3 March 2022

When parents-to-be Penny and Adam were told their unborn triplets had a rare complication, they had a difficult decision to make about the future of their babies and feared losing all three.

At just 17 weeks, Penny Speed discovered her triplets had TAPS (Twin Anaemia-Polycythaemia Sequence).

On International TAPS Day (3 March 2022), Penny and Adam are celebrating their healthy children, who are now two years old.

TAPS is specific to monochorionic pregnancies, where babies share a placenta. It happens in 3-5% of these pregnancies.

Penny, who lives in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, was nine weeks pregnant when she found out she was expecting triplets. She was given the worrying TAPS diagnosis when she was 17 weeks pregnant.

She said: “When we found out the triplets had TAPS, we were terrified. It was really scary. Everything had been normal with the pregnancy so it was a bit of a shock to discover there was a problem and it was a big one.  From the get-go, we were always told we were a high-risk pregnancy.

“We were given three options. One was to terminate one of the twins but that could risk losing all three. Secondly, we could wait to see what happened or the last option was to have laparoscopic laser surgery to potentially fix the problem. Doctors gave us time to think it through. Adam and I wanted to do the laser surgery. The termination was never an option for us.”

The laser surgery took place at King’s College Hospital, London and medical students observed as surgeons performed the hour-long operation. The procedure was shown on screens in the room so Penny and Adam could follow the surgeons as they completed the laser surgery.

Penny said: “It was mind-blowing. We got to see two of our babies even before they were born.”

The parents-to-be then faced an agonizing wait to find out if the surgery had been successful.

Penny added: “We had to wait a couple of hours and then we had another scan to see whether anything had changed. There was a very minute change already and they were happy with how the surgery had gone.”

Following the surgery, Penny was closely monitored with regular scans.

Yet at 27 weeks, her waters broke and she went to her local hospital, The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.

She was later transferred to the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, before returning to The Princess Alexandra when she was 30 weeks.

Penny was allowed home at this stage and a date was planned for a Caesarean section for 6 January.

The triplets were born at 31 weeks as an early Christmas present on 19 December 2019 via emergency C-section.

Toby was the first to arrive into the world, weighing 1.5kg, followed closely by sister Wren (1.4kg) and completing the trio, Daisy weighed 1.3kg.

Penny added: “I didn’t see them for quite a few hours. They were whisked off in incubators straightaway.

“Toby was the strongest but Wren had seriously under-developed lungs, which meant she had to be transferred to a different hospital for treatment.

“They wheeled me round on the bed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to see them all before she left, but I couldn’t get close to them yet, and they were mostly covered in tubes and wires. I met Toby and Daisy properly the following morning, but it was a few days later on Christmas Day that I was well enough to make the trip to meet Wren. The perfect Christmas present.”

Shauna Leven, Chief Executive Officer of Twins Trust, said: “At Twins Trust, we understand that many people experiencing multiple pregnancies face complications, such as TAPS. That's why it's so important that our families have access to the right information, advice and support as pregnancies progress. We're here for people right from the start of their journey, a community that's there for families, every step of the way."

Penny and Adam continue to raise awareness about TAPS and offer advice to families faced with a diagnosis.

Penny added: “International TAPS Day is so important. To know that there is a day where people are talking about TAPS and are doing what they can to raise awareness is great.

‘We didn’t know anything about TAPS before our diagnosis and having somewhere to find out proper information is key.

“It is great to know that charities, like Twins Trust, and groups are there to help you through the hard times. There are so many places to find information without knowing its reliability.

“With the special interest that Twins Trust has, I felt confident in knowing their information was accurate.”