Case Studies
Noah Hanscomb (2005)
NOTHING was going to stand in the way of Claire Hanscomb and the family she dreamt of. Even after having most of her reproductive organs removed she still refused to give up her hopes of getting pregnant.
"I was so determined," she said. "I had been so devastated when I found out my only chance of having children was through IVF or adoption.
"It was crushing.
"My friends were getting pregnant every five minutes - it was so hard each time I heard someone else was expecting."
After several years of trying for a baby, Claire and her husband Neil were referred to Bourn Hall where investigations revealed that both Claire's fallopian tubes were blocked and one of them was attached to her bowel. Additionally scans showed a solid mass the size of an orange growing on one of her ovaries.
She decided to have her tubes removed along with the growth and try for a baby with IVF. It took 8 cycles before she fell pregnant with Noah, who is now three, was born a healthy 8lb7oz.
"I swore I'd never get pregnant again," she said.
"But a little while later we started thinking about all the embryos we had in the freezer.
"So we decided to have one more go."
The couple were advised to have their remaining embryos brought to the blastocyst - or five day - stage of development. Two embryos were replaced and Claire fell pregnant with twins. "I was petrified," she said. "But I was so excited."
Sadly one of the twins did not survive beyond 12 weeks and was reabsorbed. But at 35 weeks she gave birth to her daughter Eve, who is now six months old.
"We were delighted," said Claire. "We wanted our babies so very much and she was our second little miracle."
Claire has been advised it would be unwise for her to get pregnant again. But the couple remember their time at Bourn Hall fondly. "The whole process of having fertility treatment was all-consuming," she said. "But the staff at Bourn were so supportive, especially when you were having a really bad day
"They were so excited for us when we got pregnant."
