Meet the woman born without a WOMB who is now hoping to have a child after pioneering transplant

Dream: Tara Louise Hockaday who is hoping to be the first in the UK to get a womb transplant.

A woman born without a reproductive system could achieve her dream of having a child.

Tara Hockaday has the rare condition Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH).

Women affected - about one in 5,000 - have healthy ovaries, which still produce eggs and hormones, but have no womb or cervix.

Tara, who has known since the age of three that she had no womb but was only officially diagnosed with MRKH in 2013, had come to accept that the only way she could have children would be to adopt.

But, now, the 33-year-old’s dreams of carrying her own baby could come true after UK surgeons were last month given the go-ahead to perform womb transplants .

And Tara is one of 104 women who have signed-up for the operation in the hope of making it to the 10 females who will be selected for the trials.

Tara, who lives with partner Stuart in Northumberland, told Chronicle Live : "When I was three, I kept having really bad kidney infections and the antibiotics I was getting put on weren't working.

"I was referred to the children's hospital and I had lots of tests and scans and it was found I only had one kidney and I had no womb, no cervix and no fallopian tubes.

"The hospital couldn't come-up with a diagnosis as to why as they had never come across it before.

"It wasn't until about two or three years ago that I saw an article in a newspaper about a woman who had exactly the same symptoms as me and she had been diagnosed with MRKH at the Queen Charlotte's Hospital, in London.

"I was referred there and they diagnosed me too.

"It was a relief to known officially what was wrong with me - after 29 years - but there was no treatment and the only way I'd really be able to have a family in the future was to adopt."

Pioneering treatment: Tara is one of 104 women signed up for the operation

Tara later heard of the charity Womb Transplant UK and contacted them after discovering the transplant list.

She said: "They look at factors like your age and health before they put you on the potential list.

"I was hoping and praying I would get shortlisted and I was over the moon when I was.

"It felt amazing because I'm getting closer and closer to possibly having my own child, which I never thought I'd be able to do."

Four Swedish patients have already given birth following the world's first successful womb transplant in 2013.

Now, the plan is that 10 British women will undergo the £50,000 procedure, although so far the charity Womb Transplant UK has raised enough for just one transplant.

The lucky candidate for the first operation will be chosen in the next three to four months from the 104 women already on the waiting list.

Hundreds of women eager to try the operation have contacted the charity Womb Transplant UK.

Those on their list meet criteria including having their own ovaries and eggs, being 24 to 38 (or 40 if eggs were frozen before 38), having no significant health problems and a long-term partner.

Tara added: "I used to be ashamed of my condition and it affected my life, especially in high school and as a young adult, as I didn't know what to tell people I got into a relationship with.

"Now, I talk about it openly and I want to raise as much awareness as possible about the condition and about the work that Womb Tranplant UK are doing.

"They could change so many lives for the better."