A woman who beat odds of 10 million to one has given birth to two sets of identical twins at the same time.
Ashley Ness, 35, welcomed all four babies - two girls and two boys - after a Cesarean section at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, during the early hours of Thursday morning.
The new arrivals were born after 28 weeks and two days - about 12 weeks earlier than a full-term pregnancy - and mother and babies are expected to remain under the watchful eye of staff in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for a further eight weeks, according to a spokesperson for the hospitals.
Speaking to People, Ashley said: "The babies decided to make their entrance to the world sooner than expected. I feel amazing!"
A hospital spokesperson said that the part-time hairdresser, who was admitted to hospital on July 6, is doing well so far and recovering after a "busy night".
Ashley, who had previously struggled with fertility issues, "would be very rich" if she was playing the lottery, said Dr Ahmet Baschat, director of the Centre for Fetal Therapy and a professor in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics.
Dr Baschat, who has worked in obstetrics and gynecology for 30 years, described her pregnancy as "high-risk" and said her case was the first time he had heard of the phenomenon in his whole career.
Ashley found out that she was pregnant during a visit to her gynecologist in February to renew her birth control prescription.
But she only learned that she was carrying two sets of identical twins two weeks later.
The ultrasound technician was stunned when she first identified four foetuses and admitted to having to excuse herself from the room for a moment to Google it and confirm what she was seeing.
Ashley, who was left alone momentarily, said she started panicking at what the technician could have seen and was amazed when she returned and told her there were four babies in her womb.
The hair stylist, who has an eight-year-old daughter from a previous relationship and two stepsons with her boyfriend Val, 47, had previously suffered four miscarriages and had come to terms with not having anymore children.
But after giving birth to her four new children she has said her life is now complete.
Despite being incredibly rare, it is possible to get pregnant with two sets of twins at the same time.
It happens when two different eggs are both fertilised by two different sperm, and both eggs then split to develop into twins.
