Ellen Jokikunnas and Jari Rask suffered from childlessness for a long time.
Ellen Jokikunnas Atte Kajova
Presenter Ellen Jokikunnas recalls in a recent Ellen & Jari – This too! -podcast, what kind of feelings did the removal of the fallopian tubes, i.e., the sterilization performed on her, evoke at the time.
Joikkunnas and her husband Jari Rask met in 2010. She says the relationship progressed quickly, and soon after they began infertility treatments, when a blocked fallopian tube was discovered.
– As a result, we also knew that we would never again have a situation where we could get pregnant naturally, but everything has to be done through in vitro fertilization, says Jokikunnas.
After learning about the problem, it was decided to remove the fallopian tubes to avoid possible risks and complications. However, at the time of the surgery, the presenter’s mind was filled with horror images.
– When I was going to that operation, I cried, I was scared, I was anxious, I was sad. I partly had the biggest feeling that I was losing my femininity and the meaning of life, she describes her feelings.
Husband Jari Rask remembers the situation when he entered the hospital.
– When I entered the door, the situation was like you were crying and they brought you operating room clothes with compression socks and then a shirt like this that comes open from the back, Rask explains to his spouse.
He thought the hospital outfits, especially the underpants, looked amusing. This made him try to lighten the mood.
– I put on Ellen’s socks and these hospital, not so romantic panties, and then I started to put that robe on you.
He deliberately placed the robe so that it became like a cloak over Jokikunnas. After that, Rask started posting pictures of the situation.
– I asked you to stand there on the bed in a superhero pose and snapped photos of you. The crying gradually turned to laughter, he recalls.
Jokikunnas has previously said that her fallopian tubes are blocked either from birth or as a result of childhood appendectomy.
Ellen Jokikunnas and Jari Rask got married in 2017. After that, they tried to have a child for a long time with the help of in vitro fertilization treatments, but finally moved to the adoption process, which was delayed due to the corona pandemic.
In total, the couple waited to have a child for about 14 years, as the journey included both infertility treatments and later the adoption process.
Finally, a nine-year-old arrived in the family Ralph-a boy from the Philippines at the end of 2024.