If it wasn't for the incredible advances in biomedical science over the last 30 years I wouldn't be blessed with three fantastic children.

My husband and I started trying for a family soon after we got married. Nothing happened for a couple of years, but we put it down to both travelling a lot for work.

After another year, I just knew something was wrong and had an investigation called a laparoscopy where a tiny telescope is put through your tummy button to take pictures inside. The specialist discovered my ovaries were covered in scar tissue, so he removed it using the laparoscope to guide him. I got pregnant two months later, but miscarried.

Over the next 18 months, I had another miscarriage and two ectopic pregnancies, one of which resulted in one of my fallopian tubes being removed.

This made Will and I even more desperate and determined to have a baby so we turned to IVF (in vitro fertilisation). As we had never had a problem with getting pregnant - it was more of a transport problem - IVF was ideal, as the embryo didn't have to travel down the fallopian tube, it could be placed directly into the womb. It was successful and our gorgeous son was born in September 2001.

Without any tubes, IVF is the only option for having a baby, so we went through it all over again, and it worked! In January 2004 we had twin girls and now have the family we dreamed of.

It's only thanks to research into the natural process of conception and development of new techniques to improve the success of IVF, that we achieved our aim to have children. They are perfectly normal and healthy in every way; we just needed a little scientific push to get there. We literally owe our children's lives to biomedical science, and ours are much richer because of them.

Image: Anna Walker, photography by Guy Lucas

The views and opinions expressed by writers herein do not necessarily reflect those of the Wellcome Trust.