MIRACLE baby Thomas Narramore has every reason to gurgle with delight!

For the cute little cherub has just been named Boots Darwen store winner in the Baby of the Year 1997 regional competition heats.

Proud mum, Karen Narramore of Cavendish Street, Darwen, has more reason than most to look at her healthy, happy 14-month-old son and feel truly blessed.

For he is the happy ending to a saga of despair and disappointments lasting several years.

Karen and her husband Len had been trying for many years to have a brother or sister for their 16-year-old daughter, Kerry.

But after Karen suffered three painful and disappointing ectopic pregnancies, where the foetus starts to grow outside the womb, things seemed bleak.

Determined not to give up, the hopeful young couple decided to explore other avenues and were offered an In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) programme at the Nurture Unit, which is part of Nottingham University.

Two unsuccessful IVF attempts might have been enough to put anyone off the idea of becoming a parent, but not Karen - and it was definitely 'third time lucky' when she became pregnant with Thomas on Easter Sunday 1995.

In the competition, which took place last Wednesday, Thomas beat 40 other bouncing bundles of joy with his photogenic looks and the judging panel of six, chosen from staff members, were almost unanimous in their votes.

Store manager, John Brown, said: "Everyone at Boots will be keeping their fingers crossed for Thomas and his mother at the finals in London later this year.

"We learned just how much of a wonder little Thomas was after the competition had ended and this makes him our extra special baby entrant."

All of the parents who entered their babies into the competition - which is now in its 13th year - donated money to help fund the research into premature birth, miscarriage and stillbirth.

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