The Christmas that CHANGED OUR LIVES

We speak to three women about their most wonderful time of year

- JOHANNA BELL, CAROL DRIVER

‘IT WAS THE BEST SURPRISE’

Hayley Keeber, 35, lives in Northampton with her husband Aaron, 37, and their three children

Tears filled my eyes as I looked at my husband Aaron and nodded in agreement. It was September 2020 and, after two years trying, we’d decided to give up on our dream of having a baby together.

When we met in 2015, I already had my daughter Sydney, then three, from a previous relationship, so after Aaron and I married in June 2018, we’d assumed I’d be able to get pregnant again. But after more than a year with no success, tests revealed I had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). It was a miracle I’d even had Sydney.

Despite only having a slim chance of conceiving, in September 2019 I suffered an ectopic pregnancy. It was devastating. Plus, it meant we’d have to wait another six months before starting fertility treatment. We eventually started in March 2020, just as lockdown hit. As the treatment involved tablets, I was able to continue despite the clinic being closed, but it didn’t work.

So by September 2020, Aaron and I had come to the difficult conclusion to stop trying. Intimacy had become very robotic and I couldn’t stand the monthly heartbreak any longer.

Our sex life dwindled, but that Christmas, after one too many drinks, Aaron and I enjoyed a night of passion. When I fell ill in late January and couldn’t pinpoint why, I took a pregnancy test, just to rule it out. So I was amazed when it came back positive.

Christmas Day was the only time we’d been intimate – it felt like a miracle. After a healthy pregnancy, Chayce was born in September 2021. His arrival must have kicked-started something in my body, because I fell pregnant again within a year, giving birth to Landon in June 2023.