General News
29 March, 2025
Motherhood against all odds
"I got to the point that I thought I was never going to be a mum."
It's a consideration no mother wants to have, but for Samantha Hicks, 38, her endometriosis made it near impossible for her dreams to come true.
Fortunately, in Mrs Hicks' case, the ending to her story is happy, but it wasn't easy or quick.
"We tried everything to get our little boy," she said.
Mrs Hicks said her endometriosis symptoms started around the age of 15 when her mum would have to collect her from school because the pain was severe when she got her period.
"She did think I was trying to wag school," she added.
Mrs Hicks had her first surgery at 20 and was told she had endometriosis.
At 34, Mrs Hicks was told she had adenomyosis, a condition she said was a "cousin" of endometriosis.
"Every month I would dread my period as I never knew what to expect, some days I wasn't even able to get out of bed," Mrs Hicks said.
"The pain that accompanies the endometriosis is horrible.
"The countless nights up at emergency with little help, my symptoms dismissed and told it's just 'bad period pain' by some doctors."
But the fertility issues were the biggest problem Mrs Hicks encountered.
"Going back, I'd been with my husband for seven years and we decided to start trying for a baby," Mrs Hicks said.
"I knew I had a bit of endometriosis back then so they basically said it wouldn't be an issue, so we tried other forms, like Clomid through the gynecologist before moving to IVF."
After 12 months Mrs Hicks went in for another laparoscopy but her infertility was attributed to "unexplained".
Moving immediately on to IVF in 2019, just before Covid, Mrs Hicks put her house on the market to be able to afford the treatment.
"We started IVF and got pregnant first go but had a miscarriage," she said, adding that the following cycle also resulted in pregnancy and unfortunately another miscarriage.
With attempt three failing and Covid hitting, Mrs Hicks and her husband had a break from IVF, only deciding to attempt again a couple of years later.
Bowel issues led a doctor to discover bad endometriosis in her bowel, and a gynecologist doing checks before commencing IVF discovered the condition had riddled her body.
"He told me he couldn't do anything, it was too bad – one of the worse cases he'd seen," Mrs Hicks said.
Referred to the Royal Women's in Melbourne, Mrs Hicks underwent major surgery and by chance was referred by a doctor there to the free public clinic for fertility.
Due to the condition's severity, doctors realised they had to act swiftly in order to give Mrs Hicks the best chance of pregnancy.
She was accepted straight away and, once she was healed, the couple's efforts to have a baby continued.
"I had the surgery in August and by January I was pregnant," Mrs Hicks said.
"And now I have little Dusty."
Now five months post-partum, Mrs Hicks has begun having flare-ups again so she expects more surgery in the future.
Her last was in August 2023 and took six hours with not only an endometriosis specialist but a bowel specialist.
They reported that her organs were covered in the growth and fused together.
"It was a big recovery from that surgery," Mrs Hicks recalled.
Mrs Hicks wants people to know that the condition is real, and debilitating at times.
"It's not just period pain like a lot of people say," she said.
"I wouldn't wish what I went through on anyone.
"I just want people to understand that this is lifelong, there is no cure, so we are not just faking it."
Wrapping up her story, Mrs Hicks has one message for those in a position similar to hers.
"Never give up your dream of becoming a mother," she said.