Rhian Sugden gives birth to first child after 'eighth time lucky' IVF attempt

Model Rhian Sugden and her husband, Coronation Street star Oliver Mellor, have welcomed their first child together after a challenging journey with IVF.

Rhian shared the joyous news on Instagram, posting an adorable photo of their newborn son. The birth marks the end of a six-year struggle for the 37 year old, who had previously revealed that this successful IVF attempt was her "eighth time lucky".

The proud new mum has yet to reveal the name of their baby boy, but she did share a heartwarming photo of him in his basket, captioning it: "All my boys! My life is complete! Baby Mellor born 25/04/24 weighing 8lb7. Name still pending."

Speaking to the Mirror about her fertility struggles, the Celebrity Big Brother star expressed her elation at finally becoming a mother.

She admitted that there were times when she and Oliver, best known for his role as Dr Matt Carter in Corrie, feared they might not be able to have children.

This fear stemmed from tests conducted in Rhian's early 30s, which revealed she had a low egg count akin to "a woman over 45" and perimenopausal hormone levels. The model was left devastated in September 2019 when her first round of IVF proved unsuccessful.

She divulged her journey to motherhood: "I was told that I may never be a mum and I'm heartbroken. It's unlikely I would ever conceive naturally. It also means the odds of getting pregnant by IVF have gone down from 30 per cent to two per cent which was pretty devastating to hear."

In 2021, after four rounds of unsuccessful IVF, Rhian confessed the struggle to "put on a brave face" was becoming harder.

She announced her joyous pregnancy last year after she and Oliver endured eight cycles of treatment.

Despite initially low expectations for success, Rhian was overjoyed when, nine days into the cycle, she discovered she was expecting. Sharing her happiness on Instagram at the time, she wrote: "We were convinced it would never happen. But here we are, and we're thrilled."

Given the price tag of an IVF cycle can reach up to £15,000 each, Rhian revealed she had created an OnlyFans account to fund the treatments.

She said: "We had one round free with the NHS but, the other seven, not so much. I feel lucky to be in a position where I can earn the money to pay for stuff like this. I'm not flashy, I don't drive around in a Range Rover or anything, my money is solely going on IVF at the moment."

Former glamour model Rhian has reflected on her career since rising to fame, cherishing her time posing for Page 3 as a career highlight.

She shared: "Even though it's all non-PC now, back in the day, Page 3 girls were something to be aspired to how weird is that, saying it now. Looking back even further, people like Sam Fox and Linda Lusardi, girls loved all that so to be part of that timeline before it got shut down, I'm forever proud of that. It brought so many opportunities, I wouldn't have met my husband it changed my life for the better."

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