The parent told of their delight at their ᴇxᴛʀᴀᴏʀᴅɪɴᴀʀʏ triplets, years after ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀsᴡᴀʀɴᴇᴅthey might ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ have children.
The Coopers married in June 2005 and started trying for a family, but were ᴅᴇᴠᴀsᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ when ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs ᴡᴀʀɴᴇᴅthey might ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ᴀʙʟᴇ to ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ. The ɴᴜʀsᴇ and her engineer husband went for ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀʟ ᴛᴇsᴛs and learned they both had ғᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴘʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍs. Cooper said: ” We went for tests after we’d been trying for 18 months with no luck. Martin was found to have ʟᴏᴡ ᴍᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ and ʟᴏᴡ ᴍᴏᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ in his sᴘᴇʀᴍ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ and I was told I ᴡᴀsɴ’ᴛproducing very good quality eggs, so our chances of ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠɪɴɢ were low. It was very upsetting but we weren’t prepared to give up on our dream of having a family and we started looking into other options.” The couple decided to try to ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ using ⒾⓋⒻ and in August 2007 they paid £6,000 for a ᴘʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ ᴄʏᴄʟᴇ of the ғᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ to ᴀᴠᴏɪᴅ the ⓃⒽⓈ waiting list. Six ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏs were created and one was ɪᴍᴘʟᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ immediately, while another four were ғʀᴏᴢᴇɴ for possible use in the future. The couple were ᴡᴀʀɴᴇᴅthey might have to undergo several cycles of ⒾⓋⒻ but were thrilled when Cooper fell ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ on their first attempt, and Libby was born in May 2008.
Then last year the family from Melksham, Wiltshire, decided to try for another child using the remaining ғʀᴏᴢᴇɴ ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏs. Cooper underwent another ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏ transfer in June and ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs ɪᴍᴘʟᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ two, to increase her chances of a successful ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ. She said: ” The ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs told us there was just a 14 per cent chance of one of those ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏs being ᴠɪᴀʙʟᴇ. They didn’t give us any odds for both ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏs taking, as it’s thought to be less than one per cent. Martin and I were very aware that we might not be so lucky this time and we tried not to get our hopes up too much.” To their amazement, a ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ test revealed Cooper was expecting again after that treatment. And the couple had another surprise when the six-week scan showed she was ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ with twins. Cooper said:” We were overjoyed. We’d struck lucky twice with the ⒾⓋⒻ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ and now we were having not one but two babies. The ɴᴜʀsᴇs were smiling and saying ‘What’s your secret?’. It was more than we could ever have asked for.” Maddie and Neeve were born on February 5, four weeks early, weighing 5lbs 8oz and 4lbs 12oz respectively, and were allowed home two days later. Parents Nadine and Martin Cooper say they will tell their non-identical triplets about their special relationship when they are older. Cooper said: ” We’re still trying to get our heads round the fact we’ve got triplets who are different ages but it’s lovely to see people’s reactions. Libby’s too young to understand how it all works but when she’s older we’re going to explain how her little sisters were actually made at the same time, but they were just kept in the freezer a bit longer. A few years ago we didn’t even think we’d have one child, and now we’ve got three. We feel very lucky.”
