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 rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .
A brave praying mantis makes an unusual friend in an Oriental garden lizard .
THEIR gnarling teeth at the ready, these two baboons fight it out for the last piece of fruit .
LYING flat out on his back, this little meerkat makes the most of the English sunshine .
A hungry hippo is seconds away from catching a bird in its gigantic jaws .
BEAUTIFULLY lit by the dim glow of lanterns, a cave in Iceland is transformed into the perfect wedding venue .
TUGGING on the wing of his sibling, this needy owl is after some attention .
COVERING themselves in ash and face paint, these are the holy men who live their lives away from everyday society .
THIS DANGER-mad female pensioner could be the oldest Brit to cage dive with CROCODILES .
A WIMBLEDON-mad couple will be creating a racket this summer - after installing a TENNIS COURT in their living room .
HOTSPOT MEDIA - WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR: WHILE most workers endure commuting chaos by road or rail everyday, one entrepreneur has come up with a novel way to get to the office - by KAYAK .