Jacqueline Gold's pregnancy joy after IVF

Jacqueline Gold, CEO of Gold Group International and one of the most powerful women in British retailing, has spoken out about her pregnancy joy after undergoing fertility treatment. Like many ambitious career women, Jacqueline always wanted to have children but believed she would become a mother when the time was right. She left home at 18, married at 20 and set up her own business by the age of 21, but after her marriage collapsed she was immersed in her career. By the time she met her soon-to-be second husband and the man she wanted to have children with, banker Dan Cunningham, Jacqueline was in her 40s and fertility had become an issue.

Dan and Jacqueline embarked on their first round of IVF in 2002 and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts to conceive with the assistance of clinics in Kent and London, the pair went to a clinic in San Francisco, America.

This time Jacqueline got the news she was hoping for and at the age of 48 she is settling in to her first pregnancy.

She told the Telegraph that she wanted to talk about her experiences because she hoped her story would inspire other women to go for their dreams and try fertility treatment, even if they face setbacks in the beginning.

Jacqueline explained to the newspaper: "I feel that evolution hasn't kept up with women. We live longer, we are healthier, we have careers and we are just not ready to have babies at the age of 20.

"I think it's such a shame that our bodies haven't evolved with us so that we can be fertile longer."