A couple whose four-day-old baby died due to failures at a scandal-hit maternity unit have launched a last-ditch appeal for IVF funding.
Katie Anson, 38, and Matthew Hall, 32, are desperate to start a family, five years after their only son Kye was starved of oxygen during a difficult birth.
An inquest subsequently found his death could have been prevented if staff at the Shrewsbury NHS Trust hospital had acted differently.
An independent review and a police inquiry were launched into ‘Britain’s worst maternity scandal’ after more than 1,200 complaints against the trust.
The couple, from Telford, Shropshire, have since faced further anguish as they have been unable to conceive.
Katie Anson, 38, and Matthew Hall, 32, (pictured together) are desperate to start a family, five years after their only son Kye was starved of oxygen during a difficult birth
They have undergone IVF but faced heartbreak and frustration as after an anxious and hopeful wait, their dreams were dashed.
With the costs of another round of IVF stretching to more than £10,000, one of Ms Anson’s friends decided to step in and set up a fundraiser to try and give the couple another shot at starting their own family.
Ms Anson said: ‘Over the past five years we have continued to try and start a family of our own, but without success.
‘I’m getting older and so we decided last year that perhaps it was time to ask for some help.
‘We went to the doctor’s, got referred for fertility treatment and had some tests. The findings showed that we had unexplained infertility, however I was also suffering with diminished ovarian reserve, which means that I may not have many eggs left.
‘To have had our only child taken away from us so tragically and unnecessarily when we could have had our own little five-year-old boy bouncing around now, just makes it all the more difficult to swallow.
‘So now, at 38 years old time is running out for us and there is nothing more in this whole entire world that we want than to have a family of our own.
‘I am a very private person. I initially only wanted my family and close friends to know that we were going through this. I don’t like attention, I don’t like people to feel sorry for me and I don’t like to make anyone feel uncomfortable when I speak about my experiences.
An inquest subsequently found that Kye’s (pictured) death could have been prevented if staff at the Shrewsbury NHS Trust hospital had acted differently
‘And I absolutely hate asking others for money, so the decision to create this fundraiser has not been taken lightly. We really truly need help.
Ms Anson said it was only after their IVF on the NHS had failed that they had realised the true costs of paying for the treatment.
She said: ‘Obviously we had our NHS go but at the time we were just trying to be positive, thinking ”this will work”, and that we wouldn’t need to go private so we didn’t even look at the costs then. It was only after we saw how expensive it is.’
The prospect of not being able to have another go is all the more jarring because of Kye’s tragic death, with ‘what ifs’ and thoughts of how it could have been different.
Ms Anson said the loss of their son had been utterly heartbreaking and had hit her and her partner in different ways.
She said: ‘It was pretty horrific. Obviously we have got quite a good family support network and at the time we were devastated. Matty pretty much broke down and he struggled to handle it. His way of dealing with it was having family around, but I wanted to push everyone away so it was a really difficult time.
‘But we have grown stronger and I think seeing Matt the way he was with Kye just made me fall in love with him even more.’
Ms Anson said now they just want to have their own family.
She said: ‘It is just something we want more than anything else in the world.
‘It took me two years to catch pregnant with Kye. We were literally thinking about going and getting some help but it was just at Christmas when we found out.
‘I did a test before Christmas in case I was drinking and we found out I was pregnant which was lovely. I had a normal pregnancy, it was perfect. I have never felt more happy in my life.
‘To lose him in such a way was just horrific and we have been basically trying ever since then. The time is ticking for us which is why we need to do this.
‘We are keeping on and trying to stay positive and hope for the best. We just have to keep trying.’