'I was too fat to have a baby'

By Jane Elliott
Health reporter, BBC News

Charlie could not lose weight

Charlie Kawczynski was desperate for a baby.

Doctors told her she was too fat and had to lose weight to conceive, but she found dieting impossible.

She said: "I could not get pregnant, but there was nothing wrong with either of us.

"I tried for about eight years to conceive and I could not."

What made the problem even more bittersweet was that she had already taken the heart-breaking decision to give an earlier child up for adoption 14 years before, when a relationship went disastrously wrong.

Problems

Over the years her weight soared, going from between 10 and 11 stone (63.5/69.9kg) to 18 stone (114kg), and a dress size 26.

Charlie, who is 5ft 1in tall, found her gynaecologist unsympathetic to her weight problem.

He dismissed her concerns, telling her to lose the weight.

Others were losing lots of weight and it was soul destroying Charlie Kawczynski

Charlie, now aged 37, from Gloucester, was later diagnosed with a thyroid problem and told her metabolism was "shot".

She said: "I did eat salads and didn't eat large portions, and on the whole I ate healthily.

"But I did like curries and ate them and was very fond of fizzy drinks."

After her first marriage broke down, Charlie met Andy and got married again.

Andy had children from a previous relationship and at that time they both decided that they would not try for a family.

She said: "Before I got married for the second time I tried Weight Watchers when I reached 16 stone (102kg) so that I could get into a "normal" sized wedding dress and I stuck to it rigidly.

"The first week though I did not lose a pound and the second week I only lost a pound and a half. Others were losing lots of weight and it was soul-destroying."

Surgery

Three years ago Charlie decided that her only option was surgery, and after much research she booked herself into a private BUPA Hospital, in Leeds for a £10,200 gastric by-pass.

She said: "I remortaged the house and my father and step-mum helped out with the cost and I had my operation. For the first few weeks I could only eat pureed food. Then I was able to eat semi-solids.

Charlie on her wedding day before surgery

"I lost a lot of weight to start with. I could not eat anything fatty. The doctor said I would not want to eat chocolates or sweet things and that was the case.

"Now I can pretty much eat what I like, although I can't eat fast food, well not more than a couple of mouthfuls.

"But I do like my food and would have seriously considered not having the operation if it would have meant I could not eat my favourite foods, albeit even in very small portions. "

Baby

Soon Charlie was down to 9st 7lbs (60.3 kg), and four months after surgery she was pregnant - which was a complete shock.

Unfortunately it was an ectopic pregnancy and she had to have her fallopian tube removed.

Doctors told her it was very unlikely that she would ever become pregnant again, but a year later she was.

Charlie now has a bouncing 13-month-old boy, Nicholas, and says her life is complete.

She said: "He is gorgeous, but the birth was difficult.

"Because of the way he was lying, he stopped both my heart and his own, but they revived us both and hearing him cry for the first time was the best thing in the world.

"I lost eight stone (50.8kg) to have him and I am so glad that I did it.

"It is a big decision to make, but is one that you have to do for yourself."

Charlie's consultant Steve Pollard said that he had a number of women like her coming to him for help because they cannot conceive.

Some have even stopped ovulating because they are so overweight.

He said: "I have done about 1,700 of these gastric bypasses and we have had about 20 resulting births. When these women do manage to have babies it gives me such a buzz.

"We have about 30,000 deaths a year from obesity. It is a big killer and yet it is so preventable."

Mr Pollard said that despite the surgery, the women were able to have natural vaginal births and did not seem to have any more complications than women who did not have surgery.

Janet Edmond, director of the British Obesity Surgery Patient Association (BOSPA) said: "This is becoming an increasingly common reason for people to have obesity surgery. But people are advised not to get pregnant within two years of surgery to make sure they have lost their weight."