JACK'S DREAM CAME TRUE

Lindsey Arrowsmith, 42, was desperate to grant her son’s wish and make him a big brother

- ASHLEIGH PAGE, LUCY LAING

Holding my son’s hand, our breath making swirls in the cold air, we looked up at the glistening Christmas lights arched over our heads. ‘Make a wish then, Jack!’ I smiled, enjoying our yearly tradition at Chester Zoo. And just like every year… ‘I wish for Santa to bring me a baby,’ he muttered, eyes squeezed shut. Only this year was the first time I didn’t have to make the same wish. Because I was keeping the most amazing secret.

It was December 2019 and four-year-old Jack had been wishing for a brother since he could talk. ‘I want a baby!’ he’d garble, cradling a friend’s teeny sleeping bundle on his lap. Little did he know, but that was all his dad Tom and I wanted, too. Whenever we tossed pennies into fountains, we were hoping right along with him. Only I wasn’t sure if it would ever happen, because Jack was our miracle, longed-for baby. Would we really be that lucky to be blessed with another?

When Tom and I met, we knew straight away that we wanted kids. By the time we married in March 2013, we were already trying to conceive. But we were getting nowhere, every month bringing dashed hopes of parenthood. Eventually, when we’d been trying for around 10 months, I made an appointment with my GP.