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Surrogate Mother or an egg donor?
This book
is a moving real-life account of one woman's struggle
with infertility and her journey through surrogacy to
have the family she desperately wanted.
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Latest Surrogacy News
YOU MADE BABY DREAM COME ALIVE
April
19, 2004
Halifax Today
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Never give up:Sharon and Gary have found joy at
last with a baby due in May |
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A COUPLE who feared
they would be childless are preparing for the birth
of their own little miracle.
Sharon Rushforth and
her husband Gary have endured six years of continual
disappointment in a desperate attempt to have a
child.
But after £10,000 spent on failed IVF treatment, an
Evening Courier appeal for an egg donor has made
their dreams come true.
Sharon, who is 35 weeks pregnant and glowing with
health, said: "If it hadn't been for the Courier we
wouldn't be expecting a baby. Getting pregnant was
the hard part and it's all down to putting our story
in the paper."
Infertility experts said their only hope was to find
an egg donor - but with a waiting list of three
years or more they feared time was running out.
"That was what made us call the Courier", said
Sharon, 31, who works at a Morrisons supermarket in
Bradford.
"We were desperate to have a baby - something most
people take for granted - but I knew we couldn't
wait three more years."
Gary, 32, who helps his parents run The Navigation
pub in Sowerby Bridge, said: "It was the best
decision we ever made.
"It's been a very stressful time. Our emotions have
been up and down so often it's like a rollercoaster
ride. But our families kept telling us not to give
up - one day it would happen. And now it has."
The couple, of Hillcrest Road, Queensbury, have been
trying for children since they married.
They were referred to the IVF clinic at Calderdale
Royal Hospital and started treatment in 2001. Sharon
and Gary's parents helped fund the treatment because
there was a long waiting list for IVF on the NHS.
Doctors discovered Sharon has a problem producing
healthy eggs of her own and told the determined pair
the only way she could get pregnant would be with
another woman's eggs.
She said: "I don't even think of it as somebody
else's baby. Even though it's not my egg, the baby
has grown inside me so it feels like ours already.
"How can you even begin to thank the woman who's
done this marvellous thing? Words couldn't describe
what her help means to us."
After the Courier appeal last February, a number of
donors came forward and some even rang Gary at work
to offer their help and support.
On Sharon's birthday last year they got the letter
they had been waiting for, saying treatment could go
ahead - this time on the NHS. And a few short months
later the donated eggs were fertilised by Gary's
sperm, implanted and baby Rushforth is now due on
May 21 - Sharon's 32nd birthday.
The delighted couple also hope the news of their
imminent arrival will see other possible egg donors
coming forward.
Staff at the Assisted Conception Unit at Calderdale
Royal Hospital said the Courier appeal for egg
donors on behalf of the Rushforths had brought a
good response and also benefited other childless
couples.
Egg donors need to be under 35 and do not get paid.
For more details ring 01422 224478.
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