A Portlaoise mother has revealed that she has suffered the heartbreaking 18 miscarriages over the last ten years.
Georgina O’Shea, who now lives in Cork, says that 18 is the number officially recorded but she has had more which weren’t.
Ms O’Shea went public yesterday on Red FM in Cork and she once again told her story on Midlands 103 this morning.
After giving birth to her only son in her teens, Georgina told that initially doctors didn’t think there was anything wrong after she had several miscarriages in her early 20s.
She said: “We started trying again when I was about 21 and I’m 30 now, so over a nine year period.
“I had a teenage pregnancy, I gave birth to a healthy boy at 16.
“But the first time it happened (miscarried), because of my age, a lot of the doctors just put it down to that and told me I shouldn’t worry.
“So by the time I was on my third miscarriage, I was still getting the same story from doctors and nobody was listening to me but I knew myself something was wrong.”
After seven recorded miscarriages, Georgina was sent to America to see a specialist.
She said: “They finally sent files off and the doctors in the States came.
“They had a look into my background and how healthy I was, genetics – they researched everything.
“The only thing they could see was my womb rejecting the pregnancy or my immune system attacking the pregnancy.
“Because I’m rhesus negative blood group, they reckon that when I was pregnant with my son that his blood could have mixed with mine so it would have built up anti-bodies.”
Georgina O’Shea says she sheds ‘tears of fear’ when she gets pregnant because she fears losing another baby.
She told Midlands 103: “Stress would be one of the highest factors for me. When you fall pregnant, it’s a happy moment until it happens. That’s when you deal with a miscarriage.
“For me, when I fall pregnant it’s tears of fear. It’s just pressure and anxiety. I know what’s coming and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
“You’re waiting for a twinge or something to just go wrong. I’ve cried so much.
“I think fear can factor in miscarrying but for me, personally, it’s more down to my blood group.”
The Portlaoise native emotionally revealed that she has tried to stop getting pregnant but she wants a second child so badly.
She said: “I’ve tried to stop, but I think the longing for another child is stronger and just keeps pushing us forward.
“I feel guilty all the time. Is it something I did wrong? Did I lift something heavy? Did I eat the right foods? Did I overdo it? It all goes around in your head.”
Even though the mother-of-one doesn’t begrudge others, she has had people comment on her previous pregnancies and asked her why she even bothers to try.
She said: “We’ve had a lot of comments from different areas, like ‘Why are we bothering?’, ‘You’ve one already, that should be more than enough’.
“There’s several comments that are bad and I think they’re all wrong. Those comments hurt more than going through the physical miscarriage.”
While it’s been hard for Georgina, she doesn’t plan on giving up and she does want another child to add to her family.
She said: “I’ll never give up. As much as I like to say what will be will be but deep down I’ll never give up. There’s always that longing for a child.
“I’ll have to take it as I go. I’m on steroids which isn’t heard of through pregnancy.
“I’m a small minority of people who are on these steroids to break down your immune system. When I go to hospitals, I have to explain why I’m on them.
“For me personally, it’s about getting up and moving on. I can’t let it defeat me.”
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