Television personality Seo Dong-ju shared an update on her in vitro attempts.
On the 11th, a video titled 40s can I get pregnant…? (+sharing pregnancy preparation products, tips) | infertility vlog · eight constitutions test was uploaded to the Seo Dong-ju's Tto.Do.Dong channel.
That day Seo Dong-ju visited a clinic. She said, "I came to find out which of the eight constitutions I belong to. I have been trying to get pregnant lately. I heard somewhere that if you know your constitution in cases of infertility and follow a diet suited to it, it can help with pregnancy. Somewhere there is a group chat full of women preparing for pregnancy and dealing with infertility. I always pick up a lot of information there, and this is one of them."
The producer asked, "Can we release a lot of information today?" and Seo Dong-ju replied, "I'll tell you what I heard there and what I'm doing now. But I should have succeeded to present it as a success story, and I haven't succeeded yet. But I'm trying it," she said with a forced smile.
She said, "Actually I'm a bit depressed right now. A few days ago I got some bad news. They call a five-day cultured embryo that can undergo PGT genetic testing a tong-bae. You need to collect two to transfer, but I haven't collected even one yet. Two days ago a five-day culture succeeded but it didn't pass the PGT test. When I heard that news I cried a lot and thinking about it now makes me want to cry; I cried and felt sad and called my mother and said, 'Mother' and wailed a bit," she confessed.
She continued, "If I talk to my mom and she says, 'Don't do it! What good is having a child, don't do it!' that wouldn't be comforting, right? I want to give birth now. So I call my mother and she says, 'Oh Dong-ju, no, you come first.' I cried once and ended up coming to get my constitution checked. When I want a blunt reality check I ask my mother to give me one; that helps, and in situations like this my mother comforts me a lot. She cries with me, so when I called earlier my mother was crying. I felt very bad. Anyway I'll try my best," she vowed.
After the constitution test, Seo Dong-ju received the result of "Kumyang constitution." She was told that a countryside-style meal of rice and namul suits her well, and because her upper body is well developed she needs to strengthen her lower body to achieve balance.
After the test Seo Dong-ju said, "On the way here I called my mother. She said what we did before didn't pass so it was just discarded and it's back to square one, so I said I came to at least learn my eight constitution and she told me to find out and definitely tell her. I should tell her my constitution."
After sharing infertility tips she had received, Seo Dong-ju, when asked about her goal, said, "Our goal is two tong-bae (passed embryos). They said it will take about a year. But if it takes more than a year won't I be too old? Then we can use what we have now. There are three- and four-day cultures and things like that, so let's try transferring using those. That's how we're proceeding, and recently I visited a show about same-dreams-different-sleeps and met Lee Ji-hye unnie there; I think I'll try the hospital she recommended," she said.
She said, "It's tough because doing these things is good but if we have to discard them after working so hard it would be very depressing. On top of already taking hormones and getting injections, it's hard not to be excessively sad and to stay healthy while enduring it. Hormones can drive a person crazy. It's like I'm not myself and sometimes I get mad at my husband for no reason, just because of hormones. But I shouldn't show that; it's not me. I get very angry but I hold it in because it's not me, it's the hormones. But after injections and medication changes come quickly. Don't emotions fluctuate before a period? Things that are nothing become strongly irritating. And there's some pain in the abdomen. Some people feel pelvic pain and bloating in the lower abdomen. There are many bruises on the belly. Even when they press during an exam it hurts. There are many bruises. Those things are a bit hard and there are many small difficulties," she said, describing her struggles.
She continued, "And the more you do it the more you know. When you go in for an ultrasound you can see the follicles so you know everything. 'This one is okay, that one isn't. This time there will be one, maybe two'—you become an expert and then you watch thinking 'it's not hopeful.' After the ultrasound ends we go to the doctor. When you know a lot during consultation sometimes you realize positive comments aren't really true. They often don't comfort. It feels like a period when you can't expect a brilliant outcome. After this, whether the child comes or not it's still brilliant—the effort itself is brilliant. If a baby is born, how miraculous would that be from our perspective. I am grateful," she said.
She said, "I'll try to get healthier and bring joyful news. I don't know when that will be. There must be many people doing in vitro; I hope you stay strong. I'm going to try only until next Aug. If it's after that I will be too old and won't continue, so I'll do my best until then. If it doesn't work there's nothing I can do, so you keep going until the end. It's bittersweet. I cry all the time, actually. I don't want to show a sad side when filming YouTube. That's how I've been lately. Fighting!" she vowed.
[photo] Seo Dong-ju's Tto.Do.Dong
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