Sunday, 14 January 2007

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Wendi Peters: I was told I'd never be a mum

Corrie actress finally has baby

When actress Wendi Peters married actor Kenny Linden 13 years ago, she thought that children would follow naturally. But after two and half years, the couple began to worry and went to the doctor.

‘He did a couple of tests, then told us we’d never be able to have children. He even said that IVF wouldn’t help,’ says Wendi, 38, who plays Cilla Battersby-Brown in Coronation Street. We couldn’t believe it. All we’d ever wanted was to have a family.’

Fertility treatment was our only chance

They sought a second opinion from a private consultant. It was there that they discovered they might still be able to realise their dream, using a treatment called ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection). Unlike IVF, in which the sperm and eggs are mixed together in the laboratory, ICSI involves injecting a single sperm directly into an egg.

‘This method is typically used in cases where a man suffers from low sperm count or low sperm mobility, but it’s also used if the woman’s eggs have an impenetrable membrane or if the infertility is unexplainable,’ says Mr Adrian Lower, fertility consultant at 101 Harley Street, London.

How ICSI works

Studies show that ICSI has a slightly higher success rate than IVF – 20 per cent compared to 17 per cent. For Wendi and her husband, the news was a lifeline. ‘To suddenly be given hope of having a child was fantastic,’ says Wendi. But nothing prepared her for the roller coaster of emotion that the treatment involved.

To trick her body into producing more eggs, she had daily hormone injections that brought on symptoms similar to those of the menopause. The eggs were then removed so that Kenny’s sperm could be injected into them. Two or three of those that fertilise were then implanted into the womb.

An agonising wait

‘The worst bit is the wait after the treatment to find out if you’re pregnant,’ says Wendi. ‘The first time I sat and waited then, two days before I was due to take a pregnancy test, my period came. I was devastated.’

It was an emotion she was to experience again and again as successive cycles of treatment failed, to the point which she almost gave up hope of ever having a family. ‘I went through so many emotions. By the fifth time I was thinking about giving up,’ she says.

The good news finally arrived

‘But then the odds turned in our favour and on our seventh try I fell pregnant with our daughter Gracie. When she was born, we felt like our family was complete and she was worth all the heartache.’

Gracie’s now five and the couple had two further unsuccessful treatments before deciding not to pursue it any further. ‘I want to enjoy my time with Gracie rather than worry about attending fertility clinics,’ Wendi says. ‘Besides, we’re incredibly lucky to have her. She’s a fantastic gift.’

Emily Watkins

For more information on and support with infertility issues, visit www.fertilityfriends.co.uk or www.infertilitynetworkuk.com