Used Money From The Sale Of Her Home, After 17 Cycles Of I.V.F Failed Over 14 Years, Finally Becoming A Mother-Of-Four At 42
A woman has revealed how she finally realised her dream of becoming a mother after 14 years of ʜᴇᴀʀᴛᴀᴄʜᴇ, during which time she sᴜFFᴇʀᴇᴅ ɴᴜᴍᴇʀᴏᴜs ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs, divorced her husband and spent £70,000 on Fᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ.
Joanne Scollard-Kerr from Telford, Shropshire, started trying for a baby with her first husband when she was 26. It wasn’t until she was 40 that she finally became mother to Pippa, now three, with her current fiance thanks to I.V.F.But to her sʜᴏᴄᴋ after further rounds of I.V.F she was then delighted – and slightly sʜᴏᴄᴋed – to conceive triplets Theo, Drew and Spencer two years later. Now aged 43, she is a mother of four with her second partner, Neil, 42.
“When I went for the sᴄᴀɴ at six weeks she told me it was triplets my legs started shaking. It was a good job I was lying down or I would have Fᴀʟʟᴇɴ over. It was a sʜᴏᴄᴋ, after all those years of ɪɴFᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ and I had three on the way,” she said
Joanne told the former glamour model how she always wanted to be a mother and was prepared to spend whatever it cost.
The former IT worker said: ‘A lot of people say “I want this career, I want that career” but I always wanted to be a mum. I had that passion.’
She started trying for a baby with her first husband but after two years without success, they paid for I.V.F using their savings and credit card loans. All their attempts Fᴀɪʟᴇᴅ and the stress of their ɪɴFᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ took its toll on their marriage and they separated in 2005. Single in her early 30s, Joanne was determined to still become a mother, but after she Fᴀɪʟᴇᴅ to meet another man, she realised she may have to go it alone.
She told Jodie: ‘That’s when I decided I am getting old, it might take a while to find someone I want to have children with. If I want to do it, I will have to do it on my own. So I went abroad a number of times to use sᴘᴇʀᴍ ᴅᴏɴᴏʀs.’
Using money from the sale of her former marital home, she tried more rounds of I.V.F using a sᴘᴇʀᴍ ᴅᴏɴᴏʀ – but these all Fᴀɪʟᴇᴅ. However, she was determined not to give up.
‘My mum kept asking if I wanted to keep spending the money when the I.V.F wasn’t working and I said I would rather live in a smaller house with children than a bigger house with none,’ Joanne explained.
Her fortunes then took a turn for the better when she met her fiance, Neil, when she was 40. She explained her history and told him if they wanted a family, there was no time to waste. They embarked on rounds of I.V.F together and finally Joanne got the result she had longed for.
Then on my 40th birthday I met the love of my life and I told him if we are going to do it, it has to be now, and he said “okay”‘ she said.
‘On my 13 attempt, I got pregnant with Pippa, then I had a couple more attempts with ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs and then had the triplets on my 17th attempt “.