20 June 2024

It was just before their 12-week scan that Darren suggested to his partner, Victoria, that they were expecting twins.

Yet Victoria was adamant she wasn’t pregnant with twins. So when the sonographer announced not one, but two babies, the mum-to-be was incredibly shocked to discover she was expecting multiples. 

The couple have shared their story of becoming parents to twins. 

Victoria said: “It wasn’t in my mind that it could be twins, not at all. I just thought I know my own body and I would know if I was expecting twins. We don’t have any twins in our families so I didn’t even think it would be an option.”

But sure enough at the 12-week scan, when two embryos appeared on the screen, the news was confirmed.

Darren said: “I saw the sonographer look quite quickly over the whole area. I thought I saw a second embryo. The measurements were all done for one baby and then the sonographer said, ‘here’s baby number 2’. Victoria’s jaw hit the floor.”

Victoria said: “I froze. I couldn’t speak. I’m glad I was lying down. Darren was just giggling.”

After the initial shock, the reality set in and the couple began to prepare for the twins. Their 16-week scan revealed there was no visible kidneys or bladder for one twin, plus increased fluid in the other twin’s sac. It was later confirmed as TTTS – Twin-to-Twin-Transfusion Syndrome. Action was needed quickly and Victoria and Darren decided to go ahead with specialist laser surgery on the twin boys.

TTTS is a rare but life-threatening condition that affects 10 to 15% of identical twins that share a placenta (monochorionic twins). TTTS can also occur in triplet or higher order pregnancies with monochorionic twins.

Darren said: “We were given three options – have the laser surgery, do nothing or termination. Having a termination was never in our heads.”

Victoria said the Twins Trust website helped to educate her about TTTS and reading stories of others who had faced the diagnosis brought comfort to the soon-to-be parents. She added: “At that point I hadn’t heard of TTTS, that’s when the Twins Trust website was helpful to find out more and read stories about other people. We had seen a little poster at hospital about Twins Trust. I did feel very lonely and quite confused and the website was really helpful.”

A week after the TTTS was confirmed, Victoria had laser surgery. Victoria said: “We knew it could rapidly escalate and they were worried about one of the twins. The other twin’s sac was getting bigger and bigger.”

Just days after the surgery, the couple returned to hospital and were relieved to hear that the surgery had been successful. Darren said: “The surgery was unbelievable. It was a weird experience but it was amazing, seeing the camera going into the womb. The staff were amazing at St. Michael’s Hospital in Bristol. Mark, Sarah and the nurses were fantastic and gave us the time, information and space needed during that tricky time when we had the surgery.”

Following the surgery, Victoria started losing fluid and had a number of bleeds over a couple of weeks. She said she was losing fluid ‘like a leaking tap’ and faced three visits a week to hospital. At week 33, more bleeding occurred and that’s when she returned to hospital. Victoria said she was thankful she had packed her hospital bag, after reading about being prepared on the Twins Trust website.

The boys, Ezra and Arlo, were born via C-section in September 2023, surrounded by 26 members of staff in theatre. And it wasn’t without drama, as a student trainee in the theatre fainted during the birth.

Victoria said: “It went really well. They were born at 34 weeks and one day. We stayed in hospital in NICU for about a month and intensive care for a couple of weeks. They were transferred to low dependency for a couple of weeks.”

Victoria praised staff at Musgrove Hospital in Taunton, saying she felt well looked after and they helped boost her confidence during recovery. “We can’t speak highly enough of them,” added Darren.

Now nine months on, the twins are doing well and have battled through other medical issues, including having surgery on hernias.

Victoria said: “I enjoy taking the boys to clubs and I don’t let the fact I have twins stop me doing anything. Looking back on the TTTS, I think it’s good to have honest conversations with each other as a couple. I had never heard of the syndrome before so I tried to educate myself. I was never pushed into any decisions, everyone at the hospital was very open minded. They never rushed me. There’s so many thoughts in your mind.”

Darren’s advice was to always ask questions, if you are unsure or need further advice. He added: “Just don’t lose hope. We just kept on hoping. We hung onto that hope and had positive outcomes.”

As well as using the Twins Trust website for resources, the couple completed the Twins Trust antenatal course, which they said gave them a good foundation as they prepared for the birth of the twins. They also found the North Somerset Twins and Multiples Group via the website.

Victoria added: “We just want to say thank you to Twins Trust for being there for us when we really needed the support, as it was quite a lonely and worrying time.”