As a new mother, Helen Miller suffers the odd sleepless night. But she says she never resents the demands of baby Max: he is the precious result of almost a decade of trying to conceive. Now a thriving six-month-old, he is living proof of the difference that just one more chance at IVF can make to childless couples.

When Helen and her partner, Alan, discovered in 1995 that she was unable to get pregnant naturally because of damage to her fallopian tubes, they began exploring their options. While many health authorities do not fund treatment, their local trust in Newcastle allows two free attempts at IVF.

And so began the emotional rollercoaster of assisted reproduction: 'Your hormones are all over the place, your emotions are up and down, you're very apprehensive and your expectations are so high.'

Twice doctors successfully created a fertilised embryo; twice it failed to take - and her two free chances had been used.

'I was looking at adoption or fostering, but I wanted to have my own so much,' Helen says. In the end, the money was found for one last roll of the dice, in November 2002.

On 4 December, she discovered she was expecting and last August Max was born. 'There is not one day that I don't think: "I am so lucky." People take it for granted, having children, but I never do,' she says.