Sussex mum was told she would never have children

Amy Rees, 23, was the second oldest in her super-sized family.

She has five brothers and seven sisters and helped care for them from an early age.

Taking them to school, helping with homework and doing her share of the cooking gave her a huge maternal, instinct, she said.

So she was devastated when she was told at the age of 15 that she would never be able to have children of her own because she had polycystic ovary syndrome.

Devastated Amy and her partner longed for a family. But they thought it would never be on the cards and eventually broke up.

When she went to the doctors with stomach cramps a few weeks later, Amy was astonished to discover she was six weeks’ pregnant.

Daughter Kaitlynn was born on September 9 last year and Amy said it made her realise “nothing else matters”.

Amy, from Crawley, said of her brothers and sisters: “I was their older sister and I was always there if they needed a shoulder to cry on or if they had a problem they didn’t want to tell my mum or dad because that’s what older siblings do.

“I was heartbroken when I was told I couldn’t have children – that is all I wanted.

“I wanted the whole family, to see my kids grow up.

“I was just in shock. I was only 15 years old – I didn’t think they could tell someone that young.

“When I found out I was pregnant I was shocked.

“I was really scared. I was not really sure how to deal with the situation.

“Holding her for the first time was such a special moment.”

Amy’s mother Emma was a stay-at-home parent but she said her father was not around so she had to step up to help with the younger children.

She said: “I grew up with them all and was looking after babies, watching them grow up.

“I was always helping around the house to make it easier for my mum.

“My older brother always helped too but he went into the Army by the time I was 14.

“I always helped the best I could.”

She would cook for the children if her mother was busy, help with their homework and play games with them when they were bored.

She also walked the younger ones to primary school before going off to school herself.

But at 15 doctors gave her the life-shattering news that she would never be able to have children of her own.

She said: “I was scared that I would not be able to have the family I always wanted. I thought I would have to re-evaluate how I had planned my life would go.

“I didn’t really know how to deal with the situation. I didn’t think my life would go the way it was.”

Amy dreamed of having three children but was honest with her then partner about her medical condition.

“It was quite an awkward situation,” she said. “It changed slightly in the relationship.

“He realised he couldn’t have kids and I did feel bad because I couldn’t give him what he wanted.”

She said he accepted it and stood by her, but they split up just after Christmas in December 2018 for unrelated reasons.

Then on January 7 last year she went to the doctors with stomach cramps and thought “nothing of it”.

But the doctor said they would do a pregnancy test and when she found out she was pregnant she broke down. She was six and a half weeks gone.

She said: “From being told I can’t have kids, I was scared something was going to happen. A lot of things can go wrong.”

She first told her sister who then told her ex. She said she was worried about his reaction, but he was “excited”.

She said: “The doctors said as time goes on the body can get better or it can get worse.

“It might have been the case that because one ovary wasn’t working the other was over-producing. I’m not complaining about it either way!”

Amy gave birth to 7lb 6oz Kaitlynn at the Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton when she was 39 weeks pregnant.

She said: “I would like more children now that I know I can have some.”

To those who have also been told they can’t have children, she said: “Just keep your head up. There is always a chance.”