Both on and off the court, Liz Ellis is a resilient champion and a role model.
On Saturday, the former Australian netball captain bravely discussed her three heartbreaking miscarriages in detail.
The 45-year-old told Stellar that through her grief, she hopes others can gain valuable information that simply wasn’t available to her a decade ago.
‘It was like that little beating heart was winking at us’: Former Australian Netball captain Liz Ellis opens up about her three heartbreaking miscarriages
In 2016, Liz and her husband Matthew Stocks welcomed their son Austin into the world, after suffering three miscarriages and five failed IVF treatments.
Her third miscarriage was the hardest to bear – the week before it occurred, Liz had witnessed its heart beating on a monitor.
‘It was like that little beating heart was winking at us, telling us to sit tight because he was on his way,’ reads a line in her forthcoming memoir.
The following week, the radiographer confirmed she had suffered her third miscarriage in four years.
Goal: The 45-year-old told Stellar that through her grief, she hopes others can gain valuable information that simply wasn’t available to her a decade ago
The champion collapsed into her husband’s arms, confused, shocked, and weeping.
Liz had researched fertility treatment during the planning stages of her second pregnancy (Liz and Matthew have a daughter Evelyn, six), but was shocked at how limited the resources available were.
‘I was hurtling down the highway without a GPS,’ she said.
Struggles: In 2016, Liz and her husband Matthew Stocks welcomed their son Austin into the world, after suffering three miscarriages and five failed IVF treatments (pictured with Austin, two and daughter Evelyn, six)
Hard to watch: Her third miscarriage was the hardest to witness – the week before it occurred, Liz had witnessed it’s heart beating on a monitor
For every piece of useful information on Google, there appeared to be three times the amount of misleading advertising articles, some even flogging ‘fertility smoothies’.
Austin was eventually, and miraculously, conceived naturally – an occurrence Liz and Matthew admit they never thought would be a possibility.
After her harrowing experience, she took it upon herself to speak to ‘IVF specialists, scientists and obstetricians,’ to gain the information she was never afforded.
Where is the info? Liz had researched fertility treatment during the planning stages of her second pregnancy but was shocked at how limited the resources available were. She found more advertisements than she did information
Miracle: Austin was eventually, and miraculously, conceived naturally – an occurrence Liz and Matthew admit they never thought would be a possibility
The result is her new memoir, titled ‘If At First You Don’t Conceive.’
Liz said that she thought she’d mastered patience and strength on the netball court and again when she became a first-time mum with Evelyn.
Describing herself as having a type-A personality, Liz says the experience has taught her ‘to stop and accept and value what I have got ‘.
If At First You Don’t Conceive is out Tuesday April 24 via Pan Macmillan.
‘If at first you don’t conceive’: After her harrowing experience, she took it upon herself to speak to ‘IVF specialists, scientists and obstetricians,’ to gain the information she was never afforded
Memoir: The result is her new memoir, titled ‘If At First You Don’t Conceive,’ which is out on April 24