A woman has spoken of her heartbreak after she was rejected by an adoption agency because of her pregnancy phobia. Kayleigh-Emma Shiel, 30, has always dreamed of becoming a mother, but suffers from tokophobia – a fear of childbirth. Her condition means that she is unable to conceive a child of her own as she is too terrified of pregnancy and the associated pain. Believing that adoption was her only chance of becoming a mother, Kayleigh and her fabricator husband Gary, 47, applied to adopt a child in January this year. But the couple, from Elland, West Yorkshire, were rejected partly due to Kayleigh’s unusual phobia.
A little caterpillar fearlessly scampers down a branch and confronts a praying mantis .
These photographs of extreme weather capture storms furiously rolling across the sky above America .
At least three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon .
Full of tired and busy commuters, these underground stations are rarely admired for their architecture or beauty .
LINED up one by one on a deer’s back, these little birds give their wings a break as they catch a ride across London .
From squids to Star Wars, these flipping marvellous creations are pancake portraits .
TOWERING 65 metres into the sky, this terrifying accent is a dream for climbers .
A disabled sheep is enjoying a new fleece of life after receiving a specially-designed wheelchair .
THIS LITTLE squirrel tries to keep himself snug as snow starts to fall around him .
A terrified moose, trapped in a frozen lake, bobs her head above the icey water and awaits her rescue .
SWIMMING next to 40 tonne whales, dare-devil divers take the plunge with these gentle giants of the sea .
FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters .