A single mum used a sperm donor and IVF to give her son a sibling and avoid a big age gap between kids. Emma Beacham, 37, conceived son Jack, four, naturally, and always wanted to give him a sibling.
The dental nurse said "life got in the way" - and finding out she had a low ovarian reserve made her "very aware of my biological clock ticking". So rather than wait for Mr Right - and have an unwanted age gap between her kids - she had IVF at a fertility clinic.
Noah was born using a sperm donor and she said she fully supports him contacting the man when he is old enough. Emma said: "I love being a mum, knew I could parent well on my own and wanted a bigger family.
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"I had hoped to have less of a gap between my babies but life – and Covid – got in the way. I suddenly became very aware of my biological clock ticking so, because I’m not in a relationship, going to a fertility clinic seemed like the obvious way ahead.
"I’m a firm believer in following your dreams, and mine definitely included another child. Jack adores his little brother and I’m thoroughly enjoying my maternity leave with the two of them.
"Since Jack will start school in September it’s just lovely that we’ve all got this precious time at home together. I appreciate that babies born from donor sperm can seek contact with their natural fathers when they’re 18, and I’m cool with Noah doing that if he wants to.
"In fact, I’m preparing a book for him with all the details in, to allow him to do it easily if he so wishes. It is possible to use an unknown donor, but it was important to me to use a known donor. Obviously being a solo mum is not something every woman would choose, but for me, it’s the right thing and I’m so happy we live in a time where we have that choice and I’ve been able to follow my dreams."
The mum-of-two was recommended to visit Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine by another solo mum who had already had a child through them. Emma went to an opening evening.
She said: "I hadn’t anticipated any problems in having a second child since I conceived naturally when I had Jack, but the check-up revealed I had a low ovarian reserve. Every woman’s egg count decreases as she ages, but this was happening sooner than expected for Emma and could have made it harder to get pregnant, so she decided not to delay treatment any longer."
In November 2021 Emma had her eggs harvested, followed by a fresh embryo transfer which resulted in a positive pregnancy test, but she miscarried in January 2022. Emma was advised to have the remaining embryos frozen and when her periods resumed in April 2022 the medical team were able to carry out a frozen embryo transfer, which resulted in a second pregnancy.
Emma said: “The whole team were just lovely. When I was having the transfers and my scans it didn’t feel at all invasive."
Just after Christmas, 2022 Emma gave birth to Noah, weighing 8lb 5oz. "The actual delivery was rather traumatic because the baby’s shoulders got stuck and the midwives had to use a suction cup, but we were both all right in the end,” Emma said.
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