A couple who spent £70,000 on fertility treatment in their quest to have a baby are celebrating the birth of twin girls. Rachael and Mark Saddler were devastated to learn that Rachael was allergic to Mark’s sperm and struggled through numerous miscarriages and failed IVF cycles in their quest to be parents.
The Sadlers began trying for a baby nine years ago, but after two years with no luck, they both underwent fertility tests.
“I never accepted that I wouldn’t be a mother. I was determined to do anything I could to have a baby,” said Rachael, 35.
“I was convinced that something must be wrong,” explained Rachael. “We’d been trying for more than two years and I still hadn’t fallen pregnant. But the doctors just said it was unexplained infertility and to keep trying.”
Eventually, the couple turned to a fertility expert in LA, but even though the IVF cycles went well, each time Rachael suffered a miscarriage at five weeks.
At a loss, the clinic did further testing and discovered Rachael had a high level of “killer cells” in her body, which destroy foreign objects.
“They found I had the killer cells in my uterus, which was unusual. So my babies were being attacked from all angles. It was devastating. My body was in effect allergic to my husband. It was attacking his DNA cells in our babies.”
The couple travelled to a specialist clinic in Mexico. After repeated treatments, Rachael and Mark tried IVF once again and again suffered the devastation of another miscarriage at 14 weeks.
But after another round of anti killer cells treatment and another IVF cycle, Rachael became pregnant... with twins.
“I was nervous after what had happened last time, but as my bump grew each month it was wonderful,” Rachael said. Twin girls, Rebecca and Hazel, were born safely in Coventry nine months later.
“Finally it has been worth all the heartbreak,” said Rachael.
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