June Welch had finally accepted she would never have children when she fell pregnant aged 48 - after 26 years of trying. In the first of a three-part series on motherhood, she tells Women's Editor Lindsay Jennings about her little miracle.

THERE are signs of June Welch's longed-for son in every corner of her pale green living room. A blue Thomas the Tank engine train track winds its way around the laminate floor and colourful drawings brought home from school have been sticky-taped proudly to the banister and doors.

Blond-haired, five-year-old Matthew beams out of the photographs sitting on top of the television and on the windowsill.

"He's a lovely little boy," says June, unable to keep the smile from her face. "He has his moments, but on the whole he's so much fun. He really is our little miracle."

It is hard to believe that six years ago, June and her husband Gordon, a builder, had finally come to terms with the knowledge that they would never be parents. The couple, of Dipton, near Stanley, had met through their shared passion for horse riding and married in 1973. From their first days of marriage they knew they wanted a family, and started trying straight away. But while their friends and relatives became pregnant and went on to have more children, they had no luck.

"After a couple of years, when nothing happened, we went to the doctor, and he said there was nothing to worry about," recalls June. "We went through the usual things, using the temperature charts to tell when you're ovulating, which was tedious, and then I had two operations, exploratory laparoscopies, but still there was no problem. They said I had a cyst on one of my ovaries but that it was nothing to worry about. Then I tried a fertility drug and that didn't work. I think the doctors were quite baffled actually."

When June was in her mid-thirties, surgeons did find a problem - a blocked fallopian tube which needed microsurgery to be rectified. "I can remember when they unblocked it, they said 'Oh you'll be pregnant in 12 months,' but 12 months came and went, and nothing happened," she says.

"It got to the stage where I was telling everyone that we would never have a family... but then there was always something deep inside where I never gave up hope."

Throughout their attempts, they had the support of their family, but June's sister Lorraine went beyond a sister's love when she found she was pregnant with an unplanned fourth child. She and her husband offered to give the baby to Gordon and June and later the delighted couples discovered that they were expecting twins. But in a tragic twist, Lorraine miscarried at six months.

"It was just a verbal agreement but I knew she wouldn't have gone back on her word," says June. "But when she miscarried at six months we were absolutely devastated. We felt as if everything was totally against us, it didn't matter which way we turned."

The couple also applied and were turned down for adoption, which June believes was because of her progressive, hereditary eye condition, retinitis pigmentosa, which has left her almost blind. Despite the setback, they continued with the tests.

"We went backwards and forwards for about four to five years to the fertility clinic in Shotley Bridge but in the end, we just stopped going because nothing could be done," she says with a shrug. "IVF was an option, but we couldn't afford it. It was about £2,000 at the time which was an awful lot of money then, especially when you consider that it doesn't always work the first time. Whether it would have worked, we'll never know."

Then, when June was 48, a little miracle happened. June had not had a period for two years and had undergone no IVF or fertility treatment when she started gaining weight. At first, she put her expanding waistline down to middle-agespread.

"I'd always had a 26 inch waist and it went up to 31 inches and I thought I'm going to have to do some exercises to get rid of some of this weight," she laughs. "I actually thought it was impossible because I'd gone through the change, but it was Gordon who said 'I think you'd better do a pregnancy test first'. So he went and got one and we watched the line turn really quickly. I was just in total shock and thought it must be some mistake. Gordon was amazed. I'd had no morning sickness or anything.

I thought the tester kit could have been from a faulty batch at the supermarket, so I made Gordon go and get another one, but it read the same - positive."

June was actually five months pregnant and had missed half of her pregnancy. Instead of taking folic acid and putting her feet up, she had been enjoying life as normal - including going out dancing and drinking.

"In a way it worked out for the best because Gordon thinks I would have been so worried after waiting so long that I might have lost the baby," she says. "But in other ways I wished I'd known from day one."

With the pregnancy confirmed, June made sure she did rest and, because of her age, she was booked in for a caesarean section. Matthew John Daniel Welch was born on August 10, 1999 - 26 years after June and Gordon first began trying for a child.

"I was fully awake and it was brilliant," June says, her face glowing. "Matthew was fine and the paediatrician said he was a perfectly fit little baby. They kept me in for eight days because of my age and it was very hard work at first, but we soon adapted."

She has since regained her slightly built figure and is now a youthful-looking 54-year-old. She says she has never had any negative comments at being an older mother, but then she relies on Matthew's carer, who is also his godmother, to take him to and from Catchgate Primary School, near Stanley, because of her sight problems. Gordon, on the other hand, did come across a woman in the butcher's shop once, who asked Matthew if he was with his granddad.

"I think Gordon just laughed," June says. "I don't think it bothered him. Besides, you always get one don't you?"

They are both relaxed about the future, although they are aware that when they are in their late 60s, their son will only just be out of his teens.

"We've lost about 25 years and we're not going to be around with Matthew as long as we would have liked," admits June. "But we're just mum and dad to him, and we're pretty young in our ways."

Being young in their ways includes watching episodes of The Thimbles ("they're great fun," laughs June) and taking Matthew out for his favourite meal, pizza at Pizza Hut. After such a long wait, every moment with him is precious.

"We waited so long, sometimes I can't help thinking 'Is this real?'" says June. "It's just a fantastic feeling to be a mother after thinking we were never going to be parents, then all of a sudden we've got this gorgeous little boy."

* Next week: A mother's love - "I gave my son a kidney".