A young couple have welcomed two sets of non-identical twins in less than two years – at odds of almost 3,200/1.
Shauna Copple, 20, and Josh Fell, 22 from Swinton, were shocked to discover they were expecting fraternal twins when Shauna fell pregnant in 2017.
The couple, who have no history of multiples in either of their families, welcomed Amelia-Rose and Maison in November – and found parenthood ‘easier than they thought.’
But when Shauna became pregnant again a year later, it was an ‘even bigger shock’ to discover she was expecting twins for the second time.
Just now, the pair welcomed their second set of fraternal twins, Isla and Darcie, to their busy family.
‘There are no twins in the family at all that we know of so it was a complete surprise when we found out the first time,’ said Shauna, speaking of the new arrivals.
We thought: “Oh it will just be one that time so it will be easier,”’ Shauna said.
The NHS says around 12,000 sets of twins are born in the UK every year – and there is around a 112-to-one chance of a pregnancy resulting in non-identical twins.
According to the Jane Denton, director of the Multiple Births Foundation, a woman who already has one set of non-identical twins is more likely to have another set than a woman who doesn’t – around four times more likely, or 28-to-one.
It therefore came as a huge surprise when Shauna and Josh were told their family would grow by two. Josh works as a builder.
He hope the couple were saving up to buy a seven-seater car as soon as possible.
“We’re going to have to save up and buy a seven-seater for us all to be able to travel together .”