A woman who was genetically a man with no female reproductive organs has given birth to twin girls.
28-year old Hayley Haynes had miracle babies Avery and Darcey after undergoing IVF treatment using an egg donor.
She had no reproductive organs owing to a condition called androgen insensitivity syndrome. She looked like a woman but was told she would never have children as she had no womb, ovaries or fallopian tubes.
But now, nine years on, she has given birth to her twins after IVF treatment using an egg donor.
Hayley, from Bedford, had no idea she was different growing up. But at 19 she still had not started her periods despite going through other signs of puberty.
After months of hospital trips and blood tests, specialists told her she had been born with XY chromosomes, meaning she was genetically male.
She says: “When they told me I had no womb I was so confused I felt sick. My biggest fear was never having children.
"Suddenly a huge piece of my life was missing. I felt like half a woman and was embarrassed. How I was going to tell a guy I was genetically male when I started dating?”
A ray of hope came in 2007 when a new specialist at Royal Derby Hospital found a tiny womb missed on previous scans.
“It was only a few millimetres, but it was a start,” says Hayley. “He was optimistic it would grow. I still couldn’t conceive naturally but I could have the option of IVF.”
The first step was a course of hormone tablets to give her the right levels of progesterone and oestrogen. They would stop her suffering osteoporosis and create an environment where her womb could grow.
