Cancer survivor who was told she had ‘no realistic chance’ of having another baby after going through early menopause at 29 falls pregnant naturally at 40
- Alison Watts, 42, was told breast cancer treatment meant she wasn’t fertile
- She went through early menopause and doctors said was ‘no realistic chance’
- She and husband Geoff, 41, from Cheltenham, still wanted another baby
- A decade later, she fell pregnant naturally with baby boy, Grayson
- The couple have two older children: Freya, who is 18, and Cody, who is 14
A cancer survivor was left tinged with sadness after completing her breast cancer treatment when doctors told her treatment meant her dream of completing her family with another child was over.
After undergoing intensive treatment for breast cancer aged 29, Alison Watts went through early menopause and doctors had written to her to confirm she had ‘no realistic chance’ of being fertile.
But against all odds, Alison, now 42, and her husband Geoff, 41, both from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, fell pregnant naturally with a baby boy, Grayson, a decade later.
After undergoing intensive treatment for breast cancer aged 29, Alison Watts had gone through early menopause and doctors had written to her to confirm she had ‘no realistic chance’ of being fertile
She said: ‘He is our miracle, the final and perfect piece to our family jigsaw.
‘Pregnancy after cancer is possible and people should never give up hope. You never know what’s around the corner and you don’t know what might happen if you don’t try. Grayson is proof that miracles do happen.’
The couple had two children, Freya, then five, and Cody, then two, and had plans to try for a third baby when Alison found a lump in her breast just before her 30th birthday.
She said: ‘Cody was just a toddler, almost two and he was playing with my necklace. As I moved his hand to stop him breaking it, I suddenly felt a hard lump and thought what the hell is that.’
Against all odds, Alison, now 42, and her husband Geoff, 41, both from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, fell pregnant naturally with a baby boy, Grayson (pictured), a decade later
The couple had two children, Freya, then five (now 18), and Cody, then two (now 14), and had plans to try for a third baby when Alison found a lump in her breast just before her 30th birthday
Alison said she instinctively knew what the lump could mean and arranged a doctor’s appointment for the very next day.
But during that initial appointment she was assured it was nothing to be concerned about as she was low risk due to her age. She was told if she was still worried she could be referred for a check six weeks later.
She said: ‘I just couldn’t wait, maybe it was my gut instinct but I had to know for sure, so I had a private consultation and a biopsy later that same week. By the following week the results were back.
‘When I was first diagnosed, we saw a fertility consultant. We discussed freezing my eggs because I was only 29, but that would have meant delaying starting my chemo treatment for three months, which was a risk we weren’t willing to take.
‘We had to put my survival first, for the sake of the children we already had. They needed me to be ok, so I had to start the treatment as soon as possible.’
In order to try and conceive naturally, Alison had to make the huge decision to stop taking Tamoxifen after almost 10 years on the drug which blocks oestrogen to stop any cancer cells from growing
During that initial appointment she was assured it was nothing to be concerned about as she was low risk due to her age. She was told if she was still worried she could be referred for a check six weeks later (pictured with son Grayson)
She said: ‘We discussed freezing my eggs as I was only 29, but that would have meant delaying starting my chemo treatment for three months which was a risk we weren’t willing to take’
What is tamoxifen?
Tamoxifen is given to women and men diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive, early-stage breast cancer after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.
It is also given to those with advanced-stage or metastatic hormone-receptor-positive disease.
It is the first choice for premenopausal women and is still a good choice for postmenopausal women who can’t take an aromatase inhibitor.
The treatment can reduce the risk of breast cancer coming back by 40% to 50% in postmenopausal women and by 30% to 50% in premenopausal women.
It can also reduce the risk of a new cancer developing in the other breast by about 50% and shrink large, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers before surgery, slow or stop the growth of advanced (metastatic) hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer in both pre- and postmenopausal women and lower breast cancer risk in women who have a higher-than-average risk of disease but have not been diagnosed.
Doctors recommend that you do not take tamoxifen if you are breastfeeding, pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or if there is any chance that you could be pregnant, as it may cause damage to developing embryos.
