'We’re sowing the seeds of new life’ (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

'We’re sowing the seeds of new life’

8:55am Thursday 16th April 2009 in

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Andrew and Leanne Hardaker hope to nurture a new life by selling flower seeds online.

The Keighley couple originally hit on the idea of ‘selling their souls’ on internet marketplace eBay to raise funds for their fourth course of fertility treatment, but their venture failed when their account was cancelled.

Through their donations, eBay users were effectively helping to give the couple the chance of having a baby by helping to fund their fertility treatment.

But Andrew says the couple were told that because they couldn’t prove they had anything to sell they couldn’t continue. “It was clear what we were doing but it said the customers wouldn’t receive anything,” he explains.

The couple’s first listing received 2,500 hits in two days and their second had 400 hits in 12 hours before it was removed from the site.

Undeterred in their quest to have a child, Andrew and Leanne decided to offer something people could actually buy and seized on the suggestion of marigold seeds.

In Christian stories, the bright yellow flower – whose name is derived from ‘Mary’s Gold’ – is often associated with the Virgin Mary.

The couple’s description on the online auction site informs customers that they’re buying one marigold seed. “It will grow into a beautiful marigold flower and should remind you of your generosity and kindness,” they say.

Out of the 300 lots Andrew and Leanne sold, only 26 people asked for the seeds to be sent. Many of them sent good luck messages and requests for the couple to keep in touch and let them know how their fertility treatment was going.

Some empathised with the couple, having been through the treatment themselves. “It was overwhelming that so many were taking the time to e-mail us their stories. It was nice that people knew how we felt going through it,” says Leanne.

The couple have so far raised half of the £1,000 cost of trying a different type of insemination – intrauterine insemination or IUI treatment – due to start at Leeds General Infirmary this month.

The couple learned about the treatment through a consultant after their previous IVF attempts failed. They had resorted to trying treatment overseas when they ran out of options in the UK.

Both have children from previous relationships. Andrew has two children, but Leanne’s 11-month-old daughter Chloe died from the rare muscle-wasting disease, spinal muscular atrophy.

Andrew and Leanne’s relationship blossomed after they met in a nightclub four years ago, but their dream of having their own child remains unfulfilled.

Leanne had been having treatment for polycystic ovaries, a condition associated with multiple cysts on the ovaries, preventing ovulation, when she conceived Chloe.

When her and Andrew’s attempts to conceive naturally failed, they considered fertility treatment, but because Leanne had previously had a child, the couple couldn’t have free IVF treatment on the NHS. All the private clinics they checked out in the UK had a six-month waiting list, prompting them to widen the net.

After careful research the couple settled on a Norwegian clinic. Unfortunately their attempt failed. Conscious of the distance they would have to travel for future treatments, they decided to seek treatment in Britain.

Last year they underwent IVF in Newcastle through an egg-sharing scheme. Andrew explains that some of the eggs are taken for stem cell research. Again, their attempt ended in disappointment.

Amid their turmoil, the couple found something to smile about when they married in August last year.

Leanne recalls Andrew’s surprise proposal six months earlier, on the Leap Year date of February 29.

Leanne jokingly asked what Andrew would do if she asked him to marry her, but he decided to turn the tables and put a 25ft wide sparkly banner across the side of Beach Bodies – the tanning and sports supplements shop Leanne helps her brother run in Keighley – asking her to marry him.

Family and friends watched as the couple exchanged their vows in a civil ceremony at Steeton Hall after a song was played in memory of Chloe.

The couple say having a baby of their own would be the icing on the cake. “After Chloe, you re-evaluate everything and realise what is important,” says Leanne. “It would make my whole life worth living.”

“It’s all we have tried to do for the last four years,” says Andrew, who earns money through gardening.

So far the couple have spent £10,000 on fertility treatment. They are determined to continue their fertility quest and are delighted so many people are supporting them.

“We can’t believe there are so many generous people, because everyone is skint at the moment, but they all think it’s a worthy cause,” says Leanne.

Adds Andy: “Having a baby would mean a great deal to me and would be the final piece in our relationship.”