Maria Walsh MEP: “It takes a village – that’s the image I’m leaning on, as a gay, single mum-to-be"
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What is Maria Walsh's background and current situation?
Midlands Northwest MEP, Maria Walsh, good morning.
Good morning.
And congratulations, you're having a baby. When's the baby due?
I am, I am. I'm 16 weeks pregnant this week, so due mid-October.
Now, Maria, the story of this pregnancy is wonderful, fascinating, absolutely not straightforward. Just to remind people how we know you, you won the Rose of Tralee back in 2014. You were the Philadelphia Rose and people might remember you as quaint as it sounds to say now, the first openly gay, as we used to say, Rose.
We usually whisper it, Rose.
You were elected an MEP in 2019. So did you always want to be a mother?
Yes, I always wanted to be. I mean, I think when you ask, if I asked myself in my late twenties or even in my early thirties, had I planned on doing it on my own? Um, not at all, but, but wanting a family was always a part of, of my, my bucket list. Um, and as I got older, um, and now as you, as you kindly shared, uh, second time elected, I'm really privileged. I own my own home. Um, And at 38 years of age, clock was somewhat ticking. So in the past, just over a year now, I started the fertility journey and have had a wave of emotion attached to it, challenges. And then obviously now being able to share publicly that I'm 16 weeks pregnant is really exciting.
What's it like to walk into an IVF clinic the first time?
So two answers to this. One, I went on a bit of a fact finding mission in late October of 2024, really to figure out if my body could do it. And I went to a clinic here in Dublin and had a really challenging conversation with the consultant who flippantly shared that, well, you're a good looking girl. You should just go out and have some fun. which wasn't on my mind when you step into that. Something so personal and really hard to step in the door in the first place. Now, I have to say the entire nursing and reception staff around that one consultant was extraordinary. I really am always so careful because my lived experience is very different to another. But fast forward a couple of weeks, I sat across from my GP in Mayo and I said, you know, this is where I want to go.
Can you recommend someone else for me? And she kindly recommended Dr. Nick in the Fertility and Fertile Clinic in Galway. And it was night and day. I mean, the team there has been I would like to openly say an extended family member. And they're as excited for my journey as my immediate family are. And from there, working with ReproMed, who do often the scientific fertility piece. And I went on that journey then in early, early, probably 2025.
What motivated Maria to start her fertility journey as a single, gay woman?
And finally was able to have a positive pregnancy test done. in February of this year, which is a long time. But for those listening or those have experienced this or thinking about doing it, for me, that was my journey. It would look very different to perhaps other people.
Yeah, IVF can be challenging, I gather, like physically, emotionally, in every way.
It is. And again, just to stress, my experience of it is, so I put on, you know, you're pumping a lot of hormones into your body. So I was injecting a number of things in. On a daily basis, taking tablets. And then I had a period of time where for the egg retrieval, I did that in July of last year. I produced so much oestrogen, I produced too many eggs. So then I had to wait two months. And by waiting, you have to have two menstrual cycles, which for me, it was really, it was heart destroying because in my head, I had planned, OK, in two weeks, I can have the transfer and then I'm moving on with this. And at a time also where my work is very, very busy, as is many. And the delay is just a heartbreak.
And then you go on and unfortunately for full disclosure, my lining of my uterus just wasn't thickening enough in order for me to carry. So working with Dr. Nick and his team, we delayed it even a few more months. And at the end of January, then I had the egg transfer and then went through that.
Is it harder now? I know lots of people do these things on their own. Is it harder on your own? Does it get lonely sometimes not to have somebody in it with you?
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is Maria Walsh's background and current situation?
0:00–3:10
2
What motivated Maria to start her fertility journey as a single, gay woman?
3:10–7:08
3
What was Maria's experience like during her first visit to an IVF clinic?
7:08–15:12
4
How did Maria navigate the emotional challenges of IVF?
15:12–29:19