They say that you should use an effective non-hormonal type of birth control while you are taking the treatment and for two months afterwards.
The treatment is also used to stop bone loss after the menopause and to lower cholesterol levels.
Source: www.breastcancer.org
Following an operation to remove the lump, Alison underwent six rounds of gruelling chemo in the space of just four months, before starting a further six weeks of radiotherapy and a year of Herceptin treatment.
It was a year after her treatment ended that Alison and Geoff were ready to face the reality that the life-saving treatment had come at a cost.
Alison said: ‘I knew having chemotherapy would almost certainly destroy my fertility but it was a risk I had to take.
I was already grateful for my two children but I just couldn’t shake off the feeling of wishing I could have another child. Cancer stole that choice and for me that was the hardest part.
‘We had resigned ourselves to not having another baby. I always knew that we had made the right decision with not freezing my eggs.
‘We couldn’t delay my treatment, that wasn’t an option, but it didn’t make the reality any easier.’
Their fears were confirmed when Alison had a blood test and received the crushing news that she had no chance of having another baby naturally.
She said: ‘I was absolutely gutted when I opened the letter. I was stood in the kitchen and I wasn’t expecting the results so soon so the letter took me completely by surprise.
‘Although the results were expected seeing it in black and white was very difficult to come to terms with.’
The letter said Alison had ‘no realistic prospect of fertility’, but as time went past Alison wasn’t willing to give up.
‘I was approaching 40 and another baby was something I really wanted. I needed to try and see if it was possible and not get more years down the line and have to live with ifs and maybes.’
Their fears were confirmed when Alison had a blood test and received the crushing news that she had no chance of having another baby naturally
The now mum-of-three said: ‘I was approaching 40 and another baby was something I really wanted, I needed to try and see if it was possible and not get more years down the line and have to live with ifs and maybes’
Having spent her 30th birthday facing cancer, Alison was now celebrating her 40th carrying the baby she never thought she would have
Alison said: ‘Deciding to stop [taking Tamoxifen] was a very scary decision, it was my safety net to keep away cancer’
Alison added: ‘I knew in my heart I wasn’t done with having babies, I just knew something, or someone was missing from our family.’
In order to try and conceive naturally, Alison had to make the huge decision to stop taking Tamoxifen after almost 10 years on the drug, which blocks oestrogen to stop any cancer cells from growing.
She said: ‘Deciding to stop it was a very scary decision, it was my safety net to keep away cancer.
Alison said: ‘Freya is now 18 and Cody is 14 so they are very hands on with him. Freya takes him to the park and Cody plays football with him in the garden and takes him on the trampoline, they adore him’
‘Geoff and I thought long and hard about it but following a consultation with my highly-regarded consultant oncologist we decided to go for it.’
The drug mimics the menopause but once Alison felt it was out of her system, just three months later, something incredible happened.
She said: ‘I just knew. But it was still a huge surprise to us all. I couldn’t believe after all these years it was happening.’
Having spent her 30th birthday facing cancer, Alison was now celebrating her 40th carrying the baby she never thought she would have.
Alison had an easy and healthy pregnancy and baby Grayson arrived safely in February 2019 (pictured together)
Alison said: ‘The kids were absolutely thrilled for us. They were old enough to understand what we had been through and couldn’t wait for a baby brother’ (Freya and Cody are pictured meeting Grayson)
Alison had an easy and healthy pregnancy and baby Grayson arrived safely in February 2019.
She added: ‘The kids were absolutely thrilled for us. They were old enough to understand what we had been through and couldn’t wait for a baby brother.’
The couple run a family business specialising in leadership consultancy and Alison said: ‘Freya is now 18 and Cody is 14 so they are very hands on with him.
‘Freya takes him to the park and Cody plays football with him in the garden and takes him on the trampoline, they adore him.
‘Miracles do happen, Grayson is our reminder to never give up hope.’
Alison said: ‘I just knew. But it was still a huge surprise to us all. I couldn’t believe after all these years it was happening’
She said: ‘I knew in my heart I wasn’t done with having babies, I just knew something, or someone was missing from our family’
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