FIRST PERSON

I’m 46 with three children. Now I want a baby with my younger partner

After attempts to conceive naturally ended in miscarriage, Grace Ackroyd and her boyfriend, Joab, looked into egg donors. This is what happened

Grace Ackroyd

Monday January 08 2024, 12.03am, The Times

Just after Christmas last year I find out I am pregnant. While everyone else is talking about the joylessness of January, my boyfriend, Joab, and I are basking in a golden light. Every morning in bed I turn to him and say, “I’m so happy.” At 45, and after a year of trying, I also feel very lucky.

We keep our good fortune to ourselves because it is still early days. I don’t feel sick as I have in other early pregnancies that resulted in my three children with my ex-husband, two of whom are now adults. And while the BMJ cites that 53 per cent of pregnancies in women aged 45 and above end in miscarriage, excitement fizzes in my stomach. I look ahead