Britain's oldest mum of quadruplets has told of being made homeless and living in a budget hotel with her kids.
Tracey Britten gave birth to the big brood at the age of 50. Nearly five years on, she lives with them in two rooms at a Travelodge while their dad sleeps at his mum's house.
The now-55-year-old travels an hour-and-a-half each day to take and collect her three daughters and son to and from nursery. She uses a slower cooker and milk is kept tepid in a few inches of bath water.
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The Mirror reports how the family sleeps in one room and the other is used as a 'play room' for the kids, full of Lego and other toys - and a store room for all their belongings. The frazzled mum is also forced to spend £40 every time she uses the laundrette.
They've been there for two months - after vacating their four-bedroom rented house in Enfield, North London, in February - and have been warned they could be there 10 years.
"I feel untidy, grotty, and there are days I don’t want to get out of bed, but I have to stay strong, to keep going for them," Tracey said, speaking to the Daily Mail.
Tracey broke the record for the oldest mum to give birth to quadruplets in October 2018 after IVF treatment in Cyprus, costing £7,000 - and paid for by inheritance from her late mum.
She and husband, Stephen, were hoping for one baby but got Grace, George and identical twins Fredrica and Francesca. When the sonographer told Tracey she was expecting four babies she burst into tears, wondering how she would cope.
Doctors had advised 'reducing' the pregnancy, warning that the chances of all surviving were slim. However, they all did, arriving nine weeks premature at London's University College Hospital.
They spent their first couple months in special care, with the story attracting global attention after Tracey and the babies appeared on ITV's This Morning. In the early days, up to 28 bottles of formula were pre-prepared at dawn and kept in a huge fridge.
Stephen works as a roofer to support the family, while Tracey, who is qualified as an aesthetician, administering Botox, fillers and skin treatments, planned to rent a room in a clinic once the kids were at school.
However, their landlord decided to sell up and they couldn't find anywhere else they could afford. "I feel terrible that they are having to live like this, though none of it is their fault, and I’ll do whatever I can to find us another lovely, stable home," Tracey said.
Their living space is always loud - with no outdoor access, the kids have lots of energy to burn off, while George also has autism and is only content when listening to nursery rhymes.
Tracey and Stephen are still together, and he spends time there each day after work and on weekends. But sleeps at his mum's house, which isn't big enough for everyone.
"He couldn’t cope with being here all the time," said Tracey. "He doesn’t like enclosed spaces and the aircon would set off his asthma.
Rent on their previous home was £2,100 a month - all but £200 was covered by housing benefit payments. But the family can't find anywhere with at least three bedrooms for under £3,000 a month, Tracey said. The mum approached her local authority in the hope of being offered a council house.
She said she was told she would need to be actually homeless and not just being evicted before they could be added to the waiting list - and even then it could take a decade.
The council did, however, give them the emergency hotel accommodation and is paying around £2,500 a week to cover it.
Tracey said: "I’ve said we’ll take a two-bedroom place, at least then we’d have a kitchen, but I’m told they’re not legally allowed to house us anywhere with fewer than three — and yet they can keep us here!"
She has three grown-up kids from a previous marriage and 10 grandkids, all in London, so is desperate to stay in the capital.
The night before they moved into the hotel, Tracey thought she was having a heart attack and called an ambulance - though paramedics said it was an extreme anxiety attack.
And almost every day she receives a call from the nursery saying one of the kids is unwell - and fears it's the heat of the rooms at night or the air con.
She is "forever administering Calpol" as a result.
Tracey - who survives on around three hours sleep a night - worries about the prospect of getting her children all into the same primary school come September.
"If I didn’t have four children, I wouldn’t be in this situation, but I’ve never once thought why did I have them?" she said.
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