I am raising money for IVF treatment for my sister Jade and her husband Andrew. This pair were born to be parents but are unable to conceive naturally. It’s breaking my heart.

My sister was born to be a mum. For as long as I can remember, Jade has been a second mother to me. Through immense resilience and strength of character, she has carried me through some of the darkest times of my life, given advice that is wise beyond her years and comforted me with exceptional empathy and warmth.

But she’s not just been a maternal figure to me. She began her career in primary education due to her immense love of children, being supremely popular in her classroom and among parents. She has always had such joy in sharing stories of ‘her’ children.

And don’t get me started on their dogs! Colin the pug and Lucy the Jack Russell are treated like Jade and Andrew's own children. The amount of love those animals receive is unfathomable.

Jade has the instinct of a protector, mentor and nurturer and all she’s ever wanted is to have children of her own. Andrew's sense of fun and playfulness is contagious. He's meant to be a dad.

It’s a cruel twist of fate that they've been denied that simple joy that so many take for granted.

Unfortunately, Jade and Andrew have been diagnosed with male factor infertility. This means the chances of them conceiving naturally is practically zero. They’ve been trying for five years.

Even more unjust is that there is no help available to them due to Jade’s BMI. She’s always been a ‘big girl’. She’s been on every diet under the sun, filled every spare room in her house with gym equipment and paid out hundreds of pounds on therapy to try and shed the pounds. But nothing’s worked.

And now, all those years of hurt and pain over her weight have delivered yet another blow. She’s been told she’s too big to be a mum.

This is a woman with bachelors and masters degrees in forensic science plus a PGCE and a diploma in UX. You read that right – three degrees and a diploma. This is a woman who founded a company that supports and celebrates the milestones of recovering alcoholics – supporting those who are making the long journey back from rock bottom. This is a woman who has given society so much and who asks for so little.

Meanwhile, Andrew is a precision engineer whose world revolves around his young nephews, Noah and Arthur. He Skypes those children constantly and like Jade, he treats his dogs like his children.

They have so much damn love to give.

These are two educated, hard-working, self-sufficient and contributing members of society who, through no fault of their own, have been denied the right of parenthood, despite the fact there is no couple better qualified to love, teach and raise a child.

There is no entrance exam for parenthood. If you can biologically conceive, permission is granted. People who don’t yearn for a child, who haven’t planned for a child, can bring a baby into this world, no questions asked. But Jade and Andrew, who have dreamed about this for years and years, cannot do the same. Jade’s weight would be of no concern if there were no fertility issues. She’s been forbidden something that every other woman the same size and shape as her is allowed.

It’s not fair and it’s not right. Jade is now left with the enormous burden of losing an impossible amount of weight to qualify for a role that nobody else has to prove themselves worthy of taking on. And she’s taken on that challenge. In the last month, she’s walked over 150km to raise money for charity. She’s looked into weight loss surgery. She's counted calories. She’s paid for counselling.

But time is running out. She may not lose the weight before she becomes ineligible due to her age. Jade and Andrew do not meet the criteria for IVF on the NHS or for adoption in the UK. Their only hope for a child is to pay for private IVF or to adopt a child from abroad which can also costs tens of thousands of pounds.

They have so much love to give. For anyone who has ever yearned to be a parent, I beg for your help. For anyone who has ever wished an unloved child had a better place to go home to, please support these people who will love a child more than you’d think humanly possible. For anyone whose family means everything to them, please donate.

I just want to see my sister and brother-in-law happy. I want to see a little person at their feet to benefit from the insane amount of love they have to give. I want another little Jade or Andrew in the world, making it a better place.