Daphne Rauwerda, 36, a project worker and mother of a three-year-old daughter, cannot have a second child because of various uterine illnesses. She said she had hoped to give her daughter a younger brother or sister.

Rauwerda said she had taken birth-control pills for 15 years after experiencing menstrual problems from a young age. She later developed vague complaints, including many bruises and episodes of weakness, and blood tests showed abnormal liver levels.