Online dater Bronagh Hayes no longer swipes left and right – now, she has baby wipes left and right after becoming a mum to twins.
Her story involves two phone apps, two different dates, two babies and a knight in shining armour.
But Bronagh, 27, admits: “If somebody had told me five years ago my life would end up like this, I would not have believed them.”
The new mum thought she had found love on Bumble three years ago after swiping right for William Keers – but that relationship ended after the couple endured a heartbreaking miscarriage.
Then Bronagh decided to give Tinder a try, and ended up pregnant after a one-night stand – with the father wanting no involvement.
Next came a 12-week scan that left her stunned at the prospect of raising two children as a single mum.
But she needn’t have worried as that knight in shining armour came galloping towards her – in the shape of her old Bumble love.
Now Bronagh and William, 30, are engaged to be married and he plans to adopt twins, Freyja and Niklaus.
Bronagh says: “The experience has given both me and William a lesson in embracing whatever comes your way. I can’t even put into words the amount of love you can feel for someone when they are just completely accepting. William never refers to himself as a step-parent, he calls himself Dad. Nothing is ever too much for him.”
Bronagh first met grocery store worker William – who has two children himself from a previous relationship – on Bumble in March 2020.
“I was scrolling through and thought he looked nice,” she explains. “I saw we had a lot of the same interests so I swiped right and he came up as a match.
“On Bumble the woman has to do the opener so I asked him if he had a super-power what would it be? He joked it would be invisibility so he could hide from his kids.
“From the first interaction I knew he was funny. We arranged a date and went for a drive. Then I got him to meet my dog Skylar. She loved him – a sign that it was meant to be.”
Two weeks into their relationship, lockdown began, so the couple had to make do with phone calls and FaceTime.
But when restrictions lifted, the loved-up pair decided to try for a baby and were overjoyed when Bronagh became pregnant.
But just a few weeks later, she miscarried. “We were grief-stricken,” Bronagh says. “I struggle with my mental health so this just made it spiral. William was struggling too and trying to juggle supporting me with his job and spending time with his older children. It was a lot of strain on us.
“He has never lost anyone so he just didn’t know how to cope.”
The couple went their separate ways after William said he needed time to come to terms with the miscarriage. He started seeing someone else while single Bronagh signed up to Tinder. After one date with another man, she found she was pregnant. “I did a test. When it was positive I thought, ‘What in the world has happened?’” she recalls.
“I told the guy but when he said he didn’t want to know, that was fine. I didn’t want an abortion.”
Afraid she would miscarry again, Bronagh booked an early scan and went “into panic mode” when it showed she was expecting twins, but the doctor assured her all was OK.
“Part of me was terrified as I knew I’d be a single mum of twins,” she says. “But the other part was thinking, ‘This must just be meant to be’.”
Meanwhile, William’s new relationship had come to an end and he got back in touch with Bronagh to apologise for the way they parted.
As they exchanged messages, she decided to come clean about her pregnancy. But rather than run a mile as she expected, William was thrilled for her and they decided to meet.
After they kissed, Bronagh knew she had found her prince. She says: “At about 14 weeks pregnant, I said to William, ‘You do realise these children will think you are their dad?’ He said he would be happy
to have that role.”
William was by Bronagh’s side when the twins were born on Christmas Eve 2021 - with Freyja weighing 4lb and Niklaus 6lb. “We were both so emotional,” Bronagh says. “William was the first to put their nappies on, the first to dress them… I believe the baby we lost sent these two for us.”
Only Bronagh is named on the birth certificate, but William plans to adopt the twins, now 16 months old, and officially become their dad.
“Then we want to get married so we all have the same last name,” Bronagh says.
She has since had to contact the twins’ biological dad to ask about his medical history after Freyja developed an allergy – and he expressed no desire to be in the twins’ lives.
Bronagh, of Belfast, says: “He is missing out, but the twins already have the most amazing dad.”
William adds: “I knew I loved Bronagh and knowing she was having twins didn’t change anything.
“They already felt like my children and I knew I loved them as much as I loved her.” The couple plan to be open and honest with Freyja and Niklaus about their parentage.
“They know William is their daddy but we say they have another father,” Bronagh says. “If they want to track him down, I will support them.”
