High Wycombe woman gives birth despite being on the pill

Tara Burnett, 32, was 16 when she started to experience long, painful periods, whilst also suffering ‘significant pain’ in between her cycles.

The pain got so bad that her mother drove the then-teenager to A&E suspecting that she had appendicitis.

However, it was revealed she was diagnosed with endometriosis. 

Tara was put on the contraceptive pill and told to take it continually without leaving any gaps for periods.

But to her shock, she discovered she was pregnant with her first child.

She would eventually give birth to her ‘beautiful little girl’, Chiara, in 2011. 

On being diagnosed Tara said: “I was in agony.

“It can be so painful that you can’t live your day-to-day life. Sometimes I had to be curled over with a hot water bottle – and I couldn’t go to work.

“Meanwhile, I tracked my cycles within an inch of their life and got so excited each month, only to be left brokenhearted.”

Tara Burnett with her daughter, Winnie, and husband, Mark (Image: NA)

“I was young and I’d never heard of this condition.

“At the time, no one was talking about endometriosis. Doctors warned me that my fertility could be affected.

“This was so tough to deal with because I knew already that I wanted to be a mum.” 

When Chiara was a toddler, Tara met her now husband, Matt, 34 and they knew from the start they wanted to have children together.

The two decided to stop contraception and see what happened, however, this meant that Tara’s painful, irregular cycles were back.  

Tara and Matt tried for six years before deciding to ask for help in January 2020 when the former’s GP referred her to a gynaecologist.

During several tests, it was discovered that along with her endometriosis, she also had a differently shaped uterus and that corrective surgery was needed before any fertility treatment could begin. 

In June 2021, the couple started their first round of full IVF and after several years of trying, which included suffering two miscarriages, they became parents in April 2023, following the birth of their daughter, Winnie.

She continued: “Nothing came out of that surgery so we decided to contact TFP Thames Valley Fertility, as it was our local fertility clinic.

“The team at TFP Fertility were so incredible and so comforting to me. People would call me and check I was OK. That was such a massive thing, I never felt like my feelings were invalid and they would always be there to reassure me.”  

“They cared for us as people, not just numbers.

“We spent so much time at the clinic and it was honestly like our second home at some points.”