Loose Women presenter Saira Khan has opened up about her struggles with conceiving after she was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 38.
However, after being told she would have a less than five per cent chance of conceiving, the Loose Women star, now 48, managed to beat the odds and conceive her son Zachariah with IVF.
She later ‘completed’ her family with husband Steve Hyde when she adopted daughter Amara from Pakistan.
During National Endometriosis Awareness month, Saira was keen to show her support for other women with the condition, by sharing her story on Instagram alongside a cute family photo.
‘At the age of 38 and after 4 years of trying to have a baby I was told I had stage 3 #endometriosis,’ the star shared with her 46.5 k followers.
She added, ‘the scarring of my fallopian tubes were so bad that my chances of conceiving were less than 5%. But where there is a will, there is a way.
‘I was lucky to conceive after my first attempt @ivf which bore me my gorgeous son. A few years later we tried @Ivf again – it failed so I decided to adopt from an orphanage in Pakistan. We adopted a 4 day old baby girl and named her Amara.
‘This photo brings me so much joy. It was the moment I had realised my dream to have my own family and become a mother and parent.’
Saira went on to tell endometriosis sufferers that the condition is common and to not to give up if they want to conceive.
‘It’s #endometriosisawareness month and I wanted to share this photo to support all the ladies out there who have #endometriosis and want to become a mum. Please don’t give up. Infertility does not automatically mean no children – #adoption is a beautiful way to start and complete your family.
‘#endometriosis is more common than most people think, but the awareness to recognise and treat it is still poor.’
Fans were quick to praise Saira for her candid post, with one fan commenting, ‘Well done for raising awareness I have this horrible condition and hate the pain I get and more awareness needs to be out there xx.’
Another added, ‘Thank you for raising awareness of this horrible disease. I am a Endo patient & it certainly needs more research into it,’ while a third wrote, ‘So absolutely beautiful…I’m going through fertility issues similar age 27 due to severe stage 4 endometriosis and I’m truly touched by this post.’
Saira shared another uplifting message further down in the comments section in response to a fan’s story, writing, ‘I understand the obstacles – but I never focus on “can’t” “won’t” “never” – I believe in “can” “will” “shall”.
‘Everybody has hope and choices and if I read your post it would have made me feel depressed. If life was easy – we’d all be very happy – it’s not and if we want something there is help out there to achieve. I know so many families who have adopted successfully and are very happy.
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‘Yes IVF is expensive – but I risked a lot to get it done. Attitude and approach to life’s obstacles is the difference between “getting what you want” and “not”.’
What an inspiring story.
Endometriosis is a condition that affects one-tenth of women in the UK of reproductive age. The womb lining grows outside of the uterus and can be found in other organs like the ovaries, bowel and bladder.
