A woman who thought she was infertile after years of trying for a baby found out she was pregnant – just before undergoing surgery to remove her ovary.
Caroline Darlington had been trying for a baby with her husband, Roy, for years – even turning to IVF to help the process.
After coming off the pill, Caroline’s periods were irregular and she eventually discovered she had polycystic ovary syndrome.
Following two years of investigations and treatments, Caroline and Roy decided to proceed with IVF – which turned out to be unsuccessful.
Caroline, from Warrington, Cheshire, said: ‘It was an awful time. I was traumatised really. You just thought it was going to work and obviously it didn’t.
‘After that we kind of had a break and decided that we weren’t going to have children as I didn’t want to keep putting my body through all the hormones.’
Then three years later, in 2007, Caroline was rushed to hospital with extreme abdominal pains – which turned out to be a ruptured ovarian cyst.
Following a traumatic few years, the pair decided not to go ahead with any more fertility treatments. Instead they adopted a 10-month-old little boy to complete their family.
Caroline adds: ‘I had watched a few programmes on the telly about adoption and got my husband to watch them afterwards.
‘When he did he said “why not give it a go?” and so we started the process.’
However, health problems were sadly not over for Caroline.
On Christmas Day in 2016, the mum suffered a second ruptured ovarian cyst and was then diagnosed with endometriosis.
After dealing with a lot of pain, she eventually made the tough decision to have her second ovary removed – which would make her infertile.
But during a pre-operation scan, Caroline was told she was 16 weeks pregnant with her first biological child.
Caroline said: ‘I had a scan, and the nurse told me “your ovary looks fine, but you’re actually pregnant.”
‘My stomach had been swollen but I just assumed it was the cyst growing.
‘I had a mask on when I found out, so you couldn’t see my full facial expression, but you can imagine it was a bit of a shock.
‘I remember thinking: “Oh my god, what is my husband going to say.”
‘We were both in complete shock for a few days.’
Baby Jorge arrived on March 29 2021 at Warrington General Hospital, weighing 11lb 4oz.
And the Darlington family are ‘very smitten’ with their new arrival.
Caroline adds: ‘We feel grateful for our blessing and let people know out there that you should never give up hope.’
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