If you have a story that is worthy of Front Page news, Talk to the Press are here to help you. This week we helped a woman, genetically male, who was told she’d never have a baby but now has twins tell her amazing story.
When Hayley Haynes, now 28, turned 19 and went to see her doctor because she hadn’t started her period, she never imagined what would happen next. After months of tests and hospital trips, the special needs teacher was given the devastating news – she had been born with XY chromosomes and had no womb, fallopian tubes or ovaries because she was genetically male.
Diagnosing her with rare genetic syndrome Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, doctors told her she would never have children. The syndrome meant that her makeup was genetically male but because her body was insensitive to the male androgens, she had never formed reproductive organs – although she had grown breasts.
Although on the outside, Hayley looked every inch the perfect woman, she struggled to accept that she had no female reproductive organs. At 20, Hayley had keyhole surgery to remove undistinguished tissue where her reproductive organs should be, as doctors were worried it would continue to grow into testicles.
After the op, Hayley was put on a course of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to make sure she got the hormones other women did. Over the course of the next two years, doctors gave her some incredible news – that the HRT was working and that a tiny womb had formed inside her. Amazingly in 2008, age 22, the womb was full grown and she was ready to carry a baby.
Doctors told her if she wanted to have children, IVF was now the best option and that against all odds, she could carry her own baby. With the support of her now husband Sam, 28, an advertising creative, the pair started saving for IVF as they didn’t meet the NHS’s postcode criteria.
The couple decided to visit a fertility clinic in Cyprus as not only did it mean they wouldn’t have to wait for insemination, but the egg donor would be anonymous due to different laws.
In April 2014, after splashing out £10,500, they flew to Cyprus to have two embryos implanted. Two weeks later, Hayley was over the moon when she found out they were pregnant with twins.
Two weeks before the due date, Hayley was induced and she gave birth to two babies on 24th December 2014. Although they were early, little Darcey weighed 4lbs 6ox and Avery weighed 5lbs 3oz.
She said: “For my entire life, I was resigned to the fact that I would never have children of my own. Even Sam and I had admitted defeat and had almost come to accept we would never be parents, however heart-breaking that was.
“When I was told my womb had grown, I was in complete shock. It was the most incredible feeling to know I could finally be a real woman.
“It’s incredible to think that we got lucky first time with the IVF and managed to have twins. We know we have been blessed and everything I’ve been through was totally worth it.
“We’ve paid a lot of money and been through so much to have these babies, so I want to spend every waking minute with them. Sam and I have never been happier.”
We placed Hayley’s story with the Daily Mirror and the couple have since been on Good Morning Britain and will be appearing in Take a Break and Best magazine. If you have a heart-warming story to share, contact our team by completing the quick valuation form and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
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