“I JUST want to be pregnant, I just want to be able to carry a baby. When somebody says you can’t have a child it makes you want one more.”

Those are the words of a 25-year-old woman who has been waiting for an egg donor to help her conceive for more than seven years.

More than 150 couples in the region are waiting for the help of an egg donor to start a family.

One of those aspiring parents is Stacey Crompton, of Whitley Avenue, Latchford. She has the prospect of waiting at least four more agonising years until her time comes.

Stacey, a veterinary nurse in Frodsham, discovered she had been through an early menopause at age 17.

She said: “To be honest having children wasn’t the first thing on my mind when I found out. I just thought the menopause was something that older women experienced.

“It was only when I got home that I thought about it.”

The heartbreaking news came while her long-term boyfriend, Alex Cox, was working away with the Army and in the same week that her grandfather died.

Not wanting to waste any time, Stacey got herself added to the list at age 18 and is hoping that her dream of having three children with her partner of 13 years is not completely out of reach.

“It would be the best gift that you could give anyone (donating eggs). It is so precious, starting a family is just second nature to people.

“I didn’t want to see when my best friend’s baby was born. I just burst into tears when I saw her,” she added.

An appeal was launched at The Hewitt Centre for Reproduction’s Give Hope, Give Life appeal in Liverpool on Thursday to raise awareness of egg donation and to address the major shortage of available eggs.

Some couples fail to achieve a pregnancy because the women may have suffered from a premature menopause, inherited a genetic disease or may have lost the use of their ovaries due to disease.

If a donor becomes available, an egg is donated, fertilised by the dad’s sperm and implanted into the mum, who carries the child.

Statistics show that close to 80 per cent of women in our region, aged 18 to 35, underestimate the number of couples (one in six) who have fertility problems and don’t realise how long the wait can be.

Charles Kingsland, clinical director and consultant gynaecologist at the Hewitt Centre, said: “Unfortunately, due to a shortage of donors, the average wait for a donor egg across the Liverpool region is approximately two-and-a-half years with the length of wait increasing year on year.

“Many women simply don’t realise that donors are needed or that they themselves could become a donor.”

Kriss Fearon, aged 41, from Liverpool has donated three times – her eggs have resulted in one successful birth.

She said: “I was given the necessary tests and counselling and have been back to donate again and again. A small commitment from me can potentially turn someone’s life around.

“I don’t think about what the child would be like, I suppose some people do but it’s just something I did and the parents who gave birth to the child are the parents.”

Maureen Richards, egg donating co-ordinator, said around 30 people come forward to help women annually at the Liverpool centre. She said one of the biggest misconceptions was the belief that only older women need help getting pregnant, in reality, many of the women are young.

She urged women of any ethnicity, with or without children, between the ages of 23 and 35, to come forward and find out more about becoming a donor.