It's a girl! After four boys and 10 miscarriages mum finally gives birth to longed-for daughter
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Worldwide Features
Trish Corcoran has endured 10 miscarriages and given birth to her four sons before her daughter Evie was born.
Most mothers might have given up hope, but Trish was so determined to have her daughter that she battled through all the heartache, which included losing one baby when she was 22 weeks pregnant.
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Trish, 32, who lives in Feltham, Middlesex, with her husband Michael, 44, said: "We have been through such a lot to have Evie.
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When I look at her I just burst with pride. I already had an amazing family before she came along, but Evie has really made it complete. I was determined that I was going to carry on until I had a daughter, and now she is born I feel like the happiest mother in the world.
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The couple's first son Michael, now 14, was born in February 1997 and two years later Trish fell pregnant with their second son Jack, 12.
She said: "Jack was beautiful just like his brother, but I couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed that I hadn't had a girl.
"But I knew that we could always try for another baby. I'd had no problems falling pregnant with our two sons, now we just had to wait for a daughter to come along."
But then tragically Trish fell pregnant another four times that year, and lost all four babies.
In early 2002, she fell pregnant again, but in April she lost that baby too. Doctors then carried out a series of tests, but they found no medical reason why she kept losing her babies.
In September 2002 she fell pregnant again, for the eighth time. The 12 week scan showed the baby was healthy and the couple started to look forward to being parents for a third time. But then at the 20 week scan, there was devastating news. The baby had died.
Trish, whose husband works in airport security, said: "We just couldn't believe it. It was devastating. All our hopes were dashed. The doctors told me he was a little boy and saying goodbye to him was the hardest thing we had ever done.
"After going through all that heartache, we decided to concentrate on our two wonderful boys we already had, but there was still something inside me that ached for a daughter so even though we had been through so much, I still wanted to keep trying for another baby."
In October 2003, Trish found out she was pregnant again, and in May 2004 their son Chris was born.
When Chris was three months old, she fell pregnant again and in April 2005, their youngest son Joe was born.
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Trish said: "I was thrilled to have my four boys, but my desire to have a daughter was still so strong.
"Friends kept saying that if I had any more then I would have a rugby team, but although I loved my sons, I didn't want any more. I just wanted a daughter to make our family complete."
Trish carried out research on websites to see how she could maximise her chances of having a baby girl. She cut out acidic foods such as tomatoes and oranges and upped her intake of foods such as carrots and peppers. And she also tried to conceive at certain times of the month.
She said: "I tried everything I possibly could to help me fall pregnant with a girl."
Over the next four years she had another four miscarriages, and then in February 2010, she fell pregnant for the fifteenth time.
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She said: "I was expecting to lose this baby too as by now I'd had 10 miscarriages, but week by week my bump grew and this baby was hanging on.
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I promised myself that this would be my last baby, so I just had to hope and pray that this time my prayers would be answered and it would be a baby girl.
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Trish went into labour in November last year at St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey - and then at last came the words from the midwife that she had waited 15 years to hear. They told her that she had given birth to a healthy girl, weighing 8lb 4oz.
She said: "I just couldn't believe it. I had held my breath from the moment she was delivered and then came those words that I had waited so long to hear.
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The midwife knew how many babies I'd lost and how I longed for a daughter, so everyone was really emotional.
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"When I held my daughter finally in my arms I knew that my long battle had been worth it. I had to endure the heartache of losing 10 babies to have her."
Evie is just about to celebrate her first birthday and she is doted on by all her brothers.
Trish added: "I've bought so many pink outfits - I've got a lot of years to make up for. Evie loves all the attention and when she's old enough I will tell her just how special she is. She has really made our family complete."
Words by Lucy Laing.
Congratulations, Trish! Could you have gone through that much heartache?
