Nicola McLean has to have an operation to remove her ovaries and the required surgery means she will not be able have any more children.
The 35-year-old former glamour model has two sons, Rocky, 11, and Striker, seven, with her soccer player husband Tom Williams and the couple – who wed back in 2009 – were hoping to add to their family.
However, Nicola has suffered with polycystic ovary syndrome for some time and after developing ovarian cysts regularly she has been told by her doctor that she needs the operation to permanently cure her of the problem but afterwards she will be infertile.
In an emotional conversation on ‘Loose Women’ on Monday (08.05.17), she said: "Yeah it is [really sad], but it is what it is and I’ve got two boys so I’m really lucky … I really did want another one, I find them so cute. My kids are like a mini Tom and a mini me."
Discussing her doctor’s diagnosis, she added to the panel: "Don’t think if you have polycystic ovaries that it’s the end for everyone because it’s really not, it can be really manageable, but I’ve had cysts now on and off for years and had them removed quite a lot of times.
"I’ve been so ill with them, they’ve been infected and that’s why I don’t have the date for my operation because I needed to wait for the infection to go down. I had a temperature of about 141 degrees, I was in bed and went to Tom, ‘I think I’m dying!’
"The cysts keep on coming back and they’re getting bigger, I’ve got a really big stomach at the minute and it’s really bothering me, although I shouldn’t moan. My doctor said to me, ‘They keep coming back and how many times are you going to be lucky and they’re going to be healthy cysts?’ "
Nicola – who was comforted by panellist Coleen Nolan, whom she appeared on ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ with this year – also revealed she has to undergo a cervical smear test every three months because she always has pre-cancerous cells show up in her results and the doctors need to monitor her body for any changes.
She said: "I have a smear every three months. My smears never come back OK, they always come back with pre-cancerous cells. I just have really bad luck when it comes to women’s problems, I think I have bad luck anyway. I need some good karma!"