A BEAUTIFUL daughter has eased the heartache of a couple who suffered eight miscarriages in 15 years.
Sarah and Martin Whitman, of Morris Drive in Banbury, feared they may never become parents after losing eight babies from 1992 to 2006.
However, they finally achieved their dream in January last year when baby Maya was born to them by Caesarean.
And as Maya prepares to celebrate her first birthday, Mr and Mrs Whitman have shared their story with the Banbury Guardian.
Mrs Whitman said: "Maya is our miracle – and after all we went through I feel there is something special about her that made her come here.
"Every child is precious, but to us Maya is even more precious because it took her so long to get here and one day we will tell her that.
"It was great to experience Christmas as parents because it definitely adds more to the day.
"Without children Christmas is just a money-spending exercise and there is no magic to it. We're really enjoying being parents and wouldn't change it for the world."
The couple suffered their first miscarriage in February 1992 at about 12 weeks.
After a fourth miscarriage in 1996, Mrs Whitman was diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome, where the body treats a baby as a foreign object and works against it by clotting the blood in the placenta to deprive the foetus of nutrients.
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After eight miscarriages, Sarah Whitman feared she would never become a mother.
She and her husband Martin had endured 15 years of heartbreak as she became pregnant again and again, only to miscarry.
Even with extensive drug treatments, they were unable to achieve their dream.
But then somehow their luck changed and Maya was born - a 7lb 1oz bundle of perfect, healthy baby.
Mrs Whitman, 37, said: "I can't believe we finally have our beautiful daughter with us at last, after losing our eight previous babies.
"It just seemed like after 15 years we would never be parents - so to have our daughter now after all this heartbreak is really a miracle."
The couple, who live in Banbury, Oxfordshire, began trying for a family in 1991, two years after they were married.
The following year Mrs Whitman became pregnant but miscarried at 12 weeks. She said: "I just accepted that it was one of those things, and concentrated on getting pregnant again."
In June 1993, she became pregnant again, but at ten weeks suffered her second miscarriage.
Mrs Whitman, a full-time mother who lives with Martin, 37, a factory worker, then lost a third baby.
Afterwards, she went to see her GP and blood tests were carried out to see if there was a medical reason why she had had the miscarriages - Mrs Whitman said: "They couldn't find anything wrong, so we just assumed that we were unlucky.
"But two years later, in June 1996, I suffered my fourth miscarriage. I knew by now that something must be wrong."
Mrs Whitman was referred to St Mary's Hospital in London, which has a specialist miscarriage centre.
She was diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome, where the body's immune system thinks that the foetus is a foreign body and tries to expel it. Blood clots build up in the placenta and cause a miscarriage.
Doctors told her that when she conceived again, they would give her medication to thin the blood in her placenta.
Mrs Whitman said: "I was so relieved that I finally had an answer to why I was losing my babies like this. I was confident that the next time I fell pregnant, then this time I would finally become a mum."
Despite the medication, however, over the next few years the couple lost another four babies.
Eventually they discussed adoption, but while on holiday in May 2006 decided to have one last try.
Mrs Whitman said: "We came home and I felt different. I knew I was pregnant, but this time instinctively everything just felt right."
The pregnancy went smoothly until the 22nd week, when complications threatened to bring on an early labour. To prevent this, she had to stop her medication - at the risk of starving the baby of nutrients.
Doctors at Horton General Hospital in Banbury carried out a caesarean to deliver Maya at 38 weeks, in January this year.
Mrs Whitman said: "It was so emotional when she was born. We had waited 15 long years."
Maya is now eleven months old and in perfect health, said her mother, adding: "One day we will tell her how special she is."
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