When we hear about celebrities or influencers using IVF to have a baby, the stories usually feel very glossy and perfect. It sounds like a simple, high-tech equation: you pay the money, you visit a nice clinic, and a few months later, you get a beautiful nursery reveal.
But talk to actress and former public servant Maybelyn Dela Cruz, and she will tell you that the reality is anything but glamorous. For her, the path to becoming a mom wasn’t a smooth medical journey. It was a nine-year battle.
Before her daughter Olivia was born, Maybelyn and her husband, Michael, spent nearly a decade in a heartbreaking loop of hope and loss. Her story is a raw reminder of what it actually takes to fight for a miracle when the odds are stacked against you.
When Hope Becomes Exhausting
The actual numbers behind Maybelyn’s journey are incredibly heavy. She went through six failed IUIs (intrauterine inseminations) and three failed IVF cycles. In total, she faced 11 artificial attempts to get pregnant.
After losing a pregnancy early on in 2009, doctors discovered that Maybelyn had severe immune system issues. Essentially, her own body was treating the pregnancy as something to fight off. To fix this, her daily routine became completely taken over by medicine.
To stop blood clots that could harm a developing baby, she had to give herself painful blood-thinner injections every single night. The physical result was intense. Her stomach was constantly covered in deep, painful bruises. Before she even reached a viable pregnancy, her body was already bearing the marks of a very physical struggle.
The Moment Everything Almost Ended
The hardest part of the journey didn’t happen at home in quiet grief. It happened on a sterile operating table in Taiwan during her fourth IVF attempt.
During what should have been a routine procedure to retrieve her eggs, something went dangerously wrong. Maybelyn suffered massive internal bleeding. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about trying to have a baby anymore. It was a scramble to save her life.
The trauma of that emergency changed everything for her family. Terrified of losing his wife, her husband Michael begged her to stop. He asked her to consider adoption, not because he didn’t want a child, but because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.
At that point, doctors told Maybelyn she had a tiny 2% chance of success. But even with her health on the line and the odds against her, she wasn’t ready to give up.
The 2% Miracle
There is a very lonely feeling that comes with sitting in fertility clinics. It is a place where you are completely dependent on science, but you are also desperately praying for a miracle. Facing her final attempt, Maybelyn remembers sitting in a corner of the clinic, completely exhausted, and making a simple prayer: she just wanted one child.
In late 2016, doctors transferred three embryos. Two of them did not survive. But against all medical predictions, that final 2% chance was enough. One embryo held on.
On Valentine’s Day in 2017, her daughter Olivia was born.
Changing the Conversation
We love sharing these stories because it is time to break the silence around infertility. Maybelyn’s nine-year wait matters because it pulls back the curtain on what IVF really looks like. It is not an easy shortcut for the wealthy. It is an emotionally draining, physically painful gamble.
Her story reminds us that sometimes, the things we want most in life require an unimaginable amount of grit and a terrifying willingness to try, even when the chance of success is almost zero.
