Dear Annabelle and Elyssa,
TV PRESENTER AND MOTHER TO ANNABELLE, SEVEN, AND ELYSSA, TWO
I feel so blessed you have each other – a best friend – for life. Your auntie Maha means the world to me. I think we probably speak to each other about 50 times a day! Your sister will always hold a mirror up to you. She will show you the best of you, but also show you where you’re going wrong, and that’s invaluable. Becoming a mother did not happen easily for me.
One of the greatest experiences of my life was carrying you, Annabelle. I was deliriously happy. I had lots of energy, no morning sickness and worked right up until the end. I felt so full of life. I was at a place in my life where I felt like everything was coming together and everything was as it should be. I had a wonderful job, was in a very happy marriage and I was pregnant and soon to give birth. In that moment, so blissfully unaware of what was to come, I existed in a beautiful bubble.
At 41 weeks’ pregnant I was diagnosed with stage 3 aggressive breast cancer. I endured eight months of intense chemotherapy, which started when you were 10 days old, Annabelle, and a double mastectomy. I didn’t know how the story was going to end, if I was going to survive.
Annabelle, you were just born, but you made me smile every day during my treatment and you gave me so much hope. I lived just for you. The power of a child is incredible. I was given the all-clear exactly one year from the day I received my life-changing diagnosis.
Elyssa, our journey bringing you into the world wasn’t easy. In fact, it was very complicated, from finding a surrogate to carry you in the United States, through the months that followed. When I speak to the extraordinary woman who carried you, Elyssa, I still cry. She is also a mother to four children and, for two years, she helped us grow our family. It was a big ask, but they gave us the gift of love, the gift of a child.
Thank you – thank you for choosing me, and thank you for letting me love you and guide you through life. I don’t think I really knew who I was until I became a mother. It is without doubt my true life’s purpose.
Love, Mum xxx