In January 2004, I had a termination. I had two daughters under four, I was the main earner in the family (as my husband was studying at college) and I was told I was expecting twins. It was such a shock and so overwhelming, I had an abortion at nine weeks. With hindsight, I don’t think I thought this through properly and have grieved for these babies desperately – especially in light of what has happened since.

About a year and a half later, after much soul searching and in a better position to cope, my husband and I decided to try for another baby. I fell pregnant quickly (I always have), but something didn’t feel right from the start. With my previous pregnancies, I had been sick from the start, but this time round, I felt normal. People reassured me by saying ‘it’s probably a boy’ or ‘every pregnancy is different’, and I wanted to believe them. I had a scan at 11 weeks though when I started spotting, and it turned out that the foetus had stopped growing at 6 weeks. I decided to wait for nature to take its course, and for the ‘remains’ to be discarded naturally. Two days later though, I started haemorraging badly and was taken into emergency. Four hours later, I had an emergency D&C and had to have a blood transfusion of two pints.

My periods returned after three months, although somewhat lighter and for a shorter length of time. However I became pregnant again quickly and the same thing happened again – only this time it was twins. Both failed to thrive and this time I opted for a D&C straight away, as I didn’t want to go through another haemorrage like the last time.

I now understand that with each intervention – one termination and two D&Cs - , my womb was gradually getting more and more scarred and that was why the foetuses failed to develop. At the time though, I had no idea why I had started miscarrying after two previous, healthy, problem free pregnancies.

After that (March 2006), my periods ceased altogether. The doctor recommended that I wait six months before being referred, as my body had been through a lot and may be taking a while to get back to normal. At the time, I accepted this, but have since discovered that it is very rare for periods not to have returned after three months after a D&C.

A friend of mine recommended I see privately a consultant gynaecologist that she knew was an expert in complex reproductive medicine. Thank God she did!! The moment I walked into his office, I found him reassuring, supportive and knowledgeable. Without even examining me, he thought there was a strong possibility I had Asherman’s Syndrome. My GP had never heard of the condition.

My gynaecologist recommended a laparoscopy to check for endometriosis and a hysteroscopy to check the womb for adhesions. I felt quite knocked out by the operation. It turned out that I had 90 per cent adhesions in my womb but no endometriosis! After the operation, the gynaecologist told me that he had cut away as much of the scar tissue as possible and we would have to wait a month – and hopefully for the onset of a period – before he could check how successful the operation had been. He inserted two coils to keep the prevent the womb rescarring. The first fell out after a couple of days.

I bled quite heavily for around five days, then it stopped, then I went back to work, and then it started again. I think it was my body’s way of telling me to slow down. Anyway, three weeks after the operation, I started bleeding – my first period for over a year!! I then returned to hospital to have the coil removed and for an HSG.

The results were amazing. Only 10 per cent of scar tissue remained. The rest of my womb was clear. He recommended a final ‘tidy up’ hysteroscopy.

Yesterday, I had my second hysteroscopy and, have now been told that my womb is healed and I can actively start trying for another baby. No need for any more coils or HSGs. I’m done!!

I don’t know if we’ll be successful or not in trying for another baby –I’m now 42 years. But at least now I know we’ve done all we can to make it possible and my health has been restored.

The lesson is, if you have Asherman’s , make sure you find an expert who knows what to do!!