Christine Thompson was so desperate to lose weight after a lifetime of anxiety over her size she begged her GP for help.
Heartbreakingly, it was while she was trying to get the help she needed to slim down that she was given the devastating news she had polycystic ovary syndrome and would never be able to have children.
Christine had always wanted to be a mum - but determined to make the most of her life she threw herself into her job of helping children with special needs.
One of her friends then inspired her to shed a massive four stone - and it helped her achieve her 'miracle' and become a mum.
In 2017 Christine took a pregnancy test and was overwhelmed when it showed she was expecting.
She is now the proud mum to two-year-old Tabatha.
The 37-year-old explained: "I was always chunky as a child, and remember aged eight asking my mum to take me to the doctor so I could get a diet.
"When I went I was told the usual thing eat lots of healthy food and youll be fine, but that didnt give me the answer I was looking for.
"I remember wearing size 14 clothes when I was in year 6, and at 49 that basically meant I felt spherical compared to my friends."
By the time she was a teenager Christine was bingeing on secret hoards of food like crisps, biscuits and chocolate.
She would also "double dip" meals by going to her grandmother's for tea and then coming home for her evening meal without telling her parents.
When she left school and started work at a printing company, Christine also started drinking.
She said: "I added big boozy sessions to my terrible diet, regularly downing 10 vodka and cokes in a night, as well as getting greasy takeaways before bed and fried breakfasts the next morning to help me cope with the hangovers."
It was then that she started struggling with depression and anxiety, all because of her body image.
Her GP prescribed anti-depressants but Christine was still struggling.
She said: "Id suffer panic attacks at the thought of being in public spaces, so when friends would call to ask where I was, Id invariably say I couldnt make it, or I just wouldnt answer my phone."
When she was 23 Christine started an animation course at university and was determined to lose weight.
He gave her some dietary advice and transferred her for a scan, where her polycystic ovary syndrome was discovered, which was the reason she was struggling to lose weight.
Christine said: "He then explained that because of my PCOS I wouldn't be able to have kids unless I had took tablets to regulate my menstrual cycle and then had IVF, which really wasnt something I wanted to consider so young.
"Even if I had the medication which had bad side effects my chances of conceiving were minimal.
"And if I delayed the treatment thered be even less chance of having kids, they said. It was just a ridiculous conversation, and I felt like my world was in pieces.
"I remember standing in the rain at the bus stop outside the GP surgery calling my mum with the news, tears rolling down my face.
"My right to be a woman was gone, and my depression spirally down and down."
After she finished university Christine moved back in with her parents and was given the devastating news that her parents had terminal cancer.
She said: "I had a complete breakdown, and pretty much stopped eating completely, going down to 11st, but I still wouldnt leave the house."
The turning point for Christine came when she got a job at a special needs school, which she loved.
She said: "If I couldnt be a mum, I could help these lovely kids find happiness, I thought.
"The sense of fulfilment and the other staff made me happy for the first time in living memory."
Then Christine bumped into a friend from school who had lost weight with WW, which used to be Weight Watchers.
Weight loss classes had never been something Christine had considered because of her anxiety but her pal reassured her if was relaxed and friendly, so she decided to give it a go.
She said: "It was like she said really open, honest and a safe place for me to talk about my feelings about food.
"I didnt buy any special foods, I just used a calculator and pointed everything, and it worked! I lost 4lbs in my first week and left my weigh-in skipping."
In less than a year Christine had shed four stone and felt "incredible inside and out".
She said: "I started having regular periods and came off anti-depressants for the first time in seven years.
"I even started exercising for the first time ever, and loved it.
"My panic attacks stopped completely and I was a social butterfly, always accepting invitations to head out to meet friends.
"I was dating and basically living the life I never thought Id have."
Then, in September 2017, Christine felt something wasn't right.
She had been able to stop taking the medication she had previously needed to help her PCOS, which had given her migraines.
Before she visited her GP she did a pregnancy test to rule it out and was stunned when it was positive.
Christine said: "I called my mum straight away with the amazing news, and she was sobbing with joy.
"Id spent years working with kids who came from tough, often loveless homes, wondering why I couldnt be a mum, and now this was it, my miracle had happened."
Even though she was a single mum Christine said her confidence was by now "sky high" and with support from her parents knew she could go it alone.
But there was another amazing surprise.
Christine said: "A good friend of mine called Ben was also there for me, and when I finally gave birth to Tabatha in March 2018 fighting fit and screaming like she should he said hed love to be her dad and my partner.
"Since then every single day is a blessing. Tabatha is a joy, my job is amazing, Im back to my goal weight after the pregnancy and Ben and I are even talking about trying to another.
"Ive since found out that losing weight really can help you conceive if you have PCOS, but nobody told me that before Id been stuck in this vicious circle of being miserable, eating more, not being able to have kids.
"I broke that cycle and have finally found true happiness as the mum I was told Id never be."
Continue reading here:
'I lost 4st and had the miracle baby doctors told me Id never give birth to' - Mirror Online
