A funeral director has given the gift of life three times - by donating her eggs.

Mum-of-two Leanne Armstrong heard an advert on the radio calling for egg donors in late 2009 as she drove to work and appreciating the importance of life through her dealings with grieving families immediately volunteered.

She had her first treatment six months later and has now donated her eggs on half a dozen occasions in six years.

Leanne, 39, says the children she helped to create can expect a hero's welcome if they ever come to her door.

She said: Id say to them, Yes, come and find me knock on the door.

Im quite curious to know how they look and whether they are well, but Im more intrigued by the recipients. Id love to hear their stories.

Leanne is now classed as too old to donate, as Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) rules limit donors to women aged between 18 and 35 apart from in exceptional circumstance.

Instead, she is waiting in happy anticipation for any of the children produced by her eggs to track her down.

Leanne, whose children, Elise, 16, and Nyle, 11, are from a previous relationship and is now engaged to Dan, 53, says she had no idea egg donation was possible until she heard the radio advert.

For the last two years, she has volunteered as an ambassador, working to raise awareness of the process.

Altrui, part of Apricity, specialises in finding, matching and looking after altruistic egg donors with one-to-one, anonymous donation.

She said: Id never heard of egg donation before listening to the advert, but working in my industry and dealing with death makes you treasure life so much that it really hit home.

I cant imagine wanting to start a family and never being able to.

And now that I cant donate eggs myself anymore, I spend a lot of my time helping other potential donors.

Leanne, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, continued: Its one thing reading a fact box about egg donation, its another hearing it from people who have first-hand experience of it.

Within three months of putting her name forward, Leanne had a series of blood tests, her egg count was determined and she had several counselling sessions.

Given the green light to proceed in 2010, it was her daughter, Elise, who helped her inject hormonal treatments for 10 days, to stimulate her egg growth, before having them harvested.

Within two weeks, Leanne received a phone call from the clinic, saying her egg had led to a positive pregnancy test for the recipient but that, sadly, later on, they had miscarried.

She said it just made her want to donate again so six months later, she did exactly that.

Donating her eggs four more times over the next five years, she was elated to find out that three of the four attempts resulted in a successful pregnancy and birth.

As it is illegal in the UK for egg donors to receive anything more than expenses which can be up to 750 it is a purely altruistic act.

Leanne said: I got the cost of childcare covered and the train ticket to the clinic.

Its not about financial gain though, its about helping people who are desperate to start a family to achieve their dream.

All Leanne knows about the children she helped make possible, is that two are boys and one is a girl.

All could be revealed one day, as in April 2005, HFEA rules changed, allowing people conceived through egg donation to find out their donors full name, date of birth, and current address when they turn 18.

Leanne said: I always knew they could track me down one day and thats fine.

Of course, Id be interested in seeing who they are and knowing they are well, but mainly, I feel it is a great honour to have been able to help another woman to start a family.

My main goal is to raise as much awareness about egg donation as possible it really is one of the best things Ive ever done.

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The funeral director giving the gift of life - by donating eggs - Nottinghamshire Live