Zoe Hardman has encouraged women to check their family history for early menopause as she opened up about her own fertility struggles on Wednesday. The television presenter is currently expecting her first child with boyfriend Paul Doran Jones, but initially feared she would be unable to conceive after discovering the condition ran in their family.
Unfortunately the discovery was too late for Zoe's older sister Kathryn, who has since had to come to terms with the fact that she is unable to conceive naturally.
Zoe Hardman and her sister Kathryn discussed their fertility struggles
Speaking about her experiences on This Morning, Kathryn explained: "You never really think about it. I had a fantastic life, I never really thought about it. I hadn't met someone I wanted to settle down with."
Kathryn came off the pill when she was ready to start a family, and started experiencing night sweats and hot flushes shortly after, prompting her to go to the doctors for tests.
"My whole world fell apart," she said of her diagnosis. "I sat in the consultant's office and just burst into tears."
Following her sister's diagnosis, Zoe also went for a tests and admitted she felt like "a ticking time bomb" after discovering she had an extremely low egg count.
Zoe is currently expecting her first child with boyfriend Paul
The Heart FM DJ discussed the news with her partner Paul and fell pregnant four months later. However it was bittersweet, with Zoe admitting she found it difficult to share the news with her sister.
But as Kathryn confided: "It's been one of the toughest years of my life but I couldn't be more thrilled Zoe is expecting a baby."
Zoe's baby is due in September, and she previously admitted to HELLO! that she can't wait to become a mum.
"It's everything I could have hoped for times about ten," Zoe said. "I'm watching my body change daily, which is weird and wonderful. I've never felt more beautiful, actually. I'm not thinking about the birth, I'm not thinking about getting the nursery ready, I'm literally just thinking, 'Today is such a magical day.'"