Lisa Faulkner suffered 'very dark times' amid fertility struggles

Lisa Faulkner experienced some "very dark" times amid her fertility struggles.

The 52-year-old actress went through three rounds of unsuccessful IVF treatment and suffered an ectopic pregnancy during her marriage to actor Chris Coghill, and Lisa has now admitted that it was a very difficult time in her life.

Lisa - who ultimately adopted daughter Billie, now 18, before she split from Chris - told Good Housekeeping magazine: "Those years were a very dark time.

"One minute I wasn’t that bothered about kids, apart from my nieces, and then something happened overnight and I wanted a baby so badly.

"All my peers were trying at the same time, so it was like we were swimming in the same pool, but they kept getting pregnant and climbing out until, eventually, I was still swimming in there alone.

"It was really lonely. When people would tell me they were pregnant I’d try to be fine, but I’d go home and be full of shame, anger and sadness. When I had IVF, it was with an amazing doctor with whom nine out of ten patients got pregnant - and I was the one in ten who didn’t. I thought, ‘Why me?’ It was exhausting.'"

Lisa adopted Billy when she was just 17 months old, and the actress admitted that it hasn't been a straightforward process.

The former 'Holby City' actress - who is now married to TV star John Torode - explained: "My daughter is my world, but adopting is a completely different ballgame in every way to conceiving a child. Even armed with every bit of knowledge you can find, it’s not easy, because you’re dealing with a child with trauma.

"It’s a trauma that will never, ever be healed, and my job is to be there to help make it better in every way I can. I’ve had to do a lot of work on myself. It’s an ongoing process; it doesn’t stop."