EDGING CLOSER TO BABY DREAM
TARA HOCKADAY, 35, WAS BORN WITHOUT A WOMB
IT’S a lifelong dream that many women hope to see one day come true.
But Tara Hockaday’s hopes of starting a family were shattered when doctors said she would never be able to carry her own child – because she was born without a womb.
Now, the 35-year-old is one step closer to finally having the family she’s always wanted.
Tara, from Stakeford, Northumberland, has the rare condition Mayer-RokitanskyKuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH).
Women affected – about one in 5,000 – have healthy ovaries, which still produce eggs and hormones, but have no womb or cervix.
Tara is desperate to start a family with partner Stuart Prestwell, 32, and their dream looked a step closer when Tara’s cousin Donna offered to be a surrogate for them.
But the pair – both support workers – were refused funding for IVF treatment on the NHS three times, before Wansbeck’s Labour MP Ian Lavery stepped in to help get their application granted.
And now Tara is set to embark on a journey to having her own child – but must first undergo complex keyhole surgery to retrieve her eggs.
She said: “My ovaries aren’t in the usual place – doctors think they’re behind my bowel but they’ll have to go in with a camera to see where they are and collect the eggs.
“They’ll then be frozen until my surrogate’s ready.”
Tara has known since the age of three that she had no womb after she suffered several kidney infections and was referred to the children’s hospital.
Tests revealed that she only had one kidney and no womb, cervix or fallopian tubes.
But baffled medics could not diagnose her as they had never seen anything like it before.
“It wasn’t until about two or three years ago that I saw an article in a newspaper about a woman who had exactly the same symptoms as me and she had been diagnosed with MRKH at the Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, in London,” said Tara.
“I was referred there and they diagnosed me too.
“Obviously at three years old I wasn’t aware of the significance of not having a womb.
“When I got a bit older my friends would talk about having a family when we were older, and it dawned on me that it was going to be really difficult for me.
“All my adult life I’ve wanted children and now it’s a step closer to happening. “I’m scared it’s not going to happen because there are still so many hurdles – the surgery might not work and they might not be able to collect the eggs.
“But I keep thinking about what my life could be like in a couple of years and I can’t wait to be a family.”