Her Journey Through Fibroids, Surrogacy, and Inducing Lactation

Dr. Alyssa Small Layne’s journey with fibroids and surrogacy is one of resilience, heartbreak, and hope. Her path to motherhood was anything but conventional, beginning with years of undiagnosed fibroids that would later impact her fertility and pregnancy outcomes. Ultimately, surrogacy became the answer to her dream of becoming a mother, but not without its own set of emotional and medical challenges.

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Her struggles started long before she had a name for them. As a young girl, her periods were anything but normal. “I remember being young and having pain, feeling nauseous, and vomiting on the playground,” she recalls. Unlike some women who experience painful periods every cycle, hers were sporadic but intense.

By the time she reached university, the signs were becoming harder to ignore. Anemia was the first major clue. “I went to donate blood, and the nurse dropped a sample into a container and said, ‘Hmm.’ Then she took me to the small room, and nobody wants to go into the small room,” Dr. Layne says. At the time, she was relieved to learn she only had anemia—not something more severe—but no one questioned why. Years of heavy bleeding had drained her iron levels, but she wouldn’t connect the dots until much later.

Today, Dr. Layne is a board-certified OB-GYN specializing in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery and obstetrics and gynecology. She is currently practicing at Howard University Hospital Faculty Practice Plan - OBGYN & Women’s Wellness in Washington, DC, where she provides expert care to patients dealing with conditions like fibroids, endometriosis, and infertility.

The Diagnosis: Fibroids, Not Endometriosis

It was in medical school that she fully grasped the severity of her symptoms. The pain was unmanageable—sharp, stabbing sensations that immobilized her, accompanied by nausea and a metallic taste in her mouth. Convinced she had endometriosis, she sought out a gynecologist. “I walked into her office and announced, ‘I have endometriosis,’” Dr. Layne says. But after an exam, the doctor told her, “You have fibroids.”

 “After my fibroid surgery, my symptoms vanished."

Fibroids had grown large enough to be felt during a routine exam. She was referred to a specialist who performed a myomectomy to remove them. “After my fibroid surgery, my symptoms vanished. The pain, the nausea, the metallic taste—it all went away overnight.” But the relief wasn’t permanent. Over time, the bleeding returned, signaling that the fibroids were back.

Managing Fibroids as an OB-GYN Resident

Determined to avoid another surgery, Dr. Layne adapted her life around her condition. “I would be running around labor and delivery with two pads in my back pocket in case I needed to change while still on the go,” she says. It was a way of life familiar to many women with fibroids—constantly adjusting to accommodate unpredictable and heavy periods.

Her medical training gave her unique insight into the condition. “When I have patients coming to me now, I ask questions that make their eyes light up because they feel like I’ve been reading their diary,” she says. From waking up at night to change pads to doubling up on tampons, she had lived through the very experiences her patients were describing.

Fibroids and Infertility: A Devastating Reality

Fibroids often intersect with fertility challenges, as Dr. Layne would learn firsthand. She and her husband struggled with infertility, undergoing six rounds of intrauterine insemination (IUI) before turning to in vitro fertilization (IVF). Their first pregnancy ended in a heartbreaking early miscarriage.

“We were cautiously optimistic, but also not getting our hopes up.”

Determined to improve her chances, she underwent another fibroid surgery before attempting another embryo transfer. “We were cautiously optimistic, but also not getting our hopes up,” she says. When they made it past the 16-week mark, reality began to sink in. “I started feeling the baby kick. It made it real.” Then, at 22 weeks, disaster struck.

A Life-Threatening Pregnancy Complication

While teaching a surgical class, Dr. Layne felt a sharp pain in her pelvis. She was admitted to the hospital, where doctors discovered her uterus was rupturing. “I was bleeding internally,” she recalls. Doctors hoped to keep her pregnant for as long as possible, but four days later, she began bleeding externally.

At 3 a.m., she woke her husband. “This is it,” she told him. She was rushed into surgery, where she required 12 units of blood transfusion. The placenta had grown abnormally into her uterus, a condition known as placenta accreta. To save her life, doctors had to perform an emergency hysterectomy. Their daughter was born too premature to survive.

Finding Hope Through Surrogacy

Years later, surrogacy gave Dr. Layne and her husband another chance at parenthood. “After I lost my uterus, we still had embryos left,” she says. They matched with a gestational carrier who would carry their baby.

The surrogacy experience was a mix of excitement, anxiety, and hope. “You have to get into the right mindset. I worked with a therapist to process my past losses so I could fully enjoy this pregnancy,” she explains.

At 37 weeks, their surrogate went in for a routine checkup, only to be told the baby needed to be delivered immediately. Dr. Layne and her husband were three and a half hours away. “We jumped in the car, speeding down the highway. Then our surrogate texted: ‘They can’t wait. I’m going in for a C-section now.’”

For over 40 minutes, they drove in fear, unsure if their baby had survived. When they finally reached the hospital, a nurse told them, “Your baby’s in the nursery.” Relief washed over them. “We opened the door, and there she was—a beautiful little baby with curly black hair.”

Inducing Lactation: Breastfeeding After Surrogacy

Dr. Layne was determined to breastfeed. “Inducing lactation was the most healing part of my infertility experience,” she says. She followed the rigorous Newman-Goldfarb protocol, taking medications to trick her body into believing it was pregnant.

Eight weeks before her surrogate’s due date, she stopped the medication and began pumping. “At first, nothing came out. Then, one day, a drop. Then a little more.” By the time her daughter was born, she had a full milk supply.

She successfully breastfed for 13 months. “I wasn’t able to grow my daughter inside my body, but I was able to nourish her. That meant everything.”

"Different but Beautiful"

Reflecting on her journey, Dr. Layne offers encouragement to others facing fibroids, infertility, or surrogacy. “There is always a way forward. Build your support system. Find your experts. And know that your path to parenthood may look different, but it can still be beautiful.”

Today, Dr. Layne is not only a mother but also an advocate, using her personal experience to support other women navigating fibroids, fertility challenges, and surrogacy. “Fibroids changed my life,” she says. “But they didn’t take away my ability to be a mother.”