'My surrogate was six weeks pregnant when I started bleeding. Then came the shock.'

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The phone call that changed everything came while Amanda was sitting at her desk at work.

"I'm sorry to tell you, but you've got cervical cancer."

In her 30s, with dreams of motherhood ahead of her, Amanda's world stopped.

It started with pre-conception testing in 2012. During a routine pap smear, one look overtook her doctor's face: concern.

"I felt like there was more bleeding than usual," Amanda told Mamamia. Still, she didn't think much of it.

When she collected the results, expecting a quick appointment, she was told stage three squamous cells indicated abnormal cells that could develop into cancer.

"Within a week I was at the gynaecologist," she recalled. "He did a biopsy and had the same look on his face and I was like, 'This isn't good.'"

Then came the call. Cancer.

"I just stood up and went, 'I've got to go' and burst into tears," Amanda said.

The diagnosis shattered every assumption Amanda had about her healthy body and the future she'd mapped out.

She immediately called her husband Ryan, tearfully breaking the news.

It took Amanda and Ryan years to finally grow their family. Image: Supplied.

Gynaecological oncologist and Cherish Foundation founder Professor Andreas Obermair laid out three options: a hysterectomy, partial removal or a radical trachelectomy — chemotherapy to shrink the cancer, then surgery to remove her cervix but leave her uterus intact.

Option three was her "only shot" at having children. For Amanda, it was the only choice.

"I was crying all the time," she recalled. "I thought I was young, fit and healthy."

Then another blow — chemotherapy could damage her ovaries. Amanda suppressed them, hoping to preserve her eggs.

"For the next nine to 12 weeks, not only was I going through chemotherapy, but also menopause," Amanda said. "I was going through hell."

By the end of three cycles, the tumour had shrunk. Surgery followed, and all tissue came back cancer-free.

The fertility battle.

With cancer behind her in 2013, Amanda faced a new challenge: "Holding a baby in was going to be the biggest problem."

IVF began immediately.

"We did egg collection. They were all failing one after the other."

By late 2014, a fertility specialist delivered devastating news.

"Your embryos aren't implanting. You've got less than a two per cent chance of falling pregnant."

Surrogacy became their lifeline. After years of searching overseas, they found their match locally in 2018.

"A lovely lady offered to us after meeting up," Amanda said.

"We went through a couple of years of egg retrieval, sent both embryos off to get them tested and both were abnormal.

"At that stage, I'm 37 my eggs are cooked."

When donor eggs failed, their surrogate offered her own.

"The fifth go it finally took. We had a pregnancy in early 2020," she said.

"We'd had so many setbacks in the past, we weren't getting too excited too quickly."

Amanda with her two boys. Image: Supplied.

While waiting for the surrogate's scan, Amanda felt unwell. Bleeding. Fatigue. She assumed early menopause.

A reluctant ultrasound changed everything.

"I go, 'I can't get pregnant.' She flips the screen around and goes 'You're pregnant'," Amanda recalled.

At 41, after being told pregnancy was near impossible, Amanda was carrying her own child.

"I just burst into tears… I couldn't talk," she said.

"At that stage, I was content with not only never carrying a baby but never carrying a baby of my own biology.

"I was in disbelief. The baby on the screen was in my belly."

A week later, she saw her surrogate's baby's heartbeat. Two babies. Two miracles.

"We were in it for both, mine was just a bonus," she said.

"We took it in our stride. We've been through so much, this is just another thing."

Ashton arrived early at 28 weeks, spending 70 days in NICU. Six weeks later, Brodie was born.

"To go from zero to two, it's huge," she said.

At first, adjusting was "absolute chaos".

"We went into survival mode", writing everything in columns A and B to track feeds and naps.

Today, Ashton is five and Brodie is four.

"To watch them grow and interact and have that brotherly love-hate relationship has been wonderful," Amanda said.

"We wouldn't have had it any other way. We've loved it.

"We can't wait for what's to come.

"It's an insane story with a happy ending."

Feature image: Supplied.