Double father’s day joy for Norwich man who was told he would never have children

Joanne Gordon and Steven Davy with their twins Jasmine and Quinn. Photo: Si Barber (Image: ©Si Barber. Moral rights asserted.)

Steven Davy, 32, from Thorpe End was told in his 20s he had male infertility, and the news threw him into a depressive state.

He said: "I didn't want anyone knowing. I thought 'why am I even here if I can't have a family?'"

The infertility put strain on his relationships, and his first marriage ended in divorce after three failed rounds of IVF in Yorkshire.

And the impact was so devastating that when he moved to Norfolk and met 25-year-old Joanne Gordon, he told her on their first date that he could not have children.

"I think he thought that might mean the end of the road for us," she said. "But within eight weeks we were living together and got engaged a year later."

Joanne, who runs a hairdressing salon, had also been told she might have difficulties conceiving after she was diagnosed with mild polycystic ovaries at the age of 21.

"It hadn't really bothered me at that point," she said. "It was diagnosed early and my ovaries had not deteriorated too much. I always knew that I wanted to be a young mum and if I met the right person I would get started quite soon trying to get pregnant."

After their engagement the couple decided to get advice and booked an appointment at Bourn Hall Clinic, which has clinics in Norwich, Kings Lynn and Cambridge. It provides NHS-funded fertility testing, diagnosis and early-stage fertility treatments in Norfolk.

The couple had blood tests as well as semen analysis for Steven, which confirmed a low sperm count of which many were of good quality. The couple decided to proceed with IVF treatment including intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) where the sperm is injected directly into the egg.

The couple were delighted when the IVF treatment at Bourn Hall worked for them first time but suffered a potential setback when Joanne had a bleed four weeks in to the pregnancy.

"We thought we'd lost everything," said Joanne, and they were offered an early scan at five weeks, on Steven's 31st birthday.

"I had suffered a massive bleed and we thought we were going along to hear the worst news ever," said Joanne.

"But we were told that we were expecting twins and we could see two perfect embryos sitting there. It was too early to see a heartbeat but we could see them and they were safe. I went really quiet."

"I couldn't speak for a while," Steven said. "I was just crying with joy.

"Jo asked me if I was going to phone my brother to let him know but I couldn't speak. It was probably the best day of my life, and on my birthday as well."

Their twins Jasmin and Quinn were born healthy last year and celebrated their first birthday at the end of May.

And Steven, who runs his own SMART car repair business, is loving every minute of fatherhood.

He said: "It is amazing being a dad. Every day I have a smile on my face. Every morning, every evening, every time I get home. It is beautiful. Having been at the lowest point I could be I sometimes just can't believe my luck."