00:00I can't stop looking at her, because she's mine.
00:09My name's Kelly. I'm a first-time mum. I'm 51 now. I was 50 when I had Lila.
00:16I was cabin crew for 23 years, so flying around the world.
00:20I was never really here long enough to develop proper relationships.
00:25Focused on my career, and I have always wanted children. It's been my dream,
00:32and I've watched all my friends and family around me have children,
00:35and just wanted to do that myself, and just wanted to be a mummy.
00:39I first considered going through IVF alone literally after my 49th birthday,
00:45because obviously having been so unlucky in love and getting to the age of 50 that was looming,
00:51it was now or never. Worries and concerns were that at 50, would I be able to carry a child,
00:58and would there be any health complications? After having the baby, how am I going to cope?
01:04How am I going to look after her? Would I lose my job? What would happen? Et cetera, et cetera.
01:10The overwhelming desire to have a baby was more important to me than all the problems
01:15and the worries that I had about doing it. So I decided to go to Athens for the procedure,
01:20because of the reputation that the clinic has. A friend of mine at work had had a successful
01:27procedure there, as had everyone that she'd spoken about.
01:31Using a sperm donor initially worried me, because I knew I wasn't allowed to choose the donor,
01:39but Sophia at the clinic made me feel so comfortable. It was like she was family,
01:45that I had total trust in her, total trust in them, and they gave me a complete biography
01:52of the donor sperm. Obviously you don't get to see the pictures or anything, which is fine.
01:57When I saw that positive pregnancy test, I wanted to ring my mum and dad straight away.
02:02I wanted to ring my sister. It's the best thing I have ever, ever seen in my life.
02:09I was just a little bit sad that I didn't have somebody to share it with, because my family
02:14wasn't on board with it. A lot of my friends thought I was being a bit silly. They were worried
02:21about being the oldest mum at the school gates. A few of my friends have also said, you know,
02:30the same sort of thing, how are you going to cope when you're 70, she's 20, you know,
02:34as you get older, how are you going to look after? I had a lot of support from best friends,
02:41but obviously I had to travel out there on my own and in a foreign country.
02:45It was, yeah, it was very lonely, very lonely. When I held my daughter for the first time,
02:52I cried. It's the best feeling that I ever, ever had, and I can't stop looking at her,
03:02because she's mine. I can't stop looking at her, being so grateful that it worked for me for the
03:07first time. There's never a right time, and any time is the right time, so just go and do it,
03:15because the joy that they will bring you is just second to none, and I wouldn't change this for
03:22the world. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Go and do it. Just go and do it.
03:27Don't think about it. You just, you just got to do it.
Comments