Good news for the couple who both carry the cystic fibrosis gene

After nine years of trying to have a child, Chris Kiernan, who has cystic fibrosis and his wife Marylee, who is a carrier, have finally overcome the improbability of having a baby.

 

The two started trying for a baby the year following their wedding in 2004, but had no luck. After a number of failed attempts and a miscarriage, the saddened couple thought about IVF.

 

When they were exploring their options, they discovered that Mrs Kieran was a cystic fibrosis carrier, which meant they had to have pre-implantation genetic diagnosis instead of ordinary IVF.

 

Since pre-implantation genetic diagnosis provides a smaller chance of getting pregnant, it was very risky. They travelled to London to get the treatment done and had no success.

 

At that stage they had given up all hope, but when the nurse ‘begged’ Mrs Kieran to try again, a miracle happened.

 

“A week before Christmas in 2012, we got negative results again, and I thought, “that’s it, I’m not going through it again”. I was in a lot of pain and had had two operations along the way,” she added.

 

After they paid £5,000 for a last try, the couple found out that Mrs Kiernan was pregnant. Despite the early arrival of little baby Alexander, he is a healthy little boy.