Couple's joy after three miscarriages, 12 rounds of fertility treatment and £50,000

Andraya and Paul Chuter say her birthday, January 28, 2013, was the day a miracle happened and they finally got what they had always longed for – a family.

For ten years the couple suffered three miscarriages, 12 gruelling rounds of IUI and IVF and spent a total of £50,000 to fulfil their dream of becoming a mummy and daddy.

Despite their heartbreak, though, the couple never gave up and today are looking forward to their second Christmas with their precious daughter.

“For me I didn’t feel I was complete unless I had a baby,” says Andraya.

“I always knew I wanted to be a mum. It was something I felt I was predetermined to be and Paul wanted the same, but for so long it felt like that wouldn’t happen.

“The pain, the money, everything, I wouldn’t change anything. It is a distant memory now.

“You can’t put a price on a family.

“Lauren is such a character. When she tells me what she wants she says ‘Mummy, Mummy, Mummy’ three times and I absolutely love it.”

The couple met in July 2000 at Cowes Week and within six months Andraya, who was living in Wales, and Paul, a project manager for Ordnance Survey in Lordshill, were engaged and spoke about how much they wanted children.

They began trying for a baby immediately.

However, their wedding on July 2003 passed and following two years of trying with no joy, the couple sought medical help. Not meeting the criteria for IVF in their area, their GP referred them to a private fertility clinic in Portsmouth for Inter Uterine Insemination (IUI.) However, three rounds of the procedure proved unsuccessful.

With IVF their only option, Andraya, now 41, joined an online support network called Infertility Network UK and spent hours scouring the Net for a clinic in Surrey with high birth success.

The couple, who at times were making the long journey every other day, tried everything from taking time off work to acupuncture and eating superfoods in a bid to increase their chances of pregnancy.

“You are living on hope. You spend so much money on it you just think maybe this time will work,” said Andraya.

It did work. Their third IVF attempt was successful and they were overjoyed they had fallen pregnant. That initial excitement, however, turned to sadness. Following three trips to the clinic in as many days, blood tests revealed the devastating news that Andraya was having an early miscarriage.

The couple continued with further IVF cycles but suffered another two heartbreaking miscarriages.

“I think it’s true you learn to forget the pain. All I can remember is how stressful it was. Every time you get a positive pregnancy test you think ‘this is it, I am pregnant, this is amazing’ but then the worry takes over. That initial elation is completely downed by ‘OK now I need to stay pregnant’.

“All of those miscarriages were horrendous.

Though I was so early on, I felt I had lost a baby.

Every time you feel like your heart is being ripped out of your chest.”

Adding to their torment, the couple chose not to tell their friends, to avoid added pressure.

“Nobody really talks about fertility issues and it was a very difficult time. It got to the point where friends would tell me they were pregnant. I would be genuinely happy for them but as soon as they would walk out the door, I would burst into tears or if a pregnant friend who was showing asked me on a night out, I couldn’t go because I’d end up spending the night staring at her bump.

“I’d walk down the street and see women with prams and I’d burst into tears. It was all a reminder of the fact we were struggling so much.”

Having already spent thousands of pounds, the couple decided to keep trying and sought the help of Southampton clinic Wessex Fertility.

Andraya explains: “Finally we found a personal clinic where we felt really comfortable, which is so important. It was as if we were being listened to. I was tested and it was discovered I had a high number of so-called killer white blood cells, which could have affected the pregnancies.”

The couple had another IVF cycle where Andraya’s eggs were collected and inseminated. One embryo was transferred while four were frozen. The initial attempt was unsuccessful.

Paul, 39, explains: “We spent so much money and it got to the point where we were getting to the age we thought we just can’t continue to do this, one financially and two emotionally.

“We turned around to each other and decided to go for the frozen embryos in two cycles to double our chances. I turned around to Andraya and said ‘this is our last chance’. We had run out of money.”

Adamant that the frozen cycle would not work, Andraya even began researching adoption and surrogacy. Ironically though it was at that point that they got the news they had dreamed of – they were pregnant and stayed pregnant.

That joy turned to heartache again when at seven weeks pregnant, Andraya feared she had miscarried.

Despite the bleed, though, Andraya went to the clinic where a scan confirmed that she was pregnant and there was a strong heartbeat.

“They think what might have happened is because I had two embryos transferred, I had lost one.”

Following the 12 week scan which showed a healthy baby, the couple organised a camping trip to Weymouth with their closest friends to tell them exactly how much heartache they had gone through for the past decade to become pregnant.

Paul says: “That point to me was the moment we could unload ten years worth of what we had been going through. Everyone was in tears.”

Andraya enjoyed a healthy pregnancy and she was two weeks overdue before her waters broke. However her contractions were not regular and after 48 hours in labour, medics advised that she underwent a Caesarean section.

At 7.24pm Lauren was delivered weighing 8lb 10oz and the couple were overwhelmed with joy.

Now Andraya and Paul can’t imagine life without Lauren.

Paul said: “It didn’t matter how much we spent.

"She is everything to us.”

Andraya, a national account manager, added: “She means the world. She’s our miracle baby.”