A mum who suffered 16 miscarriages in 20 years has shared her joy at giving birth to two miracle babies after a rollercoaster pregnancy.
Emma White, 38, had her daughter Molly Rose 12 years ago and decided not to try for any more children after years of heartbreak.
She said: “My miscarriages started when I was just a teenager and I went on to have 16 of them over the years -all before nine weeks. It was absolutely crushing."
But after meeting her husband Joe, 41, Emma's mind was changed, and she gave pregnancy another go.
“I met Joe and he told me straight away he wanted children. I told him no. But then about two weeks later I was so happy, in love and comfortable that all I could think was give me babies!”
But Emma, from Kirkby, was once again left devastated after falling pregnant and miscarrying twice.
Then, in late 2020, Emma fell pregnant again - this time with twins. But on her birthday, she discovered she'd miscarried again at six weeks.
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She said: "After I’d lost the twins I knew that was it. I just couldn’t do it again. Joe completely understood."
By pure chance and without trying, Emma found out she was pregnant again just a month later. While she was over the moon, she was terrified this pregnancy would end in tragedy again.
She recalled: "I’d check the toilet every time I went. I was scared to use it, scared to cough, scared of any ache or pain."
When she began bleeding and shaking uncontrollably at six weeks in, Emma had familiar feeling and was convinced she had miscarried.
She was rushed to Liverpool Women's Hospital for tests and told to return for a scan two days later.
Emma said:"I got in there, lay down and the sonographer didn’t turn the screen around. I’d been in so many times before and I knew it meant more bad news."
As staff rushed around her, Emma was told she was having an ectopic pregnancy - which is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb.
"I was told I’d have to have one of my fallopian tubes removed," she said.
But after waking up from the operation, Emma learned her pregnancy was normal - and she'd simply had a blockage in one of her fallopian tubes.
A few days later, a scan revealed another surprise - Emma was carrying quads.
Emma said: “I was stunned. I still couldn’t believe it as I was taken off to see a specialist in multiple pregnancies.
"She walked in and said, ‘So, four babies.’ She showed me another scan image and there they were - four tiny blobs.”
However, Emma and Joe's joy was short lived when Emma started to bleed heavily at nine weeks. Then a few days later, she stood up and "felt something fall out."
After being rushed to hospital, doctors confirmed her worst fears - there were no signs of pregnancy.
Emma said: "I was told it looked like I’d passed the pregnancy. I knew they were right, as I’d seen the babies with my own eyes. I knew they’d gone."
After sharing her heartbreak in a Facebook post, a woman approached Emma and offered to be her surrogate.
But a few weeks later, she had a dream in which her late grandad, David, appeared and told her she was still pregnant.
Emma said: "I woke up with a start. My grandad died when I was four and I never have those kinds of dreams.
"I grabbed a doppler I had on top of the cupboard, held it to my stomach and listened. Sure enough – there was a whooshing sound."
Despite Joe’s scepticism, Emma headed to hospital and insisted on being scanned.
She said: "They must have thought I was mad. I’d been marked down as having lost the babies and there I was, hysterical and crying, saying, 'I’ve had a dream. I’m still pregnant'."
Sure enough, a scan showed Emma was still pregnant with two babies.
In an incredibly rare phenomenon, Emma’s quads – two sets of identical twins – had suffered a condition called vanishing twin syndrome twice over.
The condition happens when one of a set of twins dies in the uterus and the embryos are normally then reabsorbed into the body.
In Emma’s case, she had lost one from each set of identical twins – leaving her with two non-identical twins – and had passed the embryos.
Astonished at the news and already 12 weeks pregnant, she headed home to tell a shell-shocked Joe.
From there, Emma described her pregnancy as "amazing" and was induced at 37 weeks to give birth to Aurora Azalea, 5lbs 2oz, and Ophelia Lili, 5lbs 11oz, on 2 October last year.
Emma said: "I love being a twin mum. It’s not for everyone, but I cherish every single day. It still feels like a miracle even now the girls are three months old."
She added: "I just want all the women out there to know there's no shame in it. There are so many of us suffering, thinking we're made, terrified every time we get pregnant. I hope my story can give some hope."
Professor Luciano Nardo, Founder and CEO of NOW-fertility explained what vanishing twin syndrome is.
He said: "Vanishing twin syndrome is an early pregnancy condition in which one of a set of twins disappears as result of being reabsorbed within the uterine cavity.
"The outcome is that of a spontaneous reduction of a multiple pregnancy to a singleton pregnancy, as demonstrated on an ultrasound scan.
"The condition can manifest as the disappearance of an early empty gestational sac to that of a sac containing a foetus with or without heart activity.
Did you welcome miracle babies into the world? Email jessica.taylor@reachplc.com
"As such, it can be experienced in the form of light vaginal bleeding or spotting throughout the first trimester of pregnancy, or in the form of a miscarriage, which can cause some pelvic pain (ie, uterine cramps) and moderate to heavy vaginal bleeding."
