Lancaster author told she couldn't have children gives birth to her second child
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Sarah Igo, a writer from Arnside, and her husband Karl, are delighted to now have two beautiful children – daughter Dillon and baby boy Indie – thanks to the kindness, compassion and generosity of Sarah’s sister, who donated her eggs to the couple, enabling IVF treatment to take place.
Sarah was so moved by the experience of having her first daughter that she wrote a delightful children’s book on the subject called Hetty the Hen Who Couldn’t Lay.
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Hide AdAt just 14 years-old, Sarah was told that having children would not be possible for her and this terrible news sent her into a downward spiral of despair, depression and anxiety.


Sarah said: “I was in my early teens and unlike most of my friends, I hadn’t started my periods. I didn’t think much of it at the time but I did eventually go to the doctor in Preston and they ran some tests.
“I just thought I was a bit slow but to my horror, a scan showed that I didn’t have any ovaries. They said: ‘You are not going to have any babies’. I can still hear the woman’s voice – that has never left me. I think at the time I tried to block it out but looking back, I started having terrible panic attacks and social anxiety especially when I started college.
“I had always loved school but I started skipping classes because in retrospect, I just didn’t want any contact with people.”
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Hide AdHowever, what Sarah had been told in her early teens wasn’t strictly true as she did have a uterus.


“In my 20s I started to investigate the possibilities,” said Sarah. “I went to Manchester St Mary’s Hospital and they told me I could try for a baby with a donor’s egg. This was an incredible thing for me to hear after thinking I was never going to be able to have children.
“I had met my husband Karl and we knew that we wanted to have children so we started thinking about how we could make it happen.”
Sarah’s younger sister, Beth Gillies, then made an incredible offer to Sarah and Karl.
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“Beth was born when I was 13 years-old and when she was old enough, we talked about my condition,” explained Sarah. “Beth has always been very understanding and wise beyond her years.
“She offered to donate her eggs to us – it was incredible! She hadn’t had a family of her own at that point and she understood that donating wasn’t without risks so I didn’t want to put her future in jeopardy.
“Beth just kept offering and eventually all three of us had an in-depth discussion and Karl and I gratefully said ‘yes’.
“I told Beth it was a gift I could never repay and it was really hard for me as her big sister to let her do this – as I felt that I should be the one helping her. She is simply an amazing person.
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“We’ve all been very open about things and the three of us have a fantastic relationship. Once we had decided to do it, we laughed a lot about some of the comical situations we found ourselves in at meetings and appointments. My go-to defence is humour and it has served me well.
“It was an overwhelmingly joyful experience when the pregnancy test was positive. I didn’t expect the IVF to work at all. From 16 eggs taken, only two developed to a day five blastocyst. The first attempt didn’t work so when the second one did, it was a shock.
“I went through the pregnancy in a terrified state, constantly worried something would go wrong. After my daughter Dillon was born, I now realise I experienced imposter syndrome doubting myself incredibly due to believing for years I wasn’t born able to be a mother. Looking back, I think I was quite depressed and I doubted myself so much. It took good year before I really accepted that Dillon accepted me as a mum.”
The second time around with IVF, Sarah and Karl decided to opt for an anonymous donor.
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Hide AdSarah said: “We had no embryos left from the first time and out of concern for Beth and the fact that she might choose to pursue a family in the future, we chose not to ask Beth to put herself through the process again. Five years later, as a qualified junior doctor, she is in a much different position in her life.


“We are still very open about things and I said I hoped she wasn’t upset that we didn’t ask her again. I said I was relieved she didn’t offer to donate again as if she had offered I would have refused out of concern for her – but she also said she was relieved because if I’d asked her to donate, she would have done. We both care about each other so much, it’s a characteristic I really hope Dillon and Indie will share growing up.”
This time, Sarah and Karl had an anonymous egg donor and are excited that Dillon now has a sibling. Both children were born at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.
“We are so lucky that this has been possible on the NHS,” said Sarah. “We’re also very grateful to the anonymous donor who just wanted to help.
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Hide Ad“It blew me away to know that it was a woman who just wanted to help people like me, who were in a similar position to some of her friends. If it’s ever possible to meet the donor, I would like to shake her hand and thank her for her incredible gift.”