FRIEL'S FERTILITY SCARE
2009-07-20 03:00:05 -
PUSHING DAISIES star ANNA FRIEL has quick-thinking doctors to thank for her daughter - as a medical condition almost left her infertile.
Brit actress Friel, has daughter Gracie, four, with actor partner David Thewlis - but her dream of having a family almost didn't happen.
In 2001 Friel collapsed in agony and needed an emergency operation after suffering a burst ovarian cyst - with doctors discovering she also had endometriosis, which makes it difficult for women to conceive.
She says, "It was all very dramatic and frightening. A terrible shock. I lost two litres of blood and had to have two transfusions. The doctors saved my ovaries but they said that to stand a chance of having children I had to conceive within five years, before I was 30." Friel gave birth to Gracie in 2005, aged 28.