Baby No. 20: Woman Suffers 19 Miscarriages in 15 Years Before Becoming a Mom

Becoming a mother is not an easy thing for everyone. A woman in the UK suffered 19 miscarriages in 15 years before successfully conceiving and giving birth to a healthy baby girl.

Jo Short alias Joanne Short from Newport met her husband Steve first in 1996. The couple started trying for a baby since 1997, but suffered a string of miscarriages. Short and her bank manager husband were not ready to give up their dream of becoming parents and sought the help of many doctors to get an idea of what was happening with them, The Sun reported.

"I questioned why I always miscarried - was I drinking too much tea or too much caffeine? I'd beat myself up about eating an apple that wasn't washed," Short told the news paper.

It took more than one decade for the doctors to detect the actual problem. Short was diagnosed with a condition known as endometriosis. It's a gynecological disorder where the endometrium or the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. According to Mayo clinic, the medical condition can increase the risks of fertility problems and ovarian cancer.

In 2012, Short underwent a successful surgery to remove the endometrial tissue and two months after the surgery she conceived her 20^th child and welcomed her daughter Emily.

"Being able to show Jo a beating foetal heart for the first time was one of the most emotional moments of my career," Cardiff consultant Richard Penketh, who conducted the surgery, told The Sun.

Arrival of the little girl has changed the 37-year-old's life.

"Being a mum is wonderful, everything I expected and more. It is what we'd wanted for so long," Short said.

Recurrent miscarriage is the loss of three or more repeated pregnancies with the same biological father before the end of 12 weeks (first trimester). About one to two percent of women in the US are affected with the occurrence.

According to Cleveland Clinic, nearly 5.5 million women in the US have endometriosis, and between 30 and 40 percent of women with this medical condition are infertile.