A woman has beat odds of more than 700,000-to-1 to become the youngest mum in Britain to give birth to consecutive sets of twins – by the age of 21.
After giving birth to healthy twin daughters, Farnborough, Hampshire resident Annie Gladstone, who delivered her first set of twins 12 years ago, is now eligible to make history.
Given that neither of their families has a history of twins, Ms. Gladstone and her 26-year-old fiancé Rich Porter are baffled by their amazing fertility. The couple gave birth to both pairs naturally.
The full-time mother turned 22 just two weeks after non-identical twins Georgie, who weighed 5lbs, and Frankiee, who weighed 5lbs 4oz, arrived five minutes apart. It made Ms Gladstone the youngest woman in Britain to give birth to consecutive sets of twins.
According to the Royal College of Midwives, no one in the nation has ever experienced having two sets of successive twins at such a young age. It happens considerably less frequently than when a pair is divided by a single child.
Ms Gladstone said: “We worked the odds out of more than 700,000 to one, just because it’s so rare to not have a “filler baby” between twins.
“It’s obviously a record I never set out to achieve. I do feel blessed that my family feels absolutely complete at such a young age.
“Now we’ve just got to get married.’
After the births of son Jayden, who weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces, and daughter Lillie, who weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces, in April 2011, Ms. Gladstone always desired another child. She was thrilled to learn in January that she was expecting once again.
But the couple’s joy turned to shock when they had the 12 week scan and were told they were expecting two new arrivals.
She said: “The shock took forever to get over. Rich went white and his jaw hit the floor. But now they’re finally here, I wouldn’t change them for the world. I mentally prepared myself for complete chaos at having four children under four, but luckily they are all very well-behaved – most of the time.”
The six-person family resides in Farnborough, Hampshire, where Mr. Porter manages a warehouse. The healthy newborns, who are non-identical twins like their elder siblings, were delivered five minutes apart following a brief labor.
Ms Gladstone said: “The labour was very quick – just over one hour. As soon as I saw them I fell completely in love. They are both absolutely gorgeous.”
Jacque Gerrard, director for England at the Royal College of Midwives, said: ‘I have been a midwife for over 30 years and have never seen someone at such a young age have two sets of twins in succession like this.
“As a mother of twins myself I know what she is going through and I wish her all the best.”
“Women having twins and multiple births are monitored closely throughout the pregnancy particularly when it is a teenage pregnancy. The experience gained with her first set of twins was no doubt helpful when she gave birth second time round.”
Annie’s hectic routine is seeing her get through at least 20 nappies a day, and put on at least two loads of washing.
She said: “I have to follow a very structured daily routine otherwise I’d never get anything done.
“We are all up before 5:45am most mornings.
“As I get ready, Lillie and Jayden amuse themselves while I wash and dress the four of them, which takes approximately an hour. I make Lillie and Jayden’s breakfast at 7 a.m., and I feed the twins in between their meals.
“When everyone is finished I clean the kitchen and sterilise the bottles and put a wash on.
“At 8:30am the oldest two are ready with coats, shoes, bags and packed lunches ready to go to nursery.
“Then I’m home alone with the girls while Rich is at work.
“Even though the youngest twins keep me up around three to four times a night, we put the eldest two to bed at 7 p.m., and I finally get to bed at 11:30 p.m., ready to do it all over again the next day.
“We are getting through about 20 nappies a day, 140 a week, because the eldest two aren’t in nappies any more.
