Carrot member spotlight: Noel's infertility journey

Before joining Headspace in 2021, Noel Chan and her husband had been struggling with infertility for five years. The couple’s path to parenthood had been rocky, prompting a break from appointments and treatments. But when Headspace introduced Carrot as a comprehensive fertility benefit, Noel felt compelled to restart her journey and pursue pregnancy again. Today, as a mother to a six-month-old baby girl, Noel considers Carrot a critical part of her experience, and she and her husband enthusiastically encourage others to explore their options through the benefit. We sat down with Noel to learn more about her story. 

‍How did you first hear about Carrot, and what led you to take advantage of the benefit?

I heard about it through my employer, Headspace. When I first joined the company in 2021, we didn't have Carrot as a benefit. I was already struggling with infertility and I found out one of my colleagues at that time was also struggling. She told me she’d been hoping for us to get some type of benefit to support people like us — luckily, we got Carrot the following year. 

I had been on the journey with infertility for five years at that point. We had been hoping to have a baby for a while, but life doesn't always go the way you want. So before I had Carrot, I had already done a round of IVF. But physically and mentally, it was just a very tough journey — and it didn't work the first time, so it was just a rollercoaster.

I actually stopped trying after that, and until I heard that we had the Carrot benefit, I thought I’d have to reconsider this route. It was a big decision; I thought I would never go through IVF again because it was so psychologically and physically tough at that time. I’d felt it was just too much to go through again, so all those thoughts were coming up. And of course, there was the financial piece that needed to be taken into account. So when I heard Headspace would be offering Carrot, I immediately looked into it and it sparked my reconsideration to go on this journey again.

Can you share what you found most helpful about your Carrot benefit?

The funds really gave me that peace of mind to know that now that I was trying again, I didn’t have to feel so pressured or stressed about finances. Even though insurance covered some of the cost of my first round of IVF, there were a lot of things that it didn't cover. So the funds were a big piece. 

What are some other aspects of the benefit that you took advantage of?

I also set up chats for emotional support. When it came time to implant the embryo, I started remembering how it went the first time I did IVF, and feeling afraid of whether it would succeed. So I did chat with a mental health expert who just talked it through with me and I think that really helped me not feel alone in the journey. 

Did you have the outcome that you had hoped for?

The second round of IVF was not successful, so I actually did a third round and that was successful. That's another thing — even though it had failed once and the second round was not successful, because I had Carrot, I felt like I wanted to try once more. Carrot really helped me make that decision and without it, I honestly don't know if my daughter would have come into the world six months ago.

What advice would you share with someone who is considering using Carrot?

I definitely would say “go for it.” There’s nothing to lose, honestly. Carrot has so many experts and general support in many different areas. And no matter what kinds of questions you have, there will be someone who can guide you. Everything is so easy to use and just very smooth. 

When you are going through a very stressful time like with infertility, you don't want to add additional stress to the journey. That's why I would highly recommend people consider Carrot — just sign up and try it because it will help you navigate any type of obstacles that may get in the way.

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