ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Anorexia Survivor Who Was Told She’d Never Have Children Celebrates Birth Of Second Child

Anorexia Survivor Who Was Told She’d Never Have Children Celebrates Birth Of Second Child

Despite overcoming the condition, she was warned she'd done so much damage to her body she wouldn't be able to conceive

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A woman whose battle with anorexia left her weighing under three stone is celebrating after giving birth to her second child, years after being told she wouldn't be able to conceive.

Emma O'Neil, 28, lived on a diet of Shreddies and would starve herself for up to 10 days at a time in a bid to drop pounds.

At her lowest weight, she reached 2st 12lbs and was hospitalised, where she struggled to even lie in bed because her ribs bruised her skin.

Caters News Agency

Despite beating the condition, she was told that she had done so much damage to her body she wouldn't be able to carry children. However, her and her fiancé Jonathan have just welcomed their second child - Jenson - who joins two-year-old India Rose to complete the family.

Emma said: "One of the things that pulled me out of being anorexic was when I was told I unlikely to ever have children.

"I had just met my fiancé, Jonathan, 41, and I knew that we wanted to have children and I refused to let my illness stop us from having a future.

"But despite that, being pregnant did make me very self-conscious - because suddenly my body was going from absolutely tiny to bloated and large.

Caters News Agency

"Jonathan gave me a healthy approach to food again, going on date nights and having him cook me big meals made me feel safe eating again.

"With how hormonal I was, and it's such a vulnerable time, but having my children was the most amazing experience of my whole life.

"Now I want to help people realise how there is a way out of anorexia and you can turn your life around to normality."

Aged just 14, Emma was admitted to hospital where doctors branded her 'the best anorexic' after her weight plummeted to just over three stone.

She said: "I didn't realise how ill I was and the effect it would have on my future at the time because I was so young.

Caters News Agency

"I was skin and bones - even lying on the hospital bed would cause me to be covered in bruises because I was so frail.

"As soon as I realised I was ruining my chances of having children something switched in my mind and I started the long journey to recovery.

"But then even during my first pregnancy, with India-Rose, now two, when I weighed seven stone, my recovery was tested.

"I had very bad morning sickness up until I was 36 weeks, which just played havoc with my mind set because I wanted to bring food back up.

"But I knew that the safety of my baby was paramount, so I battled through again and that feeling of seeing my new-born baby made it all worth it."

As well as the love and support of her family, Emma also claims that cannabis oil helped her through. She now runs her own business, Hashtag Organics, which supplies a CBD range for women, which she believes will help other women in a similar position.

Caters News Agency

She added: "I genuinely believe it was the CBD oil that helped me to fall pregnant with my son, because it relaxed me and made me leave my sadness behind.

"After having India-Rose, I suffered with terrible postnatal depression and the CBD oil helped get rid of that and allowed me to see postpartum as a positive thing.

"I had such a sense of self-hatred that I feel as though I would have slipped back into the anorexic mind-set if it wasn't for the oil, especially as the oil helped my uterus return to pre-baby size.

WATCH: MUM SPEAKS ABOUT GIVING DYING SON CANNABIS WHICH LED TO MIRACLE RECOVERY


"I put a drop under my tongue every morning and night, and I took it before I fell pregnant with Jenson and I am back on it now I have given birth to him."

For more information about Emma's brand, visit: www.hashtagorganics.co.uk

Featured Image Credit: Caters News Agency

Topics: Inspirational, UK