Baby shock for vasectomy couple

The Blakes say unexplained pregnancies can strain marriages

A woman has given birth to her husband's fourth child nearly three years after he had a vasectomy.

Susan Blake is one of three women who are suing the same Plymouth GP practice after they became pregnant, despite their partners having the operation.

Her husband, Shaun, said he was "over the moon", but added he would have to buy a larger car after the birth of Lucy on 31 August.

Neither the GP nor the practice involved has been named.

When you get something like that done you think it's all over Shaun Blake

Mr Blake, 34, from Thornbury in Plymouth, had the vasectomy in October 2001 following the birth of the couple's daughter Naomi.

He was given the all-clear six months later after tests showed the procedure had been successful.

Mrs Blake, 32, put early signs of her pregnancy down to stress caused by her daughter's 11-plus exam.

But on Boxing Day she and her husband, who have been married for 13 years, and have two other children Michaela, 11, and Robbie, eight, discovered they were going to have another baby.

Other cases

Mr Blake said: "It's just strange. When you get something like that done you think it's all over.

"I had to bring a letter home for the missus to say this really is permanent. But it's nothing like it at all.

"People should really be aware this can happen."

Samantha Buckthought, a medical negligence lawyer with Wolferstans Solicitors in Plymouth, said the Blakes' case was one of three that were all ongoing.

A spokesman for Plymouth Primary Care Trust, which oversees local health care, said it would support both the practice and the GP involved.

But he added: "They are independent businesses and therefore have to make their own decisions about how they would respond to queries or criticisms of the treatment they may have provided."