Fairytale Christmas for couple's 'little miracle' (From Chard & Ilminster News)

Fairytale Christmas for couple's 'little miracle'

8:28am Thursday 28th December 2006 in Chard By Matthew Colledge

A CHARD couple are celebrating a fairytale family Christmas with their "little miracle" after winning a five-year fight to conceive.

When baby Sharnie Mabey entered the world at 2.37am on October 14, she brought untold joy for parents Lucy and Alan who had all but given up hope of having a child.

Lucy said: "It's absolutely amazing. It's the first year in a very long time that we've looked forward to Christmas."

The couple began trying for a baby when Lucy, now 24, was 18.

Six months earlier, they had taken genetic tests to discover how a shared eye condition might affect a child.

Lucy and Alan both have an abnormal Pac 6 gene which causes the eye condition Anarida.

This meant a one in four chance their child would be born with a serious disability.

Lucy said: "We decided we wanted a child so much that we would think about any problems when they came along."

Four agonising years later, however, Lucy was still not pregnant and so underwent medical tests to establish the root of the problem.

She said: "Those four years were an absolute nightmare. I just thought, 'why is it not happening?' "Our doctor told us to be patient but eventually I had enough and decided to find out what was stopping us having children."

The tests showed Lucy had an unusually low hormone level and she was prescribed an 18-month course of tablets.

In February, with just one month of the course remaining, five years of waiting paid off.

Lucy said: "My period was two weeks late so I went to see the doctor and was told to give a urine sample just in case.

"Within minutes I was called into an office and was told I was two months pregnant.

"I just burst into tears - so did my mum and so did the nurse!"

Despite their jubilation, Lucy and Alan endured a nervous wait on tests to find out whether Sharnie would be born with the Pac 6 gene.

Fortunately, although the gene was present, the tests showed Sharnie would not be severely disabled.

Lucy said: "We were absolutely over the moon when we discovered she didn't have a more serious problem."

Sharnie was born a fortnight late with Lucy's guide dog Midge faithfully attending her bedside in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.

Her name, meaning 'little miracle' in Swahili, was discovered on the internet by Lucy's mother Jeanette.

Lucy said: "Sharnie's doing really well. She was born only 5lb 9oz but she's putting weight on now.

"We don't yet know how her long-term eyesight will be but she can focus and see things."

Having watched enviously as her sisters Laura and Amy had children of their own, Lucy said she couldn't wait for her first family Christmas.

She said: "We're so excited. We've got our first family holiday arranged in February and we've got so many things for Sharnie. She's being spoilt rotten!"