“Having two sets of twins is a real handful, but I feel so lucky and it’s such a blessing.”
Kirsty Hannam and her partner Rob O’Hara with the two sets of twins, William and Willow and Alice and Aoife. (Image: © SWNS)
A woman told she’d never have kids is delighted after she gave birth to four babies in just over one year.
Kirsty Hannam, 31, was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 18 and doctors told her it was very unlikely she would be able to have children of her own.
But in November 2018, just three months into their relationship, Kirsty and her partner, Rob O’Hara, 34, a civil enforcement officer, found out they were expecting twins.
Kirsty was overjoyed to give birth to William, who weighed 5lbs 9oz, and Willow, who weighed 6lbs 7oz, on June 11, 2019 at Bath Royal United Hospital with Rob by her side.
But just six months later Kirsty was admitted to Royal United Hospital, Bath, with severe pain caused by her endometriosis.
Doctors told her she would eventually need a hysterectomy in order to alleviate intolerable symptoms of the disease – but chose to wait a little longer, just in case.
Kirsty Hannam and her partner Rob O’Hara with the two sets of twins, William and Willow and Alice and Aoife.
Kirsty was stunned to find out she was pregnant with twins in March 2020 – just seven months after the birth of her first set.
Kirsty gave birth to twin girls, Alice, who weighed 5lb 6oz, and Aoife, who weighed 5lbs 3oz, on October 14, 2020 at Bath Royal United Hospital – defying the odds by 12,500 to one.
Kirsty, a stay-at-home mum, from Frome, Somerset, said: “To go from being told that I would never be able to have children to having four in the space of a couple of years was absolutely amazing.
“Having two sets of twins is a real handful, but I feel so lucky and it’s such a blessing.”
Diagnosed with endometriosis at 18, Kirsty made peace with the fact that she probably will never be able to have children with her ex-husband – who she was married to from 2011 to 2018.
Kirsty said: “I was married and settled and children seemed like the next step with my partner then but I knew it probably wouldn’t happen.
“It was devastating as I always wanted to be a mum.
“When people asked what I wanted to do that’s what I said I wanted to do.
“But my partner and I came to terms with it.”
Kirsty’s marriage broke down in 2018 before she started a new relationship with Rob, who she went to school with, in 2018.
Kirsty said: “Rob knew all about my condition when we got together so it was never an issue. “We were on our first romantic mini break away in Bruges, Belgium, together and I know now that the twins were conceived there.
“It was a couple of weeks later and I just didn’t feel right my hormones were a bit all over the place so I decided to take a pregnancy test.
“It was actually also on the day that I was moving in with Rob so there was lots going on.
“I didn’t in a million years expect it to be positive but when I saw it I just said: ‘Oh my god’ and told Rob.
“I said to him: ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t think I could have children.’
“But he was really happy and we were excited – despite having been together for just three months.
“But I didn’t want to get my hopes up as I had been told before that a pregnancy – if it were to ever happen – would probably be ectopic.”
In November 2018, Kirsty went for her first scan with Rob by her side.
Kirsty said: “I was expecting there to be something wrong because the sonographer turned the screen around, but then she told me I was having twins.
“I actually told her to ‘f*** off’ jokingly because I couldn’t actually believe it.
“I just started hysterically laughing and then crying.
“I looked at it and I was absolutely beside myself.
“I don’t really even remember what I thought I just said to Rob: ‘Look babe we’re having twins’ and we just walked out and sat in the car in silence for a moment.
“He had a massive smile on his face the whole time and we decided to go into Bath to calm down and get some lunch and just talk it through.
“Then the excitement hit and we just couldn’t wait for them to get here, we felt so lucky.”
Kirsty gave birth to little William and Willow at 37 weeks naturally on June 11, 2019 with partner Rob by her side.She said: “William was born first and we he came out it was amazing.
“It’s the best feeling seeing that little baby and thinking they’re mine, they’re actually mine.
“I remember looking at Rob and there were just tears streaming down his face.
“I couldn’t have loved him anymore in that moment.”
Kirsty never thought she would have more children as the tots were already quite a handful – but when they were seven months old, she found out they were going to have a sibling.
Kirsty said: “I think Rob and I did want more children, but we knew I’d have to have a hysterectomy so we didn’t think it would actually happen.
“But I thought I had been pregnant for about a week in February, I could just tell.
“I went up the bathroom and did a test – just sitting there.
“I saw the result and thought: ‘Oh my god, it’s positive.’
“Then at my first scan, the midwife asked me if twins ran in the family. “I was like: ‘Oh no, please don’t tell me it’s twins.’
“I just knew straight away and started balling my eyes out.
“I was so worried about how we were going to manage four babies and what we were going to do.
“Rob came in and just started hysterically laughing.
“He thought it was completely brilliant and told me we were going to be fine.
“He thought it was hilarious.”
Kirsty gave birth to twin sisters, Alice and Aoife on October 14 2020. She said: “I feel so blessed and that I managed to be a mum without any medical intervention.
“It’s a real blessing and I don’t take it for granted at all.
“It was just so overwhelmingly happy after the girls came along.
“It’s hard having two sets of twins who are so young but we have a routine.
“They all have their own little personalities and it’s wonderful to watch.
“William is really chilled out while Willow goes straight over to the girls and plays with their dummies and cuddles them.
“It’s really lovely and I feel like the luckiest mum in the world.”
Rob said: “Initially it was terrifying as I thought I never what to have children and I did freak out.
“But the moment I saw the scan of the twins and I saw two little eggs I couldn’t imagine anything different.
“And to think that Kirsty thought that she couldn’t have children it was amazing.
“When Kirsty gave birth it was the most terrifying and the most beautiful moment of my life.
“I was topless and covered in goop and it was amazing.”
Sources:somersetlive.co.uk
