We love to start the day off with some joyful baby news, and this is exactly what we have for you today – courtesy of British mum Alannah Roberts.
Alannah has made headlines this week, after sharing the story of how her daughter Faith was conceived following a long battle with cancer.
Alannah was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of 15. She received treatment, but when she relapsed again, she decided she needed to start thinking about the future.
She was told that the chemotherapy she required may render her infertile, so she chose to freeze a number of her eggs in a bid to make her dream of becoming a mother come true.
By 2015, Alannah had beaten cancer three times but was finally cured. She had undergone chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy and a stem cell transplant. At this stage, doctors told her that she may not be able to conceive.
Alannah and her husband Andrew decided to remain positive, however – and, in the end, it totally paid off. Her eggs were thawed and micro-injected into her body, and two embryos were eventually transferred early last year.
Wonderfully, last September, Alannah and Andrew welcomed their beautiful daughter Faith. The egg that was used to create this precious little life had been in storage for 13 years, making her the world’s oldest ‘frozen egg baby’.
Speaking to the MailOnline.com, a fertility expert said: “This is an amazing achievement. We have never come across a baby that has been born such a long time after egg freezing before.
“Eggs are so incredibly fragile – much more so than embryos – so this is amazing to have been able to preserve this woman’s fertility for so long like this.”
In a follow-up interview, with local station Radio WM, Alannah shared her delight over becoming a mum.
“I thought my chances of having a baby through pregnancy were just not going to happen. Thankfully, to my surprise, I was completely wrong – and I have a beautiful daughter now,” she gushed.
This is just the latest such success story we have heard this week. Just yesterday, Emmerdale actress Lucy Pargeter introduced her twin daughters, conceived through IVF.
The mum-of-three had previously opened up about her struggle to conceive naturally, and praised the IVF process for bringing her two precious baby girls.
“Having IVF was hard, but we feel so lucky the girls have come along. I think it’s important to be honest about everything to do with how they got here,” she said.
We are so delighted for both of these mums.
