Learn more about our new fertility doctor’s journey to conceive

As a fertility specialist, Dr. Allison Petrini knew that infertility can happen to anyone. Little did she know that fertility issues would come into play when she and her husband were ready to welcome a baby.

Our Austin fertility doctor’s journey to conceive started during her Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility fellowship. “We were married in 2013, but we didn’t try to conceive while I was in residency and through most of my fellowship. We wanted to wait until we could be closer to family in Texas,” Dr. Petrini explains.

Towards the end of her fellowship, the couple decided to start trying. According to Dr. Petrini, “I’ve always had irregular periods, and I did some testing, which showed I wasn’t ovulating. Everything was consistent with PCOS [polycystic ovary syndrome].”

Clomid was the first step on the couple’s path to parenthood

Because Dr. Petrini wasn’t ovulating, she was prescribed a fertility medication called clomiphene citrate, better known as Clomid. It took four cycles of Clomid before the couple saw a positive pregnancy test, but things didn’t go as planned.

“My test results made us think it was a chemical pregnancy, but it turned out to be an ectopic pregnancy [a pregnancy in the fallopian tube],” Dr. Petrini recalls. “I started having severe pain at work and ended up requiring surgery to remove one of my fallopian tubes.”

As if this experience wasn’t stressful enough, all of this occurred in the Spring of 2020, when COVID was ravaging New York City. “It was really hard to deal with the physical and emotional side of the ectopic pregnancy. Especially, given this was the time all specialties were being pulled into redeployment in the COVID ICU. It was a lot to handle,” Dr. Petrini says.

Moving to IVF was part of our fertility doctor’s journey to conceive

Our Austin fertility doctor and her husband decided to move to in vitro fertilization (IVF) next. After two unsuccessful embryo transfers, the third embryo implanted and the couple was hopeful. However, Dr. Petrini’s pregnancy hormone levels were “low and slow,” and the pregnancy didn’t end up being viable.

However, the story didn’t end there. After further treatment, the couple is expecting their first child, and they couldn’t be happier.

Dr. Petrini shares her thoughts about her journey

For someone who describes herself as “type A” and “a planner,” the experience of infertility was especially challenging for Dr. Petrini. “As a patient, I really wanted to be pregnant yesterday. I just thought I’d be pregnant as soon as I was ready to have kids. I’m in the field, so I know better, but it didn’t stop me from feeling that way.”

She realized that fertility is something that you can’t control. “While you sometimes need to take proactive steps to have a baby, it’s not ultimately something you can completely control. Learning this lesson helped me become better about letting go,” Dr. Petrini says.

Although our fertility doctor’s journey to conceive was challenging and emotional, she’s grateful for it. “Having this experience during my fellowship was a pivotal part of my education. It changed my perspective, and I truly understand the hopes and fears that patients have during this process,” Dr. Petrini explains. “I think this was the best education I could have received as a physician.”

Contact us if you’d like to schedule an appointment with Dr. Allison Petrini. You’ll receive the benefit of her training as a fertility specialist and her experience as a fertility patient.