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The 51-year-old daughter of Tory peer Lord Young has given birth to her first child, calling it "the most awesome thing ever".
Judith Young had all but given up hope of motherhood after two failed IVF attempts 12 years ago, and after being diagnosed with cancer.
But yesterday she gave birth to a 5lb 2oz daughter at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. She and husband Najib Nathoo, 46, who run an events company in Brighton, said they had named her Matilda. She was born by Caesarean section at 37 weeks after doctors became concerned with her progress in the womb.
Lord Young, 79, said: "I can't tell you how happy we all are. The baby is a little miracle." The peer was enterprise adviser to the Government until he resigned in November, after claiming most Britons "had never had it so good" in the "so-called recession".
In 2003 Miss Young was told she had cancer. Doctors said hormone treatment she had received during an IVF procedure had possibly accelerated her illness, and she decided to freeze some of her eggs. She said: "This birth was 25 years in the waiting, and this little person is so perfect. It is the most awesome thing ever. I'd done IVF twice, I'd had cancer and got over it. When I was told I was pregnant it was incredible.
"As it was such a long time ago, we assumed all the eggs which had previously been frozen must have been destroyed. But we wanted a baby so much that I thought I might as well ask just on the off-chance. You can imagine our delight and surprise to learn they still had seven frozen eggs left."
Miss Young said her father and mother Rebecca were "extremely excited grandparents".
