A woman urged to get sterilised following a heart-breaking EIGHT miscarriages in two years has defied medics to celebrate the birth – of her THIRD child.
Andrea Henry, now 28, believed she would never be a mum after being diagnosed with debilitating ovarian cysts – after losing eight babies between the ages of 18 and 20.
She was so broken, physically and mentally, by the seven failed pregnancies that she took doctors’ advice and booked herself in for sterilisation surgery.
But Andrea, from Nottingham, did not want to give up hope of becoming a mum and did a runner from Queens Medical Centre, in Nottingham, on the day of the procedure.
But incredibly, eight years on, she has ‘stunned’ medics after miraculously giving birth to three healthy children, Cayden-Lee, seven, Jessica, five, and Thomas, three.
Andrea, who is Britain’s happiest full-time mum, said: “All I’ve ever wanted is to be a mother, so when I lost my first twin babies my whole world fell apart.
“But I refused to give up and even through the heartbreak of the next seven miscarriages nearly killed me, I had to keep going.”
In 2006, Andrea, was just 19 when she lost twins three months into the pregnancy.
Devastated, Andrea attempted to conceive again and two months later fell pregnant – only to sadly lose that baby at eight weeks.
She said: “I couldn’t believe it was happening again and I started to worry that something was seriously wrong with me.”
Andrea tells how doctors were ‘bewildered’ at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
She said: “They just kept telling me it was one of those things and what we should keep trying.”
In the two years following, Andrea lost five more babies.
In 2007, at the age of 20, scan results confirmed she had ovarian cysts covering her entire ovaries, and that it was highly improbable she could ever carry a child to full term – and that she should be sterilised and have them removed.
“Doctors told me I had no problem conceiving but I could never be able to carry the children and I would miscarry with future pregnancies.”
“I feel into such a deep depression.
“The stress nearly ground me down and although I was distraught when doctors told me to get sterilised, I was also reluctant to admit defeat.”
In 2006, on the day of her sterilisation, Andrea fled the hospital, refusing to believe that she could never be a mother.
But in a twist of fate, this decision would end up being the best decision of her life.
She said: “I just couldn’t go through with it.
“I didn’t want to give up hope.”
Andrea then met the man of her dreams Daniel Ebbern, now 27, and the pair decided to not give up on their dream of having children.
She soon fell pregnant, but because of other medical conditions, including lupus, she was not hopeful.
In a bid to increase the unborn child’s chances, Andrea took every precaution to ensure she would become a mother and she cut out fatty foods and caffeine from her diet and ensured her body was well nourished and rested.
She even underwent an agonising five-month stint of daily stomach injections in order to counteract the lupus, and thin her blood – a total 150 injections.
Against the odds in April 2008, she gave birth naturally at 39 weeks to Cayden-Lee, now seven, weighing a healthy 7lbs 4oz – shocking medics.
She said: “This is the happy ending we had dreamed about and I’m so glad we never stopped believing.
“All I’d ever wanted was to be a mother and I was overwhelmed with love when I held Cayden-Lee in my arms for the first time.”
And the miracles did not stop there. Two years later, she fell pregnant and Jessica, now five, arrived weighing 8lbs 14oz.
Then, in April 2012, Thomas, now three, was born healthy and happy.
She said: “My self-belief did not only defy medical opinion but the views of my friends and family who also believed I would never be able to have biological children.
“I am so glad I didn’t go ahead with the sterilisation as planned. Now when I cuddle my three beautiful children, I’m reminded of what miracles they are.”
