Diane Blood discounts third baby

Diane Blood with her two sons

A woman who has had a second baby fathered by her dead husband's sperm says she is not planning a third.

Diane Blood said she was "delighted" following the birth of Joel at Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital on Wednesday.

Mrs Blood, 36, from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, said: "I'm sure my feelings are the same as any mother who's just had a baby.

"I'm absolutely delighted at the new arrival and that he's healthy."

Diane Blood's new baby Joel

Mrs Blood fought through the courts to win the right to have a baby using sperm taken from Stephen Blood while he was on a life support machine seven years ago.

"What I fought for was to get the rest of my life back and make decisions as I go along, but I severely doubt if I will have any more," she said.

The couple's first son, three-year-old Liam, also conceived using Mr Blood's sperm after his death, was more interested in talking about his book than about the new baby.

But when asked by his mother if he liked his new brother he said: "Yes. I've just put him to bed."

Mrs Blood said baby Joel was doing fine.

"He is very healthy. He's doing really well."

She said she would wait until Joel and Liam were quite a bit older before she explained to them how they were conceived.

Mrs Blood repeated her view that she did not see how it would have an adverse effect on them.

Her house had lots of pictures of Mr Blood around and Liam already knew he was his "Daddy".

Mrs Blood is still fighting for her husband's name to be put on the boys' birth certificates.

She said she had recently met Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department Yvette Cooper who had promised a change in the law in the next Queen's Speech.

But Mrs Blood added: "I'm still not holding my breath and I hope that they will actually deliver this time."

It's important to have our son's name on the birth certificate

Diane Blood's mother-in-law

Mrs Blood's mother-in-law, Gill Blood, said she fully supported the campaign.

"I feel very strongly about the birth certificate.

"It's important to have our son's name on it because I think it's a right he should have for the children's sake," she said.

Because of a legal ruling Mrs Blood's fertility treatment for both pregnancies was in Belgium.

The second pregnancy reignited controversy over the ethics of such an unusual conception with critics saying it raised serious questions over how far doctors are pushing the boundaries of fertility treatment.