She is the mother of thousands of children across Scotland, but Ellen Drew knows having a baby is never easy.

The lead embryologist at Dundees Ninewells Hospital has experienced first-hand the heartbreak of spending years trying to start a family only to discover you cant conceive. It is a dilemma that faces one in seven couples struggling to fall pregnant.

This week marks National Fertility Awareness Week when BBC Scotland will air Making Babies, a documentary about the ups and downs of IVF.

The programme follows three couples on their exciting yet agonising journeys through fertility treatment, from the stress of daily hormone injections to countless scans, not to mention the anticipation and tears that come along the way.

IVF isnt always successful, as Ellen can attest to. She said: IVF doesnt work more often than it does. Its an intense process and there are no guarantees it will be successful. Even if patients have a top grade embryo, its still quite likely not to work.

Putting that across to people is one of the hardest parts of the job.

With over 30 years experience in the industry, Ellen has helped make thousands of babies and turned countless couples dreams of having a child into reality.

When we manage to make a baby, its just incredible, she said. Even in all these years, I dont think Ive ever taken a new baby in my arms and not shed a tear or two. You see the heartbreak and pain these people go through trying to have a baby and how much they want it and its such a privilege to be able to help them when we can.

In an ironic twist, Ellen herself is one of those people. The mum of four endured secondary fertility problems after having her first child.

And becoming a patient in her own ward was an eye-opening experience.

My husband and I wanted a baby for quite a while, but struggled to conceive, the 53-year-old explained. I didnt ovulate very well and realised very early on that we would likely have problems conceiving.

By the time we got married, I hadnt used contraception for a year.

The natural conception and arrival of Sam (now 22) was a welcome relief.

But when Ellen and Rob tried for a sibling, life had other plans.

The second baby really wasnt coming, then we discovered I wasnt ovulating, she said. I was prescribed HCG medication, but that didnt work. Then hormone injections, which werent successful either. Eventually I had to move onto IUI treatment, basically having Robs sperm inserted into my womb to increase the chances of conception. To be honest, I thought it would never work. Every month, I would have two weeks of hope I might be pregnant, and then my period would arrive.

I found the whole experience pretty brutal and not being able to talk about it was hard. I would have patients going through treatment, crying and telling me going through fertility treatment was so hard and I couldnt understand what it was like and I would just have to swallow and say, No, I cant imagine. I didnt want anyone at work to know, it was all a big secret.

I would bring the sperm sample into work and prep it, then a colleague and I would sneak off and she would insert it into my womb.

However, when she did fall pregnant, it didnt go quite as planned.

Ellen said: When I found out I was pregnant, I was ecstatic. When we discovered it was twins, I was shocked. The morning sickness, especially with twins, was horrendous but I would have put up with anything for another child, and it wasnt half as bad as the treatment, or the waiting to get pregnant.

Ellen, who lives in Dundee, had just returned to work after maternity leave with twins Josh and Jake (now 17) when she got the bombshell news that she was pregnant again with fourth child, Johanna.

I still wasnt using contraception, she said. To be honest, I hadnt used any for so long that the thought never crossed my mind. One day I arrived at work and realised I couldnt remember when I had last had a period. I did a pregnancy test and it was positive.

A scan showed I was about nine weeks. It was crazy. Id gone from spending my whole life trying to get pregnant and being prepared to be a parent to it happening naturally when I least expected it. We werent even trying. My husband saw me upset one night and asked what was wrong.

He joked: Dont tell me youre pregnant with twins again? I said Its not twins. To my surprise he was delighted. He told me not to worry, it would all be okay and it was a blessing.

And it was. After Johanna (now 15) was born, Ellen went back to work and Rob gave up his IT job to become a stay-at-home dad.

Im really good at planning and organising, and Rob is great at doing. Its the perfect marriage, she said. A few years ago, the couple decided to add to the chaos by becoming foster parents. They now foster three children.

We moved into this big house and decided we would let some of it out to students, but I didnt like the idea of people we didnt know living with the kids. So we came up with a plan. We are pretty good parents so why not extend that to more children?

Now were a big family, and were a great team. I always wanted a noisy house with lots of children and thats exactly what Ive got. And I am surrounded by babies at work. I honestly have no idea how many babies I have helped to make but its certainly into the thousands.

I do miss that side of the job. Now I manage, guide and direct, and try to develop the service. And, while it has improved tenfold, theres still so much I want to do. I vowed to leave the service after 40 years, so that leaves a decade to get through my list.

As for childrenI think seven is enough so no more for me. But I eagerly await the grandchildren.

Amy Wanless, from Edinburgh, did a week of work experience at Ninewells in Dundee when she was 22, while preparing to study for a Masters in clinical embryology at Leeds University.

She told Ellen that finding out as a teenager she was an IVF baby herself had led to her career choice, and she wanted to work at Ninewells as that was where her parents had their fertility treatment.

Ellen checked the records, and came back to tell Amy she had made her.

Amy, now 27, said: It was a really lovely surprise as not many people get the chance to meet the person who made them, if its not their parents.

If you think about it, Ellen is the very first person who will ever have seen me, and that blew my mind. I asked, Should I start calling you Mum?, and we both laughed.

I know the chances of something like this happening are so slim, and I feel really lucky to have met Ellen.

Shes been a complete inspiration.

Amy is seeking a career in fertility medicine. After graduating, she worked for a spell as an IVF technician at a Glasgow clinic.

Shes hoping to complete the specialist training required to become a clinical embryologist.

She added: I feel very proud to be an IVF baby and Id love to be able to help other couples have children, in the same way that Ellen helped my parents.

Its a very special thing to be able to give someone the gift of a family.

It was her own experience of infertility that led BBC producer Laura-Jane McRae to work on the Making Babies documentary.

Last year, she posted a heart-wrenching video of herself talking about IVF on BBC social media page The Social.

And it prompted such a reaction that she decided to open up on the subject by filming couples going through the process.

Once my husband Findlay and I had been trying to conceive for about 18 months, we were referred to the Assisted Conception Service, said Laura-Jane.

We have what is called unexplained infertility, which means the doctors cant find a clear reason why its not working.

After lots of tests, the doctor said, You have a healthy womb, you have great sperm. You should be making babies, but we dont know why youre not.

It can be incredibly frustrating and we have tried everything, but when you cant find the problem, its hard to find a solution.

Laura-Jane, 35, from Glasgow, and Findlay have gone through two rounds of fresh cycle IVF and two rounds of frozen IVF. Sadly, none of the attempts have been successful.

In the early days, trying to have a baby was all-consuming. There were babies everywhere I looked.

Meeting so many people who have gone through IVF, I realised were not alone and its more normal than not normal. Im now grateful for what I have an amazing husband and a fantastic life. Having a baby would be a bonus, but were so lucky already.

IVF is largely a taboo subject. Few people understand how hard a process it is and what is involved.

I thought we would ace IVF, but then came to the realisation there is potential failure at every point.

So hopefully this documentary can open the largely taboo subject up and help people understand a bit more.

Were taught from an early age how to prevent unwanted pregnancy, but were never taught how difficult it can be for some couples to get pregnant.

Its not easy for everyone, but at least in Scotland we have the gold-star package of three rounds of IVF.

Not everyone is that lucky.

Were taking a break for now, but will definitely use our last round.

We dont know if it will be third time lucky, but well certainly give it a try.

Making Babies, BBC Scotland, 10pm, Tuesday

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Fertility specialist Ellen Drew talks about her career, starring in new show Making Babies and her own struggles with conceiving - The Sunday Post

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