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- Julia Bradbury<p> Countryfile presenter Julia didn’t think she would ever be a <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/02/28/julia-bradbury-miracle-baby-for-tv-star-at-40/" target="_blank">mum</a> after being diagnosed with endometriosis at 33. But she conceived her first child, <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/08/04/julia-bradbury-gives-birth-to-baby-son-and-youll-never-guess/" target="_blank">Zephyr</a> with her boyfriend, Gerard Cunningham at 41, and is over the moon to finally be a mum.</p> <p> <strong>Julia says:</strong> “I have endometriosis. Because of this condition, I wasn't sure if I would ever realise my ambition to be a mum, so it all feels like a bit of a miracle.”</p>
- Kate Silveton<p> Kate and her husband, Michael Herron, finally <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/11/06/kate-silverton-gives-birth-to-first-baby/" target="_blank">became parents</a> on 5<sup>th</sup> November 2011, after conceiving naturally following four failed rounds of IVF. The couple welcomed their ‘miracle’ baby, Clemency, and made us all coo by proudly sharing some <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/11/11/first-pic-proud-mum-kate-silverton-shows-off-new-baby-clemency/" target="_blank">very cute shots</a> of the little lady.</p> <p> <strong>Kate says:</strong> “This baby is the closest it gets to a miracle for me. Mike and I resigned ourselves to being childless. We felt desperately sad about it but, as a positive person, my philosophy was that everyone faces challenges in life, and very often much worse than ours.”</p>
- Brooke Shields<p> Brooke conceived her eldest daughter, Rowan after six rounds of IVF and a miscarriage. At 40, three years after giving birth to Rowan, she got the shock of her life when she conceived her second daughter, Grier, naturally.</p>
- Gabby and Kenny Logan<p> Sports presenter Gabby and her husband, Kenny welcomed twins Lois and Reuben following IVF treatment after a three year battle with ‘unexplained infertility’. Gabby recently revealed she has <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/09/26/gabby-logan-pregnancy-dilemma-should-i-use-stored-embryos-to-have-baby/" target="_blank">embryos in storage,</a> but the couple say they are undecided about using them for more IVF treatment to try for another baby.</p> <p> <strong>Gabby says:</strong> “We both wanted to be quite young parents. We are both very positive people, so we didn’t really get down when nothing happened. Every month, when I realised I wasn’t pregnant, I’d think, 'Oh well, next month will be fine.' Sometimes I’d have a couple of days of feeling defeated, but I soon moved on.”</p>
- Mariah Carey<p> <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/02/02/mariah-carey-pregnancy-its-girl-and-a-boy/" target="_blank">Mariah and husband, Nick Cannon</a> are now proud parents to twins, <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/05/04/mariah-careys-twins-names-revealed/" target="_blank">Moroccan and Monroe,</a> but the path to parenthood wasn’t easy for the pair. Back in 2008, Mariah suffered a miscarriage and afterwards started fertility treatment to help her conceive and carry her baby to full term. The result? Her gorgeous twins, who mum and dad, of course, dote on.</p>
- Marcia Cross<p> Desperate Housewives star Marcia always wanted to be mum, even before she married now-hubby, Tom Mahoney. Having struggled with fertility in the past, Marcia and Tom conceived twins, Savannah and Eden, through IVF, and welcomed her longed-for girls in 2007.</p> <p> <strong>Marcia says:</strong> “We decided to skip our honeymoon and try In Vitro after the wedding. I had already been through infertility treatments. It’s very, very difficult to get pregnant in your 40s. It’s costly and tough on your body and your relationship.”</p>
- Trinny Woodall<p> Feisty Trinny from What Not To Wear tried IVF nine times before welcoming daughter Lila with now ex-husband, Johnny Elichaoff. Welcoming Lila, the overjoyed new mum couldn’t hide her excitement, saying: “I'm so happy, I can't tell you how overjoyed I am.”</p>
- Helena Bonham Carter<p> After having her first child, Billy Ray, with partner, Tim Burton, Helena and Tim struggled to conceive again and tried the fertility drug, Clomid. She had terrible side effects, she went on to try acupuncture and finally fell pregnant naturally with her daughter, Nell, who was born in 2007.</p> <p> <strong>Helena says:</strong> “Obviously, you don't know what you'd do unless you were actually in that situation. I think we might have gone for a round of IVF, but that would have been that. There was an argument for just having one child, because we thought if that's the way it's meant to be, so be it."</p>
