Sixth time lucky!
Mother’s joy as miracle baby arrives after agony of five failed pregnancies
‘He’s completed our little family’
SHE was desperate to bring a baby into the world to complete her loving family – but repeatedly suffered heartache as five pregnancies failed.
Now Beth Sheriff is celebrating the arrival of ‘miracle’ son Felix after her sixth pregnancy proved successful.
Miss Sheriff, 36, had been expecting a child in 2017 but suffered a severe slipped disc and was advised by doctors to have a termination over fears she may not walk again.
She then became pregnant four times between 2018 and 2019 but each ended in miscarriage. The service adviser, from York, understandably had fears over her sixth pregnancy but she was overjoyed when Felix was born in good health weighing 6lbs 3oz.
She said: ‘It was sixth time lucky. he is our little miracle and we could not have asked for more. he has completed our little family.’ Miss Sheriff and partner Darren Woodhead, 35, chose the name Felix because it means lucky in Latin.
She added: ‘I just felt so overwhelmed – I’ve never felt so happy in my life.
‘There are no words to describe just how grateful and lucky we feel to have him with us.’
Mr Woodhead said: ‘There has been a lot of heartache, but we have got there in the end.’
Miss Sheriff, who has a son, Joshua, 15, from a previous relationship, said she had faced a heartbreaking decision in 2017 after her slipped disc required surgery. She had no idea she was five weeks pregnant until doctors performed a routine check.
She felt she had no choice but to end the pregnancy.
Miss Sheriff recalled: ‘It was really shocking and unexpected but we were forced into a decision because they said my slipped disc was so severe it needed immediate surgery or I could lose the ability to walk.
But terminating the pregnancy – it was such a difficult and dark moment for us as it’s something I would have never, ever done.’
Four agonising miscarriages in the space of just over a year followed, without any clear explanation why. The unborn babies had survived between six and 12 weeks.
Tests revealed that in one of the miscarriages the baby had a missing chromosome linked to genetic disorder Turner Syndrome, which could have been the cause, but there were no explanations for the other failed pregnancies. Miss Sheriff said, despite the lack of a reason for her problems, the couple ‘kept trying and never lost hope’.
Felix is now enjoying life at home with his big brother Joshua – and the family’s dogs Walter and Elmo.