We had planned to get pregnant again when I found the lump in my breast

I was 31, finishing my PhD in ecological physiology and planning ahead for an academic career. Planning ahead like I always did, I figured this was the right time to start a family. I’d hand in my thesis and we’d have two in quick succession – maybe even twins, a boy and a girl – then I’d get back to research. I knew the rules, the game. I wanted two kids, maybe three; I wanted lecturer, senior lecturer, associate professor, professor; I wanted to succeed.

We got pregnant straight away, and our daughter was born in September. She was small and didn’t sleep and I couldn’t keep up with feeds, much less research papers. But in late April 2008, as planned, we started trying to get pregnant again.