'It could have saved me losing seven children'

If pioneering IVF treatment, due to be debated in Parliament today, was around when Sharon Bernardi had her babies, her life could have been very different.

Sharon had seven children, six of whom died before the age of two, after she passed on her damaged genes.

Her son Edward, who she was told would not live beyond the age of five, survived until he was 21.

But all her children suffered from Mitochondrial Disease, which means the cells in their bodies were not getting enough energy.

There is still no cure for it and Sharon told ITV News how Edward would suffer spasms which left him crying for six hours at a time.

She said: "You can't take away that pain. It's the worst."

However, new IVF procedures have been developed which can substitute faulty genes passed on like mother's like Sharon for healthy ones before an egg is implanted in the womb.

ITV Health Editor Rachel Younger reports: