A COUPLE who campaigned tirelessly to get the NHS to fund IVF for infertile couples are expecting a baby.

Last year Richard Mackenzie and Jackie Wittwer, from Witney, launched a campaign against the county’s policy on funding fertility treatment for young couples.

For six years the couple desperately tired for a baby naturally, but with no success.

Mr Mackenzie, 30, and Miss Wittwer, 27, repeatedly approached NHS Oxfordshire, the primary care trust, to ask for IVF funding, but were turned down because they were too young.

Despite guidance issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice), stating that free treatment should be given to women aged between 23 and 39, NHS Oxfordshire only funded IVF treatment for couples aged 35 to 39.

In May last year, Mr Mackenzie launched a petition to get the PCT to implement Nice’s guidance, attracting hundreds of signatures.

Last summer the PCT lowered the age bracket to 30-35, although it said it would not be implementing the guidance and would assess each application for IVF individually.

Mr Mackenzie and his partner were still not eligible, but got pregnant thanks to the help of a private fertility clinic.

This week the couple, who will marry next month, were told their baby had made it through the first three months of pregnancy.

Mr Mackenzie said: “It’s all I have ever wanted.

“It’s hard to talk about it without getting emotional but this means so much to us. When we found out I cried like a baby I was so unbelievably happy.”

For Miss Wittwer, despite weeks of cravings and morning sickness, the news still feels like a dream.

She said: “We are so happy and grateful to the clinic. But I’m still in shock. I don’t think I’ll believe it until I hold my baby in my arms.”

The news has not deterred Mr Mackenzie from the campaign. He said: “Knowing I’m going to be a daddy just makes me even more determined to do something for people who are still waiting for a child of their own.”

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk