After three years of fertility treatments, CAQ MP Kariane Bourassa is finally expecting a baby. A Roller Coaster of Daily Injections, Nausea, and Emotions: A Chosen One Opens Up About the Barrier Course of Infertile Couples
“I'm pregnant!” says the member for Charlevoix-Côte-de-Beaupre in an interview. A former journalist, the 33-year-old politician struggles to contain his joy. The road to get there is bumpy and the cost is steep.
Kariane Bourassa and her partner spent $40,000 to make their dream come true. “I know the desire to be a parent is precious, but it has implications,” she slips. Although she earns a good salary as an MP, the young woman has had to stop contributing to RRSPs in recent years and delay her plans to become an owner.
CAQ MP Kariane Bourassa describes three years of fertility treatments to realize her dream of having a baby.
Photo by Stevens LeBlanc
During her journey, she met many unfortunate women who had to give up hope of motherhood due to the high cost of surgery.
The government pays for the in vitro fertilization treatment, but MB and her boyfriend are not eligible. Her partner, 46 and already a father of two, had undergone a vasectomy before they met. Free admission is not applicable to couples with male voluntary sterilization.
We don't choose who we love
Karian Bourassa notes that his government does not intend to review the rules surrounding the publicly assisted reproductive program. But she did not hide the fact that she had already spoken about her case to inform her colleagues of this situation. She will continue to do so.
“There are always special cases that fall through the cracks,” he insists. We don't choose who we love. I fell in love with a man who had a vasectomy.
CAQ MP Kariane Bourassa with her partner Philippe Beaudry.
Photo courtesy of Karian Bourassa
And it's not just money. Fertility treatments are difficult and have many physical and psychological consequences.
Patients must take medication and high hormone levels during the procedure. Karian Bourassa had to go through this not once but twice. I had to take a pill every day with several injections in my stomach. His stomach is sometimes covered with bruises.
Some of the vials had to be kept at low temperatures, and the MP had to constantly walk around with coolers. A refrigerator should always be within reach.
During a one-on-one dinner with her partner, the young woman recalled having to inject the treatment in restaurant restrooms while the food cooled on the table.
CAQ MP Kariane Bourassa at the fertility clinic.
Photo courtesy of Karian Bourassa
An obsession
And getting pregnant can become a nuisance. “You see children everywhere. When you walk into a room, all you see are children, her eyes watery. The petty comments from people you meet on the street, asking how many children you have, make you sad.
To put all the odds on his side, Karian Bourassa had to follow all the advice, even the most outlandish. She once adopted a Mediterranean diet, which some attribute to increased fertility.
“There is a belief that after fitting [de l’ovule], you should eat pineapple, then McDonald's fries. My implantation took place in the morning, then at ten o'clock, I went to get McDonald's fries, I drank pineapple juice because I wanted to put all the odds on my side!”, she recalls with a smile.
Nothing can distract her from her baby plan. No nausea, mood swings or even crying. There aren't even many disappointments: when tests reveal that only one egg is fertile, a cyst postpones the deadline, or her first attempt at IVF fails.
The member for Charlevoix-Côte-de-Beaupre will obviously never forget this moment. When he got the lucky call, he was scheduled to give a speech, showing a group of Moroccan delegates riding around Charlevoix. She buried her pain inside herself for a few hours. “I went to give my speech, and I showed the delegation around all day, and then when I got home, I walked through the door, and there I collapsed. I think I cried for two days.
She had to go through the whole process a second time before finally getting pregnant.
But unlike the majority of other citizens, elected representatives of the National Assembly are not entitled to parental leave. A fact that puts “pressure” on politicians who want a family, he admits.
After years of fertility treatments and all the discomforts associated with them, MP Bourassa wants to take “four months” for her newborn, whose birth is scheduled for November.
In an interview, CAQ MP Karian Bourassa made no secret of pleading her case to her government colleagues regarding the publicly assisted reproductive program.
Photo by Stevens LeBlanc
