GoodHeart | A miracle birth brings healing for Claudene Givans
Published:Saturday | May 24, 2025 | 12:05 AMKrysta Anderson/ Staff Reporter
During a routine visit, when the doctor asked Claudene Givans if she was pregnant, she sadly said no. Her dream of becoming a mother had been met with fibroids, three myomectomies, infertility, miscarriage, and a failed round of in vitro fertilisation. But all hope wasn’t lost. A car accident sparked renewed purpose and, through faith, this devout Christian finally welcomed her ‘sonshine’ in 2021 at 40 years old.
Although she always loved children, her reason for being a mother changed over time. “Being a mother seemed like an achievement as a little girl growing up; a box to tick off. But the notion of a woman needing to be a mother by such time played into societal norms and pressures,” she told GoodHeart.
But, once she assumed this significant role, motherhood took on an even greater meaning, “I see being a mother as an opportunity to shape a life. Like a compass, we are here to navigate and guide our children. My goal is to be there for my son on his journey and direct him to walk into his own purpose.”
Givans grew up with painful periods, viewing them as a way of life until the cramps and aches became too much to bear. Being plus-sized, her protruding tummy didn’t raise any medical alarms. But, over time, the pain grew so severe it became unbearable.
“The pain kept exacerbating with each passing year. I recall not being able to sleep a wink one night, or spending an entire night in the bathroom for another one. I received injections to reduce the pain but no luck. One day, while I was exiting the bus, a sharp pain hit and the shock made me lose my balance and I fell. This was after my period had ended a week before,” she shared.
So she paid a visit to the doctor where she learned that her stomach looked similar to a six-month pregnancy. Her gynaecologist recommended a myomectomy, removing the fibroid without touching the uterus.
“After doing that surgery in 2010, I got married in 2011. I was hopeful. I thought it would reduce the torture. But the heavy flow and pain returned. And, by 2014, the fibroids grew to the same size as the ones from 2010,” Givans recalled.
Givans and her husband were actively trying to conceive since their marriage started and the size of the growing fibroids stood as a deterrent. She would undergo a second myomectomy in 2014 to rectify her issues. And, two months later, she was pregnant.
Unfortunately, the optimistic mother-to-be suffered a miscarriage six weeks later. “This is the most traumatic experience I’ve ever gone through,” she confessed, adding, “By this time, I started to feel like a complete failure.”
Failure in her eyes, presented itself in two forms. Firstly, Givans felt as though her body was failing her. “My body was letting me down. And, as a Christian, I questioned God. I kept asking Him, ‘Why not me?’ I went through a dark period of depression and I grieved.”
Secondly, as a wife, she believed she was failing her husband by denying him the opportunity of being a father, “I started to have doubts about everything, including our marriage.”
By 2018, she was going under the knife for a third time. And, in a twisted turn of event, Givans, a new driver, met in a car accident which would change her life forever.
CAR ACCIDENT
“I was travelling on the May Pen leg of the toll road and there was an obstacle in the road. I swerved and, in doing this, I lost control of the car and it overturned and was heading straight for a gully. Luckily, a fence stopped the vehicle. The car was totalled, completely written off and, miraculously, I came out uninjured, walking away without a scratch,” she recounted.
“What happened after was a pivotal moment for me. It was a shift in my mindset. I realised that I had gone down a path of where conceiving a child had consumed me, when so many dreams and visions needed to be birthed. I was here to birth more than just a child or children.”
Making this switch led her to pursue several avenues of interest, such as preaching and studying, “I went back to school and completed my master’s degree in education. I preached and, even when I didn’t intend to, God would use me to share openly about aspects of the journey, whether it was relating to fibroids or infertility. God was using my experiences to bring healing and restoration to others.”
It was while on this positive trajectory that she and her husband decided to explore the option of in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
“The word that kept playing in my mind was ‘unconventional’. It kept resonating in my spirit that God was going to do something unconventional for us. In 2019, we were led to try IVF. We saw that Barbados Fertility Centre had a good success rate. And, after doing the consultation, there was a tug at our hearts to look deeply into this option.”
They used savings and a loan to travel to Barbados. The first round was unsuccessful but, during the height of the pandemic, they tried again. September 2020 marked the start of a beautiful journey and, by 2021, Givans gave birth to a baby boy.
She has put pen to paper and is looking to release her first book, Birthing Vision: A 30-day Devotional on Faith, Motherhood and Trusting God’s Timing, in June of this year.
“While motherhood has done its best to test my patience, it has also made me into a better person. For any woman struggling to get pregnant, surround yourself with a strong support system, seek intervention and inspiration from a higher power. Know that you are not alone, and, because the journey can be consuming, ensure that you are giving birth to all of your dreams as well.”