Mother who tried to get pregnant for eight years finally gives birth after she's injected with yolk from CHICKEN EGG

A woman who struggled to fall pregnant for eight years has given birth to a baby boy after she was injected with chicken egg yolk.

Leanne Blackwell, 38, and her plumber husband Andy, 48, had been trying to conceive since 2003 and spent £15,000 of IVF without success.

Then in 2010, Dr George Ndukwe, from Care Fertility in Nottingham discovered the couple had incompatible immune systems.
Leanne's overactive immune system was producing cells that were killing her fertilized eggs before they could develop.

He suggested a novel approach to lower her immune system - by injecting her with protein taken from a chicken egg.

Mrs Blackwell was given an intralipid solution containing a combination of egg extracts and soy oil through a drip, before being inseminated with the couple's fertilised eggs.

Research shows the fatty acids in the egg reduce the number of killer cells in the immune system.

Finally in May 2010 Leanne discovered she was pregnant, and gave birth to baby Martyn weighing 6lbs 13oz in February this year.

Leanne, who is a driving instructor, said: 'Holding Martyn in my arms for the first time was amazing, and the fact we had waited for so long made it all the more powerful'.

'I didn't realise how depressed I was getting about not being able to have a family.

'I couldn't even go to Asda without getting upset. It seemed like pregnant women were everywhere, and it was just a reminder it wasn't happening for us.'

After reading about the possible effects of her immune system on pregnancy, Leanne requested an immunology test.

The Chicago Test, revealed that Leanne body was producing a high number of killer cells which would treat any fertilised embryo as a foreign body.

After two failed IVF attempts, the couple from Grantham, decided to give it one more try using the food supplements.

'We had hit rock bottom. Andy and I had totally expected it to work.

'We talked about adoption. People would say to us: "when you stop trying, that's when it happens", but I didn't want to give up on having a family.'

'We decided to give IVF one more try with these new drugs.

'It's amazing to think that something quite simple has given us our baby.'

Leanne was given two sessions of the intralipid solution, both before and after she became pregnant. It is believed the solution interferes with the signal to the immune system reducing the number of killer cells.

'I had to wait two weeks to take my pregnancy test, I was so excited I got up at 5am to find out the result', says Leanne.

'After so many years of waiting, I couldn't believe it when I finally got a positive result. I just started bawling in the bathroom'.

After discovering she was expecting, it was important to maintain a low functioning immune system while the baby was developing.

As a result she was susceptible to infection and disease, and had to be extra vigilant throughout her pregnancy.

'I got a couple of bouts of food poisoning which wasn't nice. But everything was worth it in the end.

'Having Martyn is awesome, it was all worth it!'

Simon Thornton, Group Medical Director, CARE Fertility said: 'We believe that this treatment is important for women and families because there seems to be a subset of fertility patients who have developed, effectively, over active immune systems and this is contributing to their fertility difficulties.

'This treatment is inexpensive, well tolerated and easy to administer

'We have devoted time to finding answers when nature goes wrong'