A miscarriage is an extremely painful experience, particularly for women.
Lauren Warneford went through 18 miscarriages and lost all hope to ever give birth and have her dream come true.
However, back in 2017, she and her partner got what they call their miracle baby.
Nowadays, Lauren wants to help other women with a problem like hers.
For 16 long years, Lauren and her husband, Mark, tried to have a baby together. They spent over $100,000 on IVF treatments, and have nothing else but 18 miscarriages. At last, Lauren and Mark at the age of 48 and 55, respectively, got their miracle baby.
Every separate pregnancy, Lauren would suffer a miscarriage at around the 14-week mark. She was crushed every single time. In the end, they found out that Lauren had a condition called “killer cells.” It is a condition which causes her body’s own cells, the ones which are supposed to kill cancer and other dangerous cells, to also attack embryos and killing them. In 2010, this pair from the UK decided to give up their hope of ever getting a child of their own.
However, after five years, they were given a sliver of hope: Embryo donation in the Czech Republic. They decided to try and went there. The treatment was successful, and after a very tense pregnancy, their son William was born by c-section at 37 weeks.
“I must have done a pregnancy test every day for the first three months,” Lauren said. “I was absolutely terrified; sometimes, I would take one twice a day. At one point, I had to go to the hospital because I had high blood pressure, and even though the doctor said I was okay, and the baby was fine – I didn’t leave because I was terrified.”
Finally, the two of them felt enormous relief when they could finally hold their miracle baby William in their arms. Certainly, being new parents at their age has its challenges. They have less energy than younger parents, and strangers are often confused, thinking they are William’s grandparents. But even with all the challenges in front of them and the money they spent, nothing would make them give up their beloved child.
Lauren released her book Baby Dreams in the summer of 2020. In the book, she explains her devastating experience with miscarriages and ruined hopes. She also then talks about IVF and encourages women to take those treatments. She wants to give hope and some significant information to other women trying to have children of their own, by telling her own story.
“I want to help others who are struggling – I don’t want women to suffer in the way that I did,” Lauren says. “Now my mission is to help other women. I don’t want them to suffer. I think if women were to talk about this more often and being more open it wouldn’t be so taboo and it would help society. I would like to address that and help women feel more comfortable.”
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