Charlene Medlicott, 22, who was warned by doctors that she would never be able to conceive naturally, has described her excitement at becoming Britain’s youngest mother of four identical twins. The chances are 25 million to one. She had been advised that without IVF treatment, she would most likely never be able to start a family. Ms. Medlicott was taken aback when she spontaneously conceived and realized she was expecting four children.
On December 11, she gave birth to four healthy baby girls: Gracie-Lou weighed 3 pounds 6 ounces, Rosaline weighed 3 pounds 4 ounces, Amalia-Rose weighed 2 pounds 9 ounces, and Eveylynn weighed 2 pounds 6 ounces. Doctors first thought she had two identical twins, but DNA evidence revealed that all four girls were identical after the children’ father, Mark, failed to tell them apart. Mark explains: “I realized they all looked extremely similar and it was difficult for me to tell them differently. As a result, we decided to do a DNA test. The girls were all identical, according to the findings we received last week.”
Ms. Medlicott was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries when she was 15 years old. Ovulation limitation diminishes a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant considerably. She astonished physicians five years later when she conceived naturally and was taken aback when she learned she was pregnant with four girls. Doctors recommended her to terminate her two infants because they were concerned that all four of them would struggle to live in the Wᴏᴍʙ. But she refused, and now she has four healthy girls who are all similar.
She added: ‘I never expected to become pregnant, so finding out I was expecting was a complete sʜᴏᴄᴋ. I was in excruciating pain when the doctors informed me I needed to terminate the two infants. “No,” I said. I’m overjoyed that I’ve given birth to four healthy children. Labor progressed smoothly until I was hospitalized at 24 weeks, at which point I was moved to Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where I remained until they were delivered.
We were kept in the hospital and the girls were in the NICU but we all went home after 8 weeks. Fortunately, the girls are always obedient and follow a strict schedule. As they got older, we realized how much they looked alike, but we were always told by the doctors that they were twins. We didn’t ask for it at first but then we thought we’d check it out because we knew how rare it was.”