Nurse gives birth after funding IVF with share of a £1million family lottery win

An NHS nurse has given birth to a baby girl after funding IVF treatment with her share of a £1 million family lottery win.

Having been told by doctors she should have children “sooner rather than later” Rebecca Brown chose to spend £12,000 of her £250,000 windfall to try to get pregnant.

In a twist of fate, the 39-year-old new mum gave birth to her daughter, Ethel, on Friday in the Queen's Medical Centre, the same hospital she works as an orthopaedic nurse.

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“I couldn't believe that she was my baby,” Rebecca says of the moment she gave birth. “I thought it was a dream I was going to wake up from.”

Miss Brown won her share of the £1m jackpot from a family syndicate, sharing it with her 63-year-old mother Yvonne, 64-year-old father David and her sister Julie, 37 in 2016.

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In February 2018 she was told to think about having children after a smear test revealed abnormal cells, which turned out to be pre-cancerous cells in her cervix.

Remembering what her doctor had told her, Rebecca said: “She just said with this history, and my age as well, I should think about having children sooner rather than later.

“It just made me realise what I wanted more than anything. So I just went straight for it.”

“My dad said I needed a man and I proved that you don't – you don't have to be in a relationship.”

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Miss Brown said she required a sperm donor as part of her IVF treatment, but as she didn’t have any specific requirements in terms of donor traits she matched pretty quickly.

Recalling the moment she discovered the IVF treatment had been a success, Miss Brown said: “The first thing I did was Facetime my sister – and she told my mum and dad that [the IVF had been] a success.

“Then I cried a little bit – I never really thought I’d get to this stage.”

Miss Brown admitted she would have probably been able to ask her family for help to fund her fertility treatment, but the lottery win meant she could pay for the IVF herself.

Little Ethel was born weighing seven pounds and 10 ounces on Friday.

Dr Abraham Francis, from the IVF clinic where Miss Brown had treatment, said: “We are delighted to hear of the safe arrival of Rebecca's much-wanted baby.

“A little bit of science and some lottery luck is a magical combination.”

Asked if she could put a value on her new baby, Miss Brown said: “She is priceless but she's worth every penny.”

Additional reporting PA.