A super fertile mother has a 700,000 to one family after giving birth to two sets of twins – one identical, one fraternal – with no ‘filler baby’ in between at incredible odds.
Gina Shelton, 30, and partner Olie Lloyd, 33, from Telford, Shropshire, were left stunned in March when their second natural pregnancy in three years turned out to be another set of twins – despite no history of twins in the family.
With the chances of two consecutive twin pregnancies thought to be in the region of one in 700,000, the stay-at-home mother-of-five admits people joke ‘I’m not sitting next to you’ for fear of catching her productive genes.
Gina said: ‘I never thought we would have twins, but when I was pregnant with the girls I was working in a nursery and I was just so tired all the time.
‘In the waiting room at the hospital Olie and I were looking at cars before the scan and Olie kept joking “forget it, we’re going to need a bus!”
A year later we found out we were having another set of twins – we couldn’t believe it, but neither could our family or even our doctors.
‘It’s crazy, busy and noisy having five kids but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
‘We get through thousands of nappies and we’ve had to buy a seven-seater car but my family are one in a million.”
Both sets of twins were conceived naturally and were born by c-section so when the couple announced that a second pair were on the way, their family were in disbelief.
But for super-fertile Gina, it took just four months of trying to conceive to fall pregnant with both her twin girls and twin boys.
‘But I’m able to go into the town centre with all five of my kids, I am very lucky that they are so well behaved.
‘As identical twins, Niamh and Esme get a lot of attention while out and about so when people notice the other set too, they can’t believe their eyes.
The supermother wows her friends, family and followers as she takes her five youngsters out and about in adorable and immaculate matching outfits.
And Gina and Olie, a carpenter, said while their unlikely two sets of twins have brought twice as much demand to the family they have also brought twice as much love and happiness.
Gina said: ‘I did worry that Phoebe was going to be pushed out as Niamh and Esme grew up, but actually it has just brought us closer together.
‘While the twins have each other, Phoebe and I will always have each other because we don’t understand their bond.
‘Niamh and Esme will talk to each other and burst into hysterical fits of laughter while Olie and I are stood trying to work out what they’re laughing at.
‘But if one of them gets picked on, the other is the first one by their side defending them.
‘They’re incredibly close and I’m sure the boys will be the same.
‘Watching them laugh and love each other like that is the most rewarding thing as a mother.