Being told at the age of 28 to either have children now or risk the chance of never having them was not something I had counted on happening.

Nor had I expected to be told that even if I did by some slim chance conceive, the chance of having a normal, healthy pregnancy was slight, and that the birth would be tainted with all sorts of initial problems, as well as the fact I may not even be able to carry full term due to the scarring and lesions that previous operations had left on my cervix.

Basically, if I did conceive there was the potential for many problems to follow, more than most doctors wanted to deal with.

Sure, I thought maybe one day I might have children, but it was not something that I had spent a lot of time thinking about, or planning. To be honest it was probably the last thing on my mind, more something I avoided than contemplated.

The reason behind having to make that decision was due to ongoing recurring Progressive CIN 3 Cervical Cancer, which is the last stage before Chemotherapy is used as a treatment. The doctors instead do Laparoscopies and laser surgery to remove the cancer growth.

This treatment began at age 18 and continued until my mid 20’s, having 6 monthly check-ups to keep track of how the growth was progressing.

Then I had cysts rupturing on my ovaries, and with the doctors looking at the female history in my family it seemed inevitable that I was heading down the same path – one that would lead to a hysterectomy, but in my case possibly before I even had the chance to have children.

I had a choice: I could continue living the same way, and end up heading down the same path as the other females in my family, or I could change the way I lived and create a new way of being.

I knew something had to change; it was the ‘what’ and ‘how’ that took time, patience and commitment. I looked at every aspect of my life – making choices in how I ate, the times I went to bed, the way I socialized and who I socialised with, as well as the way I was at work. I was great at placing everything and everyone else first, so taking time for me and truly looking after myself was a challenge. Knowing I was worth this loving care and nurturing took time for me to accept.

Beginning to look after myself and taking responsibility for my choices and the repercussions of those choices, constantly being open to more, knowing that I was the only one that could change the way my life and my body was, I gained an understanding of the choices I had made and why I made them and slowly I was able to change the way I lived. This is not something that ever stops…for me it is an ongoing development and commitment to myself and to the way I live.

After 5 years of changes and adjustments with the support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I met a wonderful loving man, ended up in a relationship, and after 3 years of marriage we decided to have a child.

I had spoken of my past, the issues I had and the possibility that I may not be able to have children; we decided to take the chance and see how it all went.

We spent 8 months having counselling sessions with a Universal Medicine practitioner addressing our ideals, beliefs, expectations or anything we may have felt to do with having a child, our relationship with ourselves, as well as with each other.

Both of us made the choice to commit to parenting without imposing or expecting our children to be anything other than who they truly were, growing up without feeling they have to be anything other than themselves.

Both my husband and I also did hormone tests to see where our bodies were at on a physical level. When the test results came back we were both surprised – my husband felt he had more chance of falling pregnant than I based on our test results.

But against all the odds, all that I had been told, all that my body had gone through with my operations, cysts and treatments, I was already pregnant.

I continued having regular sessions with Serge Benhayon during this time. I also introduced Esoteric Breast Massage, which I had with accredited female Esoteric Practitioners, and I had an amazing pregnancy: no illness, no health issues or complications, and the birth followed suit. Our daughter was born one day early with the support of my husband, a wonderful midwife and friend who arrived just in time. With no complications as per the original fear that the doctors had when I said I was pregnant, I had a trouble free labor.

I know that if I had not made the changes in my life to support my body, take responsibility for my choices and to look deeper at all that I had chosen to avoid and bury in my life, things would have been very different.

I was 36 when our daughter was born – she is now 6 ½ and we also have a 16-month-old son from an equally beautiful and complication free pregnancy.

Now at 42 ½ years old and 5 months into our 3^rd pregnancy, we are going against all the odds in more ways than one when it comes to the medical profession – we are expecting our 3^rd child, and again, it is a truly amazing experience, one that is a true blessing and confirmation of how far we have come.

For me, the key has been continuing to deal with, take responsibility for, and change the way I was living – looking at every aspect of my life, with the support of Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine, the Esoteric Practitioners and the Esoteric modalities.

It was with this support that I was able to make the changes in my life, to become pregnant against the odds and go on to live the life and have the family and relationships I have today.

By Nicole Serafin, 42 years, Tintenbar, NSW