I Have PCOS — and I Got Pregnant Naturally. Twice.
A story of ovulation, miscarriage, supplements, and hope — from a rural town with no IVF clinic.
Hi, I’m Aya — and this is my story.
Welcome to my first post! I’d love to start by introducing myself and sharing why I decided to write here.
When I was around 22, my periods became irregular. At 25, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and began taking the pill just to have a cycle at all. At 26, I moved abroad for work. By 30, I had left my job — and eventually, my temporary move became a permanent one, as I built a life with my now-partner.
When I turned 33, we decided we wanted to start a family. I stopped taking the pill, and — as I’d feared — ovulation didn’t happen on its own. Within just a few weeks, my ovaries had already developed multiple follicles that couldn’t mature. To make things harder, we live in a rural area of a country where fertility care is far less advanced than in Japan. Our local OB-GYN doesn’t offer IUI, let alone IVF.
Even so, I refused to give up. I refused to live with regret. Driven by that resolve, I threw myself into research and began trying to improve my body through supplements and lifestyle changes — feeling my way through a tunnel with no light at the end.
Then, at 34, something miraculous happened. Without even realizing it, I had ovulated — and conceived naturally. We saw a heartbeat. But shortly after, I experienced a missed miscarriage, one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life.
I grieved deeply, and then I kept going. I focused on improving egg quality and continued exploring different approaches. Eight months after the miscarriage, I became pregnant naturally again. The pregnancy progressed smoothly, and at 36, I gave birth to our baby. I breastfed exclusively for a full year.
When our first child was about 14 months old, we started thinking about a second. Not wanting my PCOS to worsen again, I restarted the supplements that had seemed to help. Six months later, at 38 — another natural pregnancy. I’m now approaching my due date.
My journey to conceive felt exactly like wandering through a dark tunnel — the anxiety of not knowing what lay ahead, the urgency, the grief. I’m sharing my story because I believe it might help others in the same tunnel: those struggling with PCOS, those longing for a baby that hasn’t come yet.
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Going forward, I plan to write honestly about:
My experience living with a PCOS diagnosis
What fertility care (or the lack of it) looks like in a developing country
The supplements and lifestyle changes I tried
Emotional healing after miscarriage
Pregnancy, birth, and parenting
More than anything, I want to connect with others who truly understand this road — and offer even a little courage to those who need it.
If any of this resonates with you, I’d love for you to follow along. Thank you so much for being here.
