A woman with a rare genetic condition has given birth to a healthy baby boy against the odds.

Lauren West, 23, was diagnosed with Fanconi anaemia – a severe congenital aplastic anaemia otherwise known as bone marrow failure – when she was seven years old after it was detected in her younger sister, Holly, when she was born.

Fanconi anaemia is a complex inherited genetic condition that occurs in 1 in 160,000 individuals worldwide. It is predominantly a blood condition, but can affect the whole body including development of other tumours and also cause fertility difficulties.

Lauren underwent screening and was diagnosed when she was seven years old but waited until she was 16 years old to undergo a bone marrow transplant as she didn’t experience any physical symptoms.

She received her bone marrow transplant from her older sister Steph, who doesn’t have the condition, in January 2012 alongside having chemotherapy during a four week stay at St George’s Hospital.

While Lauren recovered well from her treatment, one of the challenges with Fanconi anaemia and also post-transplant is that it can make conceiving difficult. For those with fanconi anaemia, the chance of having a baby is just 15 per cent which is further reduced after having a bone marrow transplant to less than 8 per cent.

Dr Mickey Koh, consultant haematologist, led and worked with a multidisciplinary team from across St George’s to help and advise Lauren when she wanted to have a baby with her partner, Ian Gasson.

In early 2018, she successfully conceived without intervention and continued to have regular check-ups with medical genetics and high risk obstetric teams led by Dr Ingrid Watt-Coote at St George’s to ensure that both she and baby were doing well. On October 22, 2018, Lauren gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Alexander, without complications.

Dr Koh said: “I’ve known Lauren since the beginning of her diagnosis and it has been wonderful to see her successfully navigate this journey from having a successful stem cell transplant during her adolescence and recovering from that to now having a healthy baby.

He added: “She is currently off all medication from her transplant and the blood condition has been successfully cured. Her bone marrow is now effectively 100 per cent donor.”

Lauren, who lives in Lingfield near Gatwick couldn't be more thankful for how she and her family were treated.

“I am so grateful for all the care given at St George’s, particularly by Dr Koh but from all the teams involved in mine and Alexander’s care," she said.

"Ian and I are so blessed to have our miracle son – we have the family I never thought I would have. I am so thankful.”