Lottery winners win again helping their daughters have kids with IVF

Couple who scooped £1million on EuroMillions Raffle say they feel like ‘double winners’ after helping BOTH of their daughters have children through IVF

• Ruth and Mark Chalmers used lottery winnings to pay for their daughters’ IVF
• The Yorkshire couple won £1million the EuroMillions Raffle in February 2018
• The now grandparents spend lots of their time with Koby, 3, and Brogen, 1

A Yorkshire couple who scooped a £1million lottery windfall say they now feel like double winners after they were able to help both their daughters have children through IVF.

When Ruth and Mark Chalmers won on the EuroMillions Raffle in February 2018, their thoughts turned to how they could help their daughters Natalie and Leanne each overcome their struggles with the condition polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Now Mr and Mrs Chalmers, from Halifax, are celebrating life as grandparents as they spend time with Natalie’s son Koby, now three, and Leanne’s son Brogen, 19 months.

Mr Chalmers said that his first thought after he realised they had won was to make sure his daughters got on the property ladder and were mortgage-free.

‘And, after that, it was the grandchildren,’ he said.

Grandparents Ruth Chalmers (second right) and Mark Chalmers (second left) with their daughter Leanne Chalmers (left) and Natalie Chalmers (right), and grandchildren Koby Armitage (front left) and Brogen Chalmers (front right). The grandparents, who scooped a £1 million a lottery windfall, say they now feel like double winners after they were able to help both daughters have children through IVF

The couple won the lottery in February 2018 and decided they wanted to do what they could to help their family, first by buying their daughters property and then by funding IVF treatment

Both Natalie (left) and Leanne (second from left) were told by doctors that their chances of getting pregnant in the conventional manner was ‘almost impossible’

Mr Chalmers continued: ‘Natalie had gone through it for quite a number of years of trying to get pregnant and different things going on with her medical conditions.

‘At one stage, she rang me in floods of tears saying ‘they want to take my womb out’ and she thought that was the absolute end.

‘But luckily, she persevered, she saw some other doctors, and we didn’t need to go down that route. And then we looked at going down the IVF route.’

He said: ‘So we’ve sort-of had another double lottery win.

‘That’s how I look at it – the fact that the process was was reasonably easy, and they were both successful first round.

‘And, obviously, we’ve got the two boys.’

The two boys (pictured on swings), who are cousins, often get mistaken for being brothers

Both Leanne Chalmers (left) and Natalie Chalmers (right) had suffered with polycystic ovary syndrome for years before becoming pregnant

Without the EuroMillions win Koby Armitage (front left) and Brogen Chalmers (front right) may not have been born, as IVF can be prohibitively expensive and isn’t guaranteed to work 

Mr Chalmers, 60, said he and his wife, 61, had planned to use a lump sum he received when he took early retirement to try to fund Natalie’s IVF but ‘when we won the lottery it just made it so much easier’.

‘The lottery is fantasy that became reality for us,’ Mr Chalmers said.

He added: ‘It’s given us a lot of security and a lot of pleasure – most over those two (boys).’

What is polycystic ovary syndrome?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a very common condition that affects how a woman’s ovaries work.

There are no exact figures but as many as one in 10 women of childbearing age are thought to have the condition.

It’s a hormonal disorder which causes the ovaries to become enlarged and to develop numerous small cysts on the outer edges.

Symptoms of PCOS include:

Irregular periods, in which eggs aren’t released properly or at all by the ovaries, which can affect a woman’s ability to get pregnant

Excess androgen – high levels of ‘male hormones’ in the body may cause physical signs such as excess facial or body hair

Weight gain, which is also triggered by the increase in male hormones and is usually worst on the upper body

Thinning hair or hair loss

Oily skin or acne

While the exact cause of PCOS isn’t known, it is thought to run in the family and be triggered by hormones. Insulin resistance, which is a precursor to diabetes and caused by a diet high in sugar, is thought to be a big cause.

There’s no cure for PCOS but many of the symptoms can be improved with lifestyle changes such as losing weight and eating a health, balanced diet.

Medications are also available to treat symptoms such as excessive hair growth, irregular periods and fertility problems.

Source: NHS and Office on Women’s Health

Mr Chalmers said he had nothing but praise for the IVF services his daughters used.

Natalie, 33, explained how she had been through years of operations and tests to try to help her conceive despite having PCOS, but was told it was almost impossible to get pregnant conventionally.

She said that when her mother and father told her about the lottery win making the IVF funding a lot more realistic, she felt ‘happy, excited, nervous’.

Natalie said: ‘I just can’t thank them enough for it. They have given me him (Koby), really. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.’

Leanne, 36, said: ‘So, when I first found out (about her PCOS) my doctor actually said: ‘You’ll never have kids’, but it turns out that they were wrong.

‘It’s not impossible. It’s just really hard.’

She described how, when she decided to try for a baby, she sat with her parents with a financial plan and said ‘look, I can I can afford to do this, I can afford to support both of us.’

Leanne said her dad ‘just said yes straightaway, which I didn’t think he would.’

Asked about Brogen, she said: ‘He is really placid and is totally opposite to Koby.

‘They look like twins – everybody thinks they’re brothers.’

Leanne said: ‘He’s so happy and he’s always smiling. He just likes to play and get on with things.’

The sisters said it is important people with PCOS are given help and support to get pregnant.

‘It’s getting a bit better now,’ Leanne said.

‘When I was diagnosed with it, there wasn’t a lot out there.

‘I tried researching it and there wasn’t really much to read about it. A lot of it was quite negative.

‘And it was pretty much: ‘You’ve got to get used to the fact that you’ll never have kids.’

She said: ‘I found out quite young, I think I was 21 or 22, so it was quite devastating at the time, thinking that I’d never be able to have a family or children or anything.’ 

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