Selina Nunn
After years of heartbreak, failed diets, endless medical knockbacks and six devastating miscarriages, Maranda Bothwell had given up hope of becoming a mum. But five years, 80 kilos and one life-changing operation later, she’s now raising the precious rainbow baby she fought so hard for.
Growing up in Greymouth with Fijian-Chinese heritage, Maranda, 37, always loved food and family, but she also faced a lifelong weight battle. Diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome as a teen, she struggled first with the kilos creeping on, then fertility problems later in life. By her early thirties, she had spiralled to 160kg.
Struggling with weight and mental health
“I’d been chubby, but by then, I was severely obese,” she says.
“I’d tried everything – diets, the gym, fasting and supplements – but nothing worked. I got depressed and was binge-eating. It was so hard to break the cycle.”
Shift work as a busy neurosurgery nurse made things harder.
“Patients would bring chocolates, there was cake in the break room and I’d skip healthy meals,” tells Maranda.
Battling infertility and heartbreak
Alongside her weight gain, Maranda was battling infertility heartbreak. Married young, she and her first husband spent years desperately trying to start a family, having several rounds of IVF and enduring five miscarriages.
Although she knew her weight was part of the issue, she was turned down for publicly funded bariatric surgery three times, despite meeting the criteria.
“It broke me,” she recalls.
“I felt like a number in an overwhelmed system and every door seemed to be shutting in my face.”
Pre-diabetic and with her mental health crumbling, she realised if something didn’t change, her dream of becoming a mother would never happen. It’s why in late 2020, Maranda made the brave decision to self-fund her bariatric surgery, also known as mini gastric bypass.
“It wasn’t easy financially or emotionally, but it was the best money I’ve ever spent,” says Christchurch-based Maranda, who has dropped an incredible 80kg since the surgery.
“For the first time, I could move freely, exercise and feel at home in my body.”
Finding love again
Her personal life changed too. After parting ways with her first husband, Maranda reconnected with Morgan Bothwell, a childhood friend from Greymouth, who had lived three houses away when they were growing up.
Falling in love, the couple became a blended family with Morgan’s now-11-year-old son Mason. But while she loved being a stepmum, Maranda was still hopeful she would realise her motherhood dream.
After a year together, Maranda and Morgan, 38, were thrilled to discover she had fallen pregnant naturally.
“It was so exciting, but then at seven weeks, we found out I had an ectopic pregnancy,” she says.
“Losing that baby was horrific.”
Emergency surgery followed, with the removal of an ovary and Fallopian tube. Yet miraculously, just months later, she was pregnant again.
Miracle Maisie
After so much loss, Maranda admits carrying this baby was “terrifying”, especially after suffering massive bleeds at seven and 10 weeks. However, little Maisie proved a fighter, and despite Maranda’s fear, nausea and multiple hospital stays, she was delivered safely to term.
“She’s my rainbow baby, my little miracle and everything I ever dreamed of,” gushes Maranda about her happy, gorgeous daughter, who’s now two and a half.
While she admits to having “constant fear” about putting the kilos back on, Maranda says Maisie is the biggest reason she’s determined that won’t happen.
Finding strength in the journey
“When I’m having a bad day, I look at how far I’ve come,” she explains.
“I never want to be the mum who can’t chase her kids around the park.”
Maranda has built a thriving social media following on her Instagram profile @myfatdiary_nz, where she shares raw and honest snapshots of life during and after her massive weight-loss journey, which inspire and uplift others.
After providing advice to many people who have chosen to have bariatric surgery, Maranda has started a new venture called The Bariatric Nurse to help guide others through the surgery and beyond.
“New Zealand is facing a growing obesity epidemic and yet the wraparound support for bariatric patients, especially post-op, is seriously lacking,” she explains.
“I want to change that. “I’ve lived it, survived it and I’ve come out the other side. Now I want to use my experience, both personal and professional, to help others reclaim their health and their lives. They don’t have to do it alone.”
Redefining success beyond the scale
After marrying Morgan in March, Maranda knows the real success isn’t just in the numbers on the scale – it’s in the life she gets to live now.
“I lost half my body weight, but I gained everything that really matters – my physical and mental health, my hope and, most importantly, after all the years of heartbreak and loss, my family.”
To learn more about Maranda’s journey, follow her on Instagram @myfatdiary_nz.
