Hi, I can tell you my experience, I'm 22 now and I told GPS since I was 8 years old.
I also got told in 2015 it was a birth defect (discoid meniscus.)
I had first of on the 3rd Feb 2015
Failed I noticed within a week got ignored for 8 month!
and second done by another surgeon op on 5th April 2016.... Failed again... No surprise there... Surgeons both took me off there care, On the 17th of Nov this year I will finally get to talk to surgeon again to hopefully then get passed on the the countrys specialist on knees... And get a cartilage transplant.
I wish you both luck but I share your anger as I have been neglected for 14 years and lost everything and can not get compensation.......
All I can say is operations won't work, they will keep trimming the cartilage (meniscus) until it's bone on bone contact (will most likely get arthritis)
You need to push harder and ask for other options.
I'v got anxiety, depression, obesity, self harm, lost my job, etc the list goes on....
Hopefully she gets lucky and something works for her but promise me to be her best friend through all of this because it's hard work hearing that you are defective and have to have all these operations and spend so much time getting worse.
Thanks
Alishah