Kelly, 37, said: “So many people were saying, ‘It’s time to stop. You’ve lost too many’. But I just couldn’t. The thought ‘just one more go,’ was all that kept me going”
After 11 agonizing years mum Kelly Moseley still could not believe she finally had the baby she yearned for.
Cuddling her son she said with a grin: “There are times I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.”
And her joyous wonder is totally understandable. She and husband Alan suffered the heartache of 20 miscarriages before healthy son Tyler was born – which is believed to be a UK record.
Kelly, 37, admitted: “So many people were saying, ‘It’s time to stop. You’ve lost too many’. But I just couldn’t. The thought ‘just one more go,’ was all that kept me going.”
Happily her perseverance paid off. And yesterday she proudly cradled Tyler as she declared: “He is a miracle in so many ways. He has made our family and our lives complete.”
Tyler has also made medical history – as the first baby in the world to be born thanks to a pioneering anti-malarial treatment which costs just 25p a tablet.
Kelly said she would be eternally grateful to miscarriage consultant Hassan Shehata, who finally found the key to the happiness that had eluded her.
Doctor: Mr Shehata with Angie Baker, whom he helped to have a daughter after 18 miscarriages
He discovered she had a high level of NK, or natural killer cells, in her immune system. They are not normally a problem, but in some women can become so aggressive that they attack the foetus, thinking it is a foreign body, and cause a miscarriage.
Mr Shehata tried many different treatments until hitting upon one that worked – the malaria tablet, hydroxychloroquine that suppressed her immune system. Kelly began taking it daily in February 2012 until after Tyler, now nine months, was born.
Speaking from the family’s home in Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, Kelly said: “I put all my faith in Mr Shehata. When I became pregnant in September 2012 we didn’t tell a soul.
“I hid my bump with baggy tops and lived in a constant state of terror. I woke every morning convinced it was the day I’d lose the baby. But the treatment worked and I can’t thank Mr Shehata enough.”
After losing 18 babies at eight weeks and having two miscarriages at five months, Kelly admitted there were times when her despair was overwhelming.
“It was hard,” she said. “I would think, ‘What have I done to deserve this?’”
It was also traumatic for Alan, 41. He added: “The long drives home, in silence, after more bad news, were awful. I could see Kelly was breaking her heart and didn’t know what to say or do.
“I could see how much it meant to her. We’d pull through, then try again.”
That's my boy: Alan hugs baby Tyler
Their incredible journey began in 2002, when Kelly and delivery driver Alan married six months after meeting through friends. They were both thrilled when Kelly discovered she was pregnant.
But the joy was short-lived. At eight weeks, a scan revealed no heartbeat – and Kelly miscarried. She was reassured that, with one in four pregnancies ending in miscarriage, it was “just one of those things”.
But after losing three more babies Kelly was referred to Heartlands hospital in Birmingham, where doctors urged her to just keep on trying.
Tragically, the heartache continued.
Kelly, who has two daughters Jaye, 18, and Olivia, 15, from a previous relationship, said: “I’d do a pregnancy test, see a blue line and for a split second think, ‘Yeah, that’s fantastic,’ before thinking, ‘Well, I know I’m going to lose it'.”
With Kelly a full-time mum and Alan working as a delivery driver the couple couldn’t afford private treatment. Then in 2007, after a total of 11 miscarriages, Kelly saw a breakfast TV interview with Mr Shehata.
The consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust was explaining how he helped a mum have a baby after 18 miscarriages.
Kelly said: “I remember thinking, ‘He’s my only hope’. I immediately wrote to him, begging for help, and he agreed to see us and asked my GP to refer me to his NHS clinic.”
But despite a series of treatments and a number of hopes raised and dashed, the miscarriages continued. On one occasion, in December 2011, Kelly had to go through the ordeal of being induced even though the baby – they had named him Ollie – had no heartbeat.
Kelly said: “We both got to hold him. He was tiny but perfect.” Alan added: “Carrying the tiny coffin into the chapel, while Robbie Williams’ Angels played was the hardest thing ever. I never thought I’d come back from that.”
Eventually the stress began to seriously affect Kelly’s emotional and physical health.
She recalled: “Even my GP said, ‘Enough’s enough, Kelly. Stop putting yourself through this pain'.”
Mr Shehata admitted he was running out of options. Then, in the summer of 2012, he suggested the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. He explained that it was used as an immune suppressant treatment for conditions such as lupus arthritis – and suggested it might lower Kelly’s overactive immune cells.
A year later she became pregnant again. But at 28 weeks she prepared herself for yet more heartache when she was admitted to Heartlands with high blood pressure.
Two days later, doctors decided to perform an emergency caesarean. Kelly admitted: “I was petrified. I kept saying over and over, ‘Please don’t let my baby die. I can’t come this far and lose him’.”
Finally the miracle happened and Tyler was born – at just 2lb 15oz.
Little miracle: Tyler with his mummy
“I was so poorly it was two days before I got to see him,” said Kelly. "He was much smaller than even in the photos Alan had showed me. I just couldn’t see him making it.”
But Tyler grew stronger and, after two weeks, Kelly was holding him in her arms. On May 18 last year, and weighing a healthy 5lb, he was allowed home.
Kelly said: “Strapping him into his car seat was a magical moment. We never thought the day would come when we’d be the ones leaving hospital proudly showing off our new baby.”
Mr Shehata is equally delighted. He said: “Kelly’s case became a kind of enigma. Then one day it just hit me in a eureka moment. I have since used this treatment with 10 to15 other women and had success too. It’s very exciting. I am now writing up a proposal for research grant funding.”
Touching: Kelly with her son
He added: “Kelly and Alan never lost faith that they would eventually have a child – and never lost faith in me. I am absolutely delighted and over the moon for them.”
Kelly’s advice to other couples struggling to become parents: “Don’t give up. We know how much it hurts but it’s all worthwhile. You get there in the end.”
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