At the age of just 18, Lytina Kaur, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells, was given the heartbreaking news that she may never be able to have children. Between 2013 and 2015, a hospital in India made six attempts to implant her embryo into a surrogate – but each ended in miscarriage and the couple gave up. However, she eventually became pregnant and gave birth to her first daughter Kiran in September 2015. The other three followed within months of that.

LONDON – An Indo-British woman who suffered 17 miscarriages and was told she may never be able to have babies is now the proud mother of four daughters.

At the age of just 18, Lytina Kaur, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells, was given the heartbreaking news that she may never be able to have children.

Lytina who is now 32 was told she may never be able to give birth after she relapsed and had a bone marrow transplant.

"I was still quite young when I was told I couldn't have children. I didn't think about it too much at the time and thought I'd worry about it when I crossed the bridge. However, when I got married at 23, it was heart-breaking," she told 'Nottingham Post'.

After her wedding in 2007, Lytina, who is from the East Midlands region of England, decided to try and have a family of her own.

But before becoming a mother-of-four Lytina had several miscarriages, the first of which happened in 2010 after she conceived twins.

Between 2010 and 2012, she suffered as many as nine miscarriages before undergoing one free cycle of IVF on the UK's state-funded National Health Service (NHS) a year later, which was unsuccessful.

Between 2013 and 2015, a hospital in India made six attempts to implant her embryo into a surrogate – but each ended in miscarriage and the couple gave up.

However, she eventually became pregnant and gave birth to her first daughter Kiran in September 2015. The other three followed within months of that.

In November 2015, twin babies Kajal and Kavita were born in India after the hospital had transferred the last four embryos to a surrogate as a goodwill gesture. And in June 2016, Lytina gave birth to Kiyara at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

"In the end, we were really lucky…I love spending time with my kids and I need to make the most because they'll be in school in a few years' time," said the mother of four.

She said she goes through a box of 82 nappies every five to six days – and that she has also stopped counting the amount of baby formula and food she uses.