My Mother's Day Miracle

Despite her doctors giving her a devastating diagnosis, Ellen Picton refused to give up on her dream...

- Antonia Hoyle And Sarah Holmes

Staring at what felt like the hundredth pregnancy test, my hands started to shake. Grabbing the box from the side, I compared the diagram on the back to the two, faint lines that had appeared.

A positive result – I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Suddenly, the heartache of the past few months, all the trying and failing, drifted into insignificance. What remained was a realisation that instantly made my world brighter. I was going to have a baby. 

A devastating diagnosis

For as long as I could remember, I’ve felt certain I was meant to be a mother. But then at 18 I started experiencing a painful throbbing sensation in my stomach, and my periods became very heavy and irregular. My weight also started to creep up. I went to the GP, who prescribed a combined contraceptive pill.

But when that played havoc with my moods, he referred me for an internal scan, which revealed I was suffering from the condition called endometriosis. The doctor explained it causes cells that usually line the womb to be carried elsewhere in the pelvic region, causing pain and inflammation.