Congratulations to the stunning model, actress and wellness influencer, Tess Annique Souray, who is expecting a beautiful baby boy around Christmas time.
Hers is the ultimate Christmas present because it comes following a three year fertility battle.. Alongside her husband, NHL superstar Sheldon Souray, she went through three rounds of IVF, and suffered a miscarriage at 10 weeks.
Her determination to become a mum led her to seek answers and advocate for herself. Initially denied testing to uncover the root cause of her miscarriage, Tess discovered a program called Pregmune and a doctor who was willing to investigate further. Through this testing, she discovered that she had a blood clotting disorder that had been the underlying cause of her miscarriage.
So what exactly is Pregmune?
Pregmune is a reproductive immunology assessment report that can be used to help guide the reproductive immunology treatment managed by your fertility care provider. It is a comprehensive immunological testing platform that employs best-of-breed machine learning to identify often-overlooked causes for reproductive failure.
Pregmune testing is designed to identify potential factors that may be affecting fertility for both men, women, and couples. The test starts with an array of blood tests, including:
- Chromosome analysis
- Thrombophilia testing
- Autoimmunity testing
- Thyroid testing
- Serological testing
The Pregmune PGM-1 Reproductive Immunology Assessment Report combines the results of these blood tests with a customized artificial intelligence algorithm to provide a comprehensive assessment of your reproductive health. The report will identify any potential immunological factors that may be affecting your fertility, and it will also provide expert guidance for follow-up treatment with your own doctor.
Pregmune testing can be used to diagnose and treat a variety of reproductive conditions, including:
- Recurrent pregnancy loss
- Implantation failure
- Unexplained infertility
- Male infertility
- Endometriosis
Pregmune testing is not covered by insurance, but it may be worth considering for couples who are struggling to conceive. The test can help to identify the underlying cause of your fertility problems, and it can also help your doctor to develop a personalized treatment plan.
So how can you get started with Pregmune testing?
You will need to have a referral from your doctor. Once you have a referral, you can create an account on the Pregmune website and order your test kit. The test kit will be mailed to your home, and you can collect your own blood samples and send them back to Pregmune for testing.
Thanks to expert medical support everything is now going well.
With newfound knowledge and medical intervention, Tess is now 23 weeks along with her “rainbow baby,” a term used to describe a baby born after a miscarriage.
Having earned the title ‘ IVF warrior’ she has been talking to the media about her journey, helping to lift the veil on the process and support other women going through it.
She described in detail how it all came about
After a year of trying (and nothing happening), she was the one to realise something seemed ‘off.’ She was 25 at the time and because her husband has 2 children from his previous marriage she wanted to get their hormone levels and his sperm checked to find out exactly what was going on.
Following medical advice they went straight to IVF. Then three egg retrievals, 2 transfers, a miscarriage at 10 weeks, it finally worked.
In an interview with IVF Babble, she described how devastated they both were after the miscarriage:
“After our first transfer, we had an ultrasound at 6 weeks, and everything looked amazing. At seven weeks, we saw the most perfect heartbeat. At 10 weeks, there was no heartbeat. We had a miscarriage. I was devastated. I thought everything was perfect. I trusted my body and couldn’t be more wrong. It was the darkest point of my life.”
Her husband was her rock
“My husband Sheldon was there for me in ways I couldn’t even explain. It was something we both never thought we would go through, but we got through it together.”
“After my miscarriage, I knew it just wasn’t about ‘bad luck’ something else was wrong. So I got so many second opinions. One of the doctors recommended I look into a test called Pregmune, a pregnancy autoimmune related test. This test gave us all the answers I was looking for. I have blood clotting disorders that are only active in pregnancy that I had no idea about”.
“The great thing about this test is that they tell you their recommendations based on your results. I implemented their recommendations for our next transfer, and we are currently 23 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby boy.
To help keep in great shape for the pregnancy she had acupuncture at the beginning, and now during the developing stages her doctors have given her a Lovenox shot every day (a blood thinner) and a baby aspirin every morning.
She has finally become confident enough with her pregnancy to start talking about it on her Instagram account, Tessannique, and has been sharing photos of her growing baby bump with her 138 thousand followers.
She recently enjoyed a baby shower, admitting: “I love seeing how much my bump has grown in such a short time”.
She’s now currently upgrading her home to prepare for family and friends visiting after the baby is born.
When asked what advice she would give other families considering IVF, she said:
“It can definitely be a long journey. It’s never a straight shot, there’s always some setbacks. Don’t put yourself on a timeline and remember that you and your partner are a team. It’s a long journey but so worth it in the end!”
(please note the model in our video accompanying this article is not Tess Annique and is there for entertainment purposes only)
