A woman who defied the odds to have a baby at 50 has described her cherished daughter as a "little miracle". Christine Boama, who thought she had started the menopause, endured years of infertility struggles and failed attempts at IVF before taking a pregnancy test and discovering the "shock" result.
Christine has been celebrating her daughter Precious's first birthday and says she is enjoying life as a family of three with husband David. "I want to share my story to give people hope - I know how tiny the odds were," she said.
Marketing entrepreneur Christine said she grew up with a large family, adding: "My mum is one of nine and one of my auntie has six daughters. Surrounded by the loving hubbub I’d think, ‘This is what I want when I’m older’.
"I was healthy, and I knew I’d be a good mum. All I needed was to meet Mr Right."
Her desire for a baby grew once she was in her 30s as she saw friends and workmates start their families, The Mirror reports. “I wanted a child more than anything, but I’d tell myself, ‘When the time is right it will be easy, everything will fall into place'," she said.
In 2012, aged 41, Christine met David, 50. They married a year later and Christine believed she would "pregnant within a year."
However, their first and second anniversaries came and went with no sign of a baby. The couple paid for IVF in 2015 when Christine was 44.
“It was hard for me to accept that we’d need to go down the medical route. But I was absolutely prepared to do it, if it meant becoming a mum,” she said.
Heartbreakingly, the first cycle failed. The anguish increased as four more cycles followed over the next five years.
"It felt like I was on an endless treadmill of tests, scans and medications. Emotionally it was so draining, and I was never given a medical reason why I couldn’t get pregnant," said Christine, from Chorley in Lancashire.
"All the while the hole in my heart grew. My husband and I had the space and the financial security to be parents, but most importantly we had the love to give, all we needed was our child."
Two weeks after turning 50, in October 2020, Christine realised that her period hadn’t started. Initially she thought it was the menopause, but decided to take a pregnancy test to check for sure - and the one-in-100 result astonished her.
"I’d lost count of the number of tests I’d taken over the years, every one negative," she said. "Now here, at 50, I was staring at a positive test. I just sat there in shock."
A doctor later confirmed Christine was six weeks pregnant. On May 18, 2021, Precious was born.
"As soon as I saw her, I burst into tears. I’d waited and prayed for so long to meet my child and finally she was there, safely in my arms," she said.
Christine continued: "It would be incredible if it happened for us again, but I’m enjoying life as a family of three. Precious really is our little miracle."