- Celine Dion<p> Songstress Celine tried for six years before conceiving her son, René-Charles, in 2001 with husband, René Angélil. She then went on to have six failed rounds of IVF, and a miscarriage before welcoming her twin boys, Eddy and Nelson in 2010.</p>
- Courtney Cox<p> Courtney suffered multiple miscarriages when she was trying to conceive naturally with her husband, David Arquette. After IVF success she welcomed her daughter, Coco just days before her 40<sup>th</sup> birthday.</p> <p> <strong>Courtney says:</strong> “I can't imagine life without having a child. Coco is everything to me. I had problems getting pregnant, we did IVF and it was tough.”</p>
- Chris and Natasha Evans<p> DJ Chris and wife, Natasha are <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/11/27/chris-evans-and-wife-natasha-expecting-second-child-IVF-ectopic/" target="_blank">expecting their second baby together</a> – after an ectopic pregnancy and IVF treatment. The couple are already proud parents to Noah, two and Chris is also dad to older daughter, Jade, from a previous relationship. Announcing the happy news, Chris said Natasha had suffered secondary infertility after having Noah, and then went on to lose a baby through an ectopic pregnancy, before turning to IVF.</p> <p> <strong>Chris says:</strong> “Tash's first pregnancy was practically textbook, so naively we thought a follow-up kid would be a cinch. Not so, however. Tash did fall pregnant 18 months ago but the pregnancy became ectopic, we lost the baby and, quite frankly, we almost lost my wife.”</p>
- Emma Thompson<p> After years spent trying to conceive naturally, Emma tried IVF for the first time at 40. She welcomed her daughter, Gaia, with her long-term partner, Greg Wise, and then later adopted a Rwandan refugee called Tindy.</p> <p> <strong>Emma says:</strong> “There's been an awful lot of grief to get through in not being able to get pregnant again, but there are thousands and thousands of women like me who can't have children.”</p>
- Hugh Jackman<p> Hollywood’s Hugh Jackman was left devastated when he and his wife Debra were told they had fertility problems, and tried IVF before having two miscarriages. The couple instead adopted two children, Oscar, 11 and <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/11/02/hugh-jackman-does-the-school-run/" target="_blank">Ava, six.</a></p> <p> <strong>Hugh says:</strong> "It was painful. We thought we'd have a kid or two biologically and then adopt. Obviously, biologically wasn't the way we were meant to have children. I don't think of them as adopted - they are our children."</p>
- Nicole Kidman<p> Nicole and country singer Keith Urban struggled to conceive baby number two when their first, Sunday Rose, was two. They opted for a surrogate mum to carry their baby, and welcomed baby Faith in December 2010. Nicole got stick when she announced Faith’s birth for referring to the surrogate mum as a ‘gestational carrier’ but later defended her comments, saying: “We were trying to be accurate. The term ‘gestational carrier’ is used if it’s your biological child and if it isn’t, then you use ‘surrogate.”</p> <p> <strong>Nicole says:</strong> "Anyone that's been in the place of wanting another child or wanting a child knows the disappointment, the pain and the loss that you go through trying and struggling with fertility. Fertility is such a big thing, and it's not something I've ever run away from talking about."</p>
- Penny Lancaster and Rod Stewart<p> Aging rocker Rod and wife, Penny tried for two years to give their son Alastair a sibling, finally conceiving baby <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/02/17/rod-stewart-and-penny-lancaster-have-baby-boy/" target="_blank">Aiden</a> through <a href="http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2010/09/13/rod-stewart-and-penny-lancaster-ivf-battle-baby/" target="_blank">IVF</a>, after trying treatment in both the UK and America. The couple say seeing Alastair’s face when they announced that Penny was pregnant made all the stress of fertility treatment worthwhile.</p> <p> <strong>Rod says:</strong> “IVF can be stressful, especially for the woman with all the hormone injections and procedures. I said to Penny, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll just keep trying’”.</p>
