Our £60,000 DESIGNER BABY

It cost thousands of pounds and years of heartbreak, but Michelle Corley finally has the family she dreamed of

- EMMA ROSSITER, LUCY LAING

Any parent can tell you that having kids will cost you a fortune, and they’re not wrong. You feed them, you clothe them, and that’s before you account for nappies, toys and potential university fees. But what about when you’ve spent £60,000 on your child before you’ve even seen an ultrasound photograph of them growing safely inside your tummy?

That was the reality for my husband, Stephen, and I after we decided to start trying for a baby shortly after we got married in August 2014.

After a diagnosis in his family, Stephen had discovered he was a carrier of cystic fibrosis – an incurable condition that can cause chronic lung damage. So, when we started thinking about children, I decided to get tested, too. When we learnt I also carried the gene, meaning our chances of conceiving a healthy baby were almost impossible, I was terrified but, determined, we decided to look into pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT).

It was similar to IVF – harvesting eggs and creating embryos in a lab – except then embryos would be sent away for genetic testing. It meant we’d be getting a designer baby, one that wouldn’t​ be affected by the condition. In December 2014, we were referred to our closest PGT facility, the Care Fertility clinic in Nottingham. We went through rigorous testing and questioning, Stephen and I even had to sign a form to prove we were doing this to test for genetic abnormalities only, not to choose gender.

After several months of prep, we were eventually granted three NHS-funded attempts, and in September 2015 we were able to start our first round, which resulted in two healthy embryos.