHOTOS >>
Tasmania
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If ever there was a walking advertisement for TasIVF and Dr Bill Watkins, it’s Hobart supermum Gemma Cairns.
After having four children via IVF, Ms Cairns has also been responsible for bringing nine other babies into the world thanks to donating her eggs.
Gemma’s story is just one of hundreds that were shared with the Mercury this week, after the news Dr Watkins will retire this month.
Ms Cairns and her husband, Greg, first visited Dr Watkins in 2001 after struggling to conceive naturally.
Twenty years on the Hobart woman is a mum to Ryan, 16, Jye, 15, Mia, 10, and Wil, 7.
“They made it very easy. Bill and the team were like family. He would regularly text to see how I was going and he still occasionally messages us to ask how we are,” she said.
In between conceiving and giving birth, with the help of Dr Watkins, Ms Cairns donated her eggs to six other families, wanting to help fulfil the dreams of other women wanting to become a mum.
“IVF is so important – it’s one of the reasons why I donated. Having been in a situation where I was having trouble conceiving myself, if I needed further treatment I wanted to hope that there was that option there for us as well,” she said.
Ms Cairns made her last donation at the end of 2020 and said she credited the existence of her beautiful family to the work of Dr Watkins.
“He absolutely deserves retirement after what he’s done – we’re just super lucky that we had him on our journey. We thank him from the bottom of our heart because without him we wouldn’t be the family we are today,” she said.
Click through the photo galleries below to see 250+ Tassie children made possible through Dr Bill Watkins and his colleagues at TasIVF.
Do you want to share your story? Get in touch: mercury.news@themercury.com.au
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