Woman left infertile by botched surgery has surrogate baby funded by NHS payout
A woman left infertile by botched surgery has fulfilled her dream of becoming a mother after successfully getting a massive payout from the NHS and paying for a surrogate, it has been reported.
Donna Roberts, 41, was injured in a bungled operation for a bowel condition 15 years ago. Internal damage left her infertile, crushing hopes she and her husband Marc, 47, had to start a family.
But a Supreme Court ruled, in 2020, women left unable to conceive due to medical negligence can claim the cost of a surrogacy abroad, so Donna was able to fund an egg donor and surrogate in San Diego, California. It is thought her lawyers secured a £1million settlement. Baby Mia was born last summer – and celebrates her first birthday next Saturday.
The couple, who live in Allerton, Liverpool, now hope the payout will fund up to two siblings for Mia, the Daily Mail reports. "I still can't believe she's really here," Donna said yesterday. "We're both absolutely besotted with her. What I went through in the hospital has changed my life forever, I'll never be the same again. But Mia is the ultimate silver lining."
The woman underwent the knife in 2007 at Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor, North Wales, for complications from ulcerative colitis. The operation, though, was found to be "doomed to failure" following a review. It left Donna battling sepsis and MRSA and told she could not conceive. The surgery meant it was unsafe to harvest her eggs. so she and her husband, an electrician, began legal action.
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Following the ruling at the Supreme Court, the couple's lawyer, Richard Malloy of Gregory Abrams Davidson Solicitors, secured an apology from the Betsi Cadwaladr health board. The confidential settlement, which is thought to be £1 million, covered the £300,000 cost of organising a surrogate to California – where commercial surrogacy is legal – including legal, travel and accommodation bills.
They chose an egg donor who resembled Donna and shared their Welsh roots, and the eggs were fertilised in a laboratory using Marc's sperm. Mia was born last year in what her mother described as "the most incredible moment". Mr Malloy said: "The very significant hospital failings cruelly deprived Donna of the ability to conceive naturally, and we are delighted to have been able to support her and Marc."
Health watchdog Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) identified the Emergency Department at sister hospital Ysbyty Glan Clwyd as a "service requiring significant improvement" as of May last year. Donna and Marc became so disillusioned with the health service in north Wales they moved from Llangefni in Anglesey to Liverpool.
Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital is run by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Dr Nick Lyons, Executive Medical Director at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, told the Mirror: “We offer our most sincere apologies to Mrs Roberts and hope that the settlement reached will provide the support she needs.
“Our internal review did acknowledge serious mistakes were made and we have made significant changes in the way patients like Mrs Roberts are treated since this incident took place in August 2007.
“With the advance in medical management of ulcerative colitis, the number of patients requiring acute surgery has declined. Patients are therefore no longer offered emergency ileo-anal pouch surgery within our Health Board.”
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