Every time we get past one hurdle we come to another
TRANSPLANT BLOW FOR COUPLE WHO WANT A BABY FOLLOWS SURROGACY SETBACK
A WOMAN who left medics baffled when she was born without a womb has had her hopes of becoming a mother dashed once again.
Tara Hockaday was one of 100 women who applied to have her dream of carrying a child realised by becoming one of the first people in Britain to undergo a womb transplant.
But the 36-year-old, from Stakeford, Northumberland, was dismayed to discover this week that while three women have now been selected for the procedure, she had not been one of them.
It is the latest in a series of disappointments for Tara and her partner Stuart Presswell, 35, in their journey towards finally becoming parents.
Last year we reported how one of Tara’s relatives had offered to be a surrogate for her, and the procedure looked set to go ahead when Wansbeck’s Labour MP Ian Lavery stepped in to help get their application for IVF funding granted.
But now Tara has revealed that her cousin is no longer eligible to be a surrogate due to medical reasons, and she and Stuart are now fundraising for the costs of another.
“We are hoping to find one via an agency but while you don’t actually pay them for being a surrogate, you do need to cover any expenses like legal fees, trips to the hospital, clothes, childcare if they need it. “We still need to raise about £8,000.” Tara has the rare condition Mayer Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome, which means that she was born without a reproductive system. Her dreams of carrying her own baby looked like they could come true after UK surgeons in 2015 were given the go-ahead to perform womb transplants.
Tara was one of 104 women who signed up for the operation, but had her hopes dashed this week.
She said: “I haven’t heard back from our application.
“I was hoping to be picked but obviously they’ve chosen other people so I don’t think I’m going to be included.
“It is disappointing but we’re focusing on raising the money for our surrogate costs.
“I’m feeling very frustrated because every time we get over a hurdle there’s another one, and everything takes so long.
“Sadly, I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon.”
Tara’s friend Stacey Price has started a Facebook page where people can donate raffle prizes to help the couple’s fundraising efforts