A couple are spending their first Christmas with their miracle twins – born two years apart.
Karen and James Marks had their first child, Cameron, two years ago, while their second child, Isabella, arrived earlier this year (2020).
But the two youngsters are considered twins as they were conceived on the same day, at the same time through IVF, from the same batch of embryos.
And the family say they are looking forward to enjoying their first Christmas with Isabella, although bizarrely it will be their third with her twin.
Karen, 33, of Taunton, Somerset, said: “It’s kind of funny to think about.
“It will be Cameron’s third Christmas but Isabella’s first even though they are twins.
“One of them, Cameron, will be more into it – he’s figured out what presents are and loves the lights. Isabella doesn’t know what’s going on yet.
“It’s great, it’s really nice. Christmas for me is all about the kids – as you become an adult it gets a bit normal, but children make it more fun, so the more the merrier.”
Karen, a full-time mum gave birth to Cameron on September 1, 2018, and kept the viable embryos frozen so they could add to their family later.
Isabella was born on September 15 this year, and Karen and 35-year-old James, a company director, still have embryos left over.
Karen added: “We’d like to have more, so could have quadruplets one day.
“It’s exciting to be going through this, we could have four all experiencing Christmas on the same day but at different stages of their life, even though they came from the same embryo.”
Speaking after the birth of Isabella, Karen said: “We are delighted to have a boy and a girl, although any healthy baby would have been wonderful for us.
“It means the world to us.
“Some days I think after all the years of trying that I must be dreaming, this can’t be my reality that not only do I have one beautiful baby, but two.
“We have our wonderful son, but I’ve never wanted him to be an only child.
“Cameron absolutely adores her. He’s a super proud big brother and is always asking for cuddles.”
The couple, who married in 2014, feared they might never have a child of their own after Karen failed to get pregnant and was diagnosed with fertility issues.
Karen said: “We tried for a year to conceive naturally and nothing happened, so we went to the GP and they ran some tests.
“There’s no specific reason, I don’t ovulate regularly so that’s the main thing, but other than that there’s no reason – we don’t have any conditions.
“We had five embryos made up.
“We’ve lost one – I miscarried one last year.
“We’ve got twins. I will try and have the other two so they could be quadruplets.
“At worst case Cameron will be six when the last one is born, but it could be later – they don’t have an expiration date as such.
“It feels pretty crazy to have twins born two years apart. It’s weird – lots of people have said they didn’t realise they were twins. It’s bonkers.
“They’re not identical twins. Isabella was almost an identical twin because her embryo split.
“Any of the two remaining could split to be identical twins or triplets themselves, in which case we might end up with sextuplets.”
Karen was given funding for one round of IVF on the NHS in 2017 at the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine.
Baby Isabella Grace was born at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, weighing 7lb 4.5oz, and Karen said she never hesitates to tell people her children are IVF babies.
She added: “Infertility never leaves you. Pregnancy announcements can still be painful, especially when someone has seemingly conceived easily.
“It’s a battle and a journey, and while part of me believes there’s a reason we had to go through it, we’ve met so many wonderful people along the way.
“If you’ve exhausted all other options, then crack on and go for it. IVF is fine. Don’t put it off or avoid it. It’s the most likely fertility treatment to work, and it did for us.”
Karen and James’s journey may not end with Isabella as they have two remaining frozen embryos at BCRM.
Karen said: “Hopefully we will have more children. I’ve always wanted four.”
