Local couples chase a Big Miracle

Ilina and Nick appear on ‘Big Miracles’.
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Two local couples are sharing their fertility journeys with the nation, as they each face challenges in conceiving.

Returning for season three of Nine Network’s show ‘Big Miracles’ is St Clair couple Ilina and Nick Gorgievski, whose story ended on a cliffhanger.

“We ended on our egg retrieval where we amazingly got seven… In the next season, you will see us going in for an egg transfer,” Ilina explained.

Ilina suffers from severe endometriosis, which is a painful condition where tissue similar to the inner lining of the uterus grows outside that area, impacting other organs.

“I’ve had to remove both my fallopian tubes, I’ve had my ovary stuck to my bowels, I had to get back-to-back surgeries fighting this incurable disease and it’s so debilitating,” Ilina described.

“I had one surgery where my heart stopped, my body gave up because there was so much happening, so much surgery, my body just shut down on me.”

It’s safe to say, viewers are in for an emotional season with immense vulnerability.

“Going through what we’ve gone through, you can’t hold back all these emotions – there’s some highs and lows coming your way,” Ilina said.

And the audience feels it all too. Since season two, the couple have been recognised while running errands around their local area.

“I’ll be at the cash register, and I’ll get people tapping me on my shoulder and analysing to see if there’s anything there,” Ilina remarked.

“It’s nice to get hugs and be told that we’re an inspiration for being brave enough to televise our journey and that it’s giving hope to others.

“At the end of the day, that was our purpose.”

Meanwhile, St Marys couple Billie and Rob Backhouse will be making their television debut this season.

Billie was born without a uterus, but can still produce eggs, so her sister Shannen has offered to carry their baby.

“Since I found out that I was born without a uterus and would never be able to carry my own child, that tore my heart into a million pieces and I was shattered,” Billie explained to the Weekender.

“The only thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a mum.”

Billie and Rob feature on the show this season.

Shannen has already had four children, two boys and twin girls. Now that she’s finished, the sisters looked at a uterus transplant trial but weren’t accepted due to Shannen’s three caesareans.

“She said ‘If you can’t have my uterus, I’ll have a baby for you’,” Billie said.

“We were in disbelief when she wanted to do something so incredible for us… and with it being my own sister, that made it a lot more special.”

The trio are excited to bring a happy, healthy baby into the world, and to ensure others struggling with infertility know they’re not alone.

“There’s probably a lot of people out there who have the same condition or are in similar situations and we wanted to be brave and share our story to raise awareness,” Billie said.

“We wanted to show it’s okay to be vulnerable, and it’s okay to not be okay.”

Season three of ‘Big Miracles’ is now airing on Channel Nine.

Ally Hall

Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.


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