Two Australian women living together have spoken of their joy after revealing they are expecting quintuplets together. Melissa Keevers, 27, and her partner Rosemary Nolan, 21, who already share a child born to Melissa through donor insemination, were stunned to Melissa was carrying five babies at odds of one in sixty million.
'I was in shock for weeks,' Melissa told Australia's Woman's Day magazine.
'It took me a long time to get my head around what was happening. But now I've come to terms with it, I'm excited.' While conceiving quintuplets is rare, Melissa's babies are even more remarkable because she had no treatment to increase her fertility.
'During the scan the doctor asked us if we wanted the news, but as he looked pale, we were worried something was wrong,' Melissa told the magazine.
'He then told us he'd found five gestational sacs meaning, if all went well, we'd have five babies. We can't repeat what we said next!' The two women, who live in Brisbane, decided to use the same U.S. company and the same donor as the person who fathered their daughter, Lilly, now aged one.
They had been given 30 donor profiles to choose from and in the end they narrowed the person down to a 27-year-old dark-haired law student with good teeth and eyesight and a high IQ, although his identity remains a secret.
Rosemary, who is from Ireland, had left home in 2008 and was travelling around Australia, having fun, when she met Melissa and settled down with her.
When Melissa became pregnant with Lilly they decided to travel to Ireland so that Rosemary could tell her family that she was gay.
She said her father took it pretty well at the time but did make a comment that he wouldn't have any grandchildren. 'So I proved him wrong,' Rosemary told the magazine, adding: 'Two ladies and six babies!'
Rosemary is herself a twin so she said she understood the special bond the quintuplets would form. The two women admit it is difficult to comprehend having to cope with five new additions to their family and at first they were also worried about the associated health risks.
Each baby, however, is above average size for multiple births with strong heartbeats, resulting in doctors agreeing the odds are in their favour.
The couple, who say the babies will born in a few short months, are contemplating the time when they will be going through about 70 nappies a day - and they're planning to import a specially-made six-seater pram from America.
'People don't know whether to congratulate us or commiserate,' Rosemary told the magazine. 'But we think it's a miracle and couldn't be happier.'
Article: 5th October 2010 www.dailymail.co.uk
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