Twins joy for couple
A couple from Stafford who have been trying to have children for 24 years are expecting twins.
Neil and Monique Ward have spent a heartbreaking last two-and-a-half decades and at least £100,000 on various treatments, including IUI and IVF on eight occasions, but kept failing.
But after visiting a clinic in Valencia in Spain late last year and earlier this year, Mrs Ward, aged 46, a nurse at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, is seven weeks' pregnant with twins.
Mr Ward, 56, of Rising Brook, said: "It's exciting and scary, especially at my age. I'm very excited and very apprehensive. But I can't wait.
"The amount of money you spend on this is unbelievable and you get to the stage when you think you're throwing money away but you still try. At the end of the day it's worth every penny.
"It's a great thing in life to have children and I think this is a great thing to happen after all these years.
"Every time it didn't work it took 10 months to get over it and it was like a living hell for both of us. My wife is desperate for children and if you love a person that much you have to say yes no matter what the consequences.
"It's terrible the amount of things you have to go through to get to the start of treatment. They told us there was a waiting list and people of our age were not a priority. But we'd been trying for 24 years.
"So we had a look on the internet."
They found help in Spain after yet another failed attempt.
Mr Ward added: "Anyone who wants treatment should forget England and go there because they'll save a fortune. They should go and have at least three weeks on holiday.
"For people of our age, the success rate of this treatment was ten per cent but they have such a high success rate over there.
"I'm not knocking the other clinics but the aftercare in this country isn't very good, where now, even though we've finished paying we still get emails from Valencia."
The couple have been married 24 years and the string of failed attempts did take its toll.
They have tried to adopt a child and around seven years ago they gave up completely. But they decided to try again and now have the chance to have their own children.
