Mum who got pregnant TWICE before she was 18 as docs told her she’d struggle to conceive ‘made the right choice’ – as she hit the menopause at just 22
The teen was bullied for her decision... but is now confident she made the right choice
THIS young woman deliberately fell pregnant TWICE before the age of 18 because she was desperate to have children, after doctors warned she would struggle to conceive.
Kirstin Gray was already mum to Alissa and Emily by the time she became an adult and was bullied by her peers at school.
The young mum is now infertile at the age of 25, and confident she made the right choice.
The mum-of-two, from Middlesbrough, had been plagued by years of heavy periods since she was nine years old – before eventually being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
She was advised the condition would make it hard for her to conceive – and decided to take the plunge and get pregnant.
Speaking for the first time about her decision, Kirstin said: “Having my two was the best thing I ever did.”
Just two years after Kirstin’s first daughter was born, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and ended up going into early menopause – at the age of 22.
Now aged 25, Kirstin said: “I have hot flushes, sweating, back pain, swollen and tender breasts constantly.
“I’m infertile but I have my girls. I made the right choice.”
Kirstin was just nine when she started her period – and was soon diagnosed with menorrhagia, abnormally heavy bleeding.
She recalled of her first menstrual experience: “It was so heavy. I told my grandma I was dying.”
An ultrasound at the James Cook University Hospital in August 2000 revealed Kirstin had cysts on her ovaries.
Her periods would last up to 10 days, and Kirstin had to change her protection 10 times a day.
She said: “I was petrified. I returned to school wearing bulky sanitary towels. It was mortifying.”
At the age of 10, Kirstin developed breasts adding: “It was so embarrassing.
“I had to hide my sports bra when we’d do PE.”
Kirstin’s GP gave her medication to make her periods lighter, but the situation worsened when she turned 15.
The teen would often faint while studying for her GCSEs, and once lost so much blood that she had to have a transfusion and stay in hospital for a week.
Kirstin met her boyfriend, sales assistant Jon Gray, at college – and he encouraged her to see a specialist in 2008.
It was at the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockon-on-Tees, that Jon was diagnosed with PCOS and given the heartbreaking news she had a one per cent chance of ever having kids.
At the age of 17, Kirstin’s cysts were so big they were taking over her ovaries – and stopping her ovulation.
She said: "I was devastated and cried for two hours.
“My partner and I discussed adoption as an alternative option for our future, and we just maturely got on with our lives."
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On December 27 that year, Kirstin received news that she was pregnant – after visiting her GP about blood loss.
She said: “Most parents might be angry their 17-year-old daughter was pregnant.
"But my family were pleased for us because they knew how much we'd been through. We felt very blessed."
Alissa was born on August 13, 2009, but just a month later Kirstin was given the news her cysts were back and she only had one year to try for another baby.
She said: "I was mortified and convinced a year wasn't enough time.”
Luckily, she fell pregnant again in March 2010 and Emily was born on December 11 that year.
She said: "I was so happy to have defied the odds- again."
In July 2011, Kirstin visited her GP after her bright red and painful periods, and spotting, and was diagnosed with cervical cancer following a smear test.
She said: "I worried I wouldn't survive to see my kids grow up, but luckily in early 2012 I was given the all clear.”
Then in 2012, a gynaecologist at the James Cook Hospital diagnosed Kirstin with endometriosis, a chronic condition where tissue that behaves like the lining of the womb is found outside the womb.
Doctors recommended putting her in medical menopause aged 22, which was brought on with injections every three weeks for three years.
Kirstin said: "It was life changing to go through that so young. I hope to be able to run around with the kids again soon, like a woman of my age should."