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They're the quadruplets who made medical history when they were born prematurely a year ago and now Caroline, Darcy, Alexis and Elisha are celebrating their first birthday.
After nearly a decade of trying, Justin and Christine Clark had almost given up hope of becoming parents and had resigned themselves to being childless. It was their first round of IVF that proved successful - quite spectacularly.
And that is not the only reason the quads are extraordinary. Incredibly, they are also the result of just one embryo after it split into three and then one of those embryos split into two.
And that is not the only reason the quads are extraordinary. Incredibly, they are also the result of just one embryo after it split into three and then one of those embryos split into two.
The odds of one embryo creating four babies is likely to only happen once every 4,000 years, according to experts.
‘We’re the first people it’s happened to and even some doctors find it hard to believe,' Justin told the Daily Mail at the time of birth.
‘We’re the first people it’s happened to and even some doctors find it hard to believe,' Justin told the Daily Mail at the time of birth.
Today, the four girls are celebrating with a party at their home in Rotherham, South Yorks.
'It’s been an incredible first year,' 44-year-old Justin told The Express.'That first night home was just chaos, they were all crying at different times and all needed constant feeding. I’d love to say it’s got easier but it hasn’t.'
'It’s been an incredible first year,' 44-year-old Justin told The Express.'That first night home was just chaos, they were all crying at different times and all needed constant feeding. I’d love to say it’s got easier but it hasn’t.'
Justin and Christine met in a pub 12 years ago and married three years later. Like most young, married couples, they longed to start a family.
‘I’d always wanted to be a mum,’ Christine said at the time of the girl's birth. ‘I don’t come from a big family, but children were always on the agenda. We started trying before we got married, but nothing happened.
‘I was only 25, so I didn’t panic. But after two years we went to our GP who did lots of tests. It turned out I had polycystic ovaries and would probably need help to get pregnant.
‘I’d always wanted to be a mum,’ Christine said at the time of the girl's birth. ‘I don’t come from a big family, but children were always on the agenda. We started trying before we got married, but nothing happened.
‘I was only 25, so I didn’t panic. But after two years we went to our GP who did lots of tests. It turned out I had polycystic ovaries and would probably need help to get pregnant.
‘It was very upsetting. Friends were getting pregnant and while I was always happy for them and never jealous, I would be thinking: “Why isn’t it happening for us?”’
The couple tried several treatments, including the ovary-stimulating drug Clomid, but the side-effects made Christine ill.
‘IVF was really a last resort because we knew what a rollercoaster it could be,’ she says.
The couple tried several treatments, including the ovary-stimulating drug Clomid, but the side-effects made Christine ill.
‘IVF was really a last resort because we knew what a rollercoaster it could be,’ she says.
Justin and Christine were referred to Care Fertility in Sheffield, and were offered two rounds of IVF on the NHS.
She finally fell pregnant and was admitted to hospital for bed rest at 24 weeks and the twins were delivered by Caesarean section at 30 weeks on March 25, weighing between 2lb and 3lb each.
She finally fell pregnant and was admitted to hospital for bed rest at 24 weeks and the twins were delivered by Caesarean section at 30 weeks on March 25, weighing between 2lb and 3lb each.
A year later, the lorry driver and his nurse wife Christine, 37, say that the girls are all coming into their own and are gradually becoming self-sufficient.
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