After many failed attempts and around £82k spent, the couple Amy and Gary O’Keeffe, from Ireland, finally managed to fulfill their dream of having children. The mother went through 10 rounds of I.V.F (ɪɴ ᴠɪᴛʀᴏ ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ) and three ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs and was thinking about giving up the pregnancy, but luckily, she found out late last year that she was expecting twins. Little Maisie and Jared were born healthy in July this year.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Amy said that she and Gary have always been very fond of children and began trying to ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ soon after their wedding. “I became pregnant for the first time during our honeymoon, which unfortunately ended in our first ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ,” she lamented. “We got pregnant easily, so we didn’t expect to have any ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ɪssᴜᴇs, but after 14 months of trying we were out of luck,” she continued.
Concerned, the couple decided to seek help at a ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴄʟɪɴɪᴄ. “After extensive testing, we never received an official ᴅɪᴀɢɴᴏsɪs and our problems were attributed to ‘unexplained ɪɴꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ,’” Amy reported. The mother started her journey with assisted ʀᴇᴘʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴ in 2017 and underwent 10 rounds of I.V.F over the next five years. During that time, she became pregnant twice, but both ended up resulting in ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs. “It was devastating to go through the same thing over and over again. Each time, I thought to myself that I couldn’t go on and I lost a little more hope,” she recalled.
In case the tenth round of I.V.F had not worked out, the couple had agreed to actually give up on getting pregnant. “We were almost at peace with the idea that we might not be able to have biological children. We were both working overtime to fund the attempts. It became part of our budget.” The last attempt was in November 2021, and Amy admitted that she wasn’t very hopeful. “A week after the transfer, I started to feel really bad. Out of curiosity I decided to take a pregnancy test and I saw that the result was positive,” she celebrated.
Amy’s first exam was 5 days before Christmas. When the nurse told the couple that there were two babies, the parents cried uncontrollably. “It was so unexpected because the odds were against us. Our families were also very happy when we told them. Although everyone was happy, we were very scared of another ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ,” she reported.
However, to everyone’s relief, the pregnancy went off without a hitch. “I gave birth through a natural birth and the two were born on different dates. Maisie was born just before midnight on July 22nd and is a Cancer, and her brother Jared was born shortly after midnight on July 23rd and is a Leo.
The twins were able to go home after spending three days in the hospital and, according to their mother, are growing well and healthy. “We finally have the happy ending we’ve been longing for and we can move on to our next chapter as a family of four. We couldn’t be happier!” concluded Amy.
