'I’ve come to terms with the fertility issues of premature menopause'

Diagnosed with early menopause at 27, Niamh Connellan has accepted she needs donor eggs if she wants to conceive. The biggest challenge she faces is constant pain and tiredness

Niamh Connellan, a nurse originally from County Clare, who was in her 20s when she realised her symptoms meant menopause. Picture: Moya Nolan

Niamh Connellan was 27 when she found out her ovaries were as small as those of a woman in her late 50s — a woman who had completed the menopause.

The ultrasound also picked up that the lining of her cervix was thin, while a check on her egg reserve brought another brutal truth.