27 Ağustos 2008 Çarşamba

Dünya'nın ilk tüp bebeği, anne oldu (İngiliz Basını'ndan)

Britain's first test-tube baby on having a baby of her own

Twenty eight years earlier, at Oldham General Hospital, his mother Louise Brown had made history when she became the world's first test-tube baby. Now, by having a child of her own, she is continuing the family line that her parents had been so desperate to establish. But if Cameron's birth at St Michael's Hospital in Bristol was an occasion for celebration, it was also a time of desperate sadness. For the previous day, the family had buried Louise's father, John.

John died from lung cancer just two days short of his 65th birthday. He never got to see his grandchild; he didn't even know what sex the baby was. But now, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Louise explains what Cameron would have meant to him and tells of the happiness a new life has brought to a family that was created in the most extraordinary circumstances.
Speaking from her home in Knowle, on the outskirts of Bristol, where she lives with her husband of two years, Wesley Mullinder, Louise says: "Cameron was due on January 2 but was actually born at 12.23pm on December 20. It meant we were able to keep the news to ourselves for a bit, which was nice. Now I think we're ready to introduce him to everyone.
"He's tiny, just under 6lb, but he's perfect. We were lucky in that Wesley and I were able to conceive naturally. We'd only been trying for about six months so it was obviously much easier for us than for Mum and Dad. I don't know if the fact that they tried so hard to have a baby had any effect on me but I have always wanted children. I worked as a nursery nurse for three years and I always knew that one day I would want to have my own.
"Lots of people have asked me if I had to do anything differently because I was born by IVF, but I didn't. I didn't have to take any extra precautions or have any extra checks. I was meant to have a natural birth but, as Cameron was breached, and they were worried about the amount of fluid in the womb, I had to have a caesarean.
"It's not how I'd wanted to do things but the main thing is that he's safe and healthy. You're allowed only one person into the operating theatre so Wesley waited outside and my mum was with me the whole time.
"They released me on Christmas Day at 3.30pm. We went straight round to my mum's in Whitchurch where my sister Natalie and her two children also live. We always spend Christmas there but this year it was very strange and very sad. Cameron was amazing though. He brought us some much needed cheer."
It's impossible to imagine the range of emotions that Lesley, now 58, must have been going through as she watched her daughter undergo a similar caesarean operation to the one she had all those years ago.
Louise's birth would make headlines around the world but for Lesley and John it was at its heart, a profoundly personal moment: the arrival of the baby they had wanted for so long. This time, however, John, a former British Rail engineer, wasn't there to share in the joy.
Louise says: "All Mum and Dad wanted was a baby and, one day, grandchildren. My sister has two children but it seems so unfair Dad didn't get to see Cameron. He was only two weeks short of meeting him. Because everything happened at once I don't know if it's hit me yet. I think I knew deep down that he was going to die before he saw his grandchild. I said to Mum, "I don't think he's going to make it."
"Dad was diagnosed with asbestosis seven years ago. It was probably from all the time he spent working on the railways inside the tunnels.
"Last August they said it had turned into mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer. I was due to have my 20-week scan. Before I went I said to Dad, "I'll find out what I'm having if you want?" but he said, "Don't worry, I'll still be here to see for myself."
"Dad was fine at the beginning. His breathing was a bit difficult but he could walk about, even though he had to take things pretty slowly. They told us that the mesothelioma was growing quite slowly but that it was also a very aggressive disease.
"He seemed to be plodding along quite nicely and then, on November 29, he had a stroke. It paralysed him down his left side, he couldn't see, couldn't speak, although he did still know who we were. He lasted eight more days and died on December 7.
"He was at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, which is five minutes from St Michael's. I had just been to the hospital for a check-up on Cameron. I didn't know it at the time, but they had phoned Mum to say that Dad was struggling and it might be a good idea to come and see him.
"But none of us made it in time. It was sad but he had suffered so much and when we saw him there he looked so peaceful. He hadn't looked like that for a very long time."
Louise is a down-to-earth girl who is loath to make a fuss, so she downplays the toll her father's illness must have taken. She does, however, admit that the pressures of the past few months might have had an affect on her pregnancy.
She says: "When Cameron was born people asked me if I smoked because he was so small, just 5lb 6oz. I've never smoked in my life. Then they asked if I'd been under a lot of stress as that can affect the weight of the baby, which I suppose I was really. It has been difficult for all of us. I tried to keep calm because I didn't want to upset the baby. Also if I got upset, then I knew Mum would get upset and she already had enough to be dealing with."
Now, however, Cameron is a much-needed source of comfort - a reminder of the father and husband they all loved so much. Louise says: "Cameron's got my Dad's feet, just like I have. They're very broad and have the same arch. And Cam also frowns a lot, like I do and just like Dad did.
"I'm the spitting image of my dad and now I see so much of my dad in Cameron. It has been the most amazing comfort. Dad would have loved him to pieces but in a way, he's still around. It might sound silly but I look at Cam and think half of my dad's in him. It's funny, but even though he's only three weeks old, it feels as though he's been with us forever. We're just really enjoying it and Wesley's really great with him."
In many ways Wesley and Louise are just like any other new parents. Wesley, a nightclub doorman, painted Cameron's nursery and, because he work nights, is able to spend each day with his young son.
Louise, an administrator with a shipping firm, intends to go back to work once Cameron is older. She admits they lead an unremarkable life, yet because of the remarkable nature of her conception Louise will always be a part of the public consciousness. The world has followed her through every milestone of her life, from her first birthday through to her 21st, from her marriage to the birth of her first child.

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