• Liz Walton from Canberra, Australia, is 55 and has a 9-year-old daughter. • After 10 years of trying IVF, she got pregnant naturally and became an older mom. • She says being an older parent is a gift because she is the very best version of herself.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Liz Walton. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Getting pregnant for me was a 10-year journey from age 36, with six rounds of IVF treatment. None of it worked.

Then, my sister-in-law got pregnant from her first round of IVF. That was emotionally difficult for me. My reality was, I was out of money and out of chances.

I realized I needed to figure out how to give up, how to let go of my dream of parenthood. I did lots of inner work on myself to heal. I stopped drin

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