The chances of a woman giving birth to two sets of identical twins are less than one in 100,000, but a Sydney woman has defied the odds and done just that.
Sophia Brown, 32, and her husband Paule Brown, 33, welcomed identical twin girls Camilla and Madison into the world at 1.25pm and 1.26pm, respectively, on Wednesday. The identical baby girls, who were born at Norwest Private Hᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ in Bella Vista last week, were the second set of identical twins born to proud parents Sophia and Paule Brown. Their big brothers, three-year-olds Ethan and Harley, were also born at Norwest Private Hᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ. Sophia said: ” Never in a million years did I think I would have twins, let alone two sets of identical twins, it’s just amazing. When the ʀᴀᴅɪᴏʟᴏɢɪsᴛannounced the news the second time I assumed she was joking. I was more sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ than Paule and he was definitely more excited at first, but like me, he just couldn’t believe it. After having the boys, we wanted to try for a girl to complete our family and we just couldn’t believe that we had ended up with two.”
Sophia and Paule first found out they were expecting twin boys in 2014 and prepared their home for their unexpected arrivals. Sophia said: ” When we found out we were having the boys we were both surprised and sᴄᴀʀᴇᴅat the same time, we had no idea what to expect. But we received so much support from our families, they really helped us out, and eventually we learnt what worked best for us. I had no ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs and I ᴄᴀʀʀɪᴇᴅthem full term.” And, once Sophia and Paule overcame the initial sʜᴏᴄᴋ of expecting a second sets of twins, the couple couldn’t wait to meet the new additions to their family. She added:” Thankfully both of my ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄɪᴇs have been uncomplicated and they both went really smoothly. I had a natural birth with the boys, however ғᴏʀᴄᴇᴘs had to be used and so they had different shaped heads to begin with, that was how we could tell them apart. The girls were ʙʀᴇᴇᴄʜ and so I had to have a C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ and because of this there is no way of telling them apart just yet, they are completely identical. But for now the Hᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ have put little tags on their ankles so we know who is who. The bond the boys have is so special and we can’t wait to see the relationships the girls will have when they grow up, it’s so lovely to know they will always be there for each other.”
Sophia said: ” We felt a lot calmer than what we did with Ethan and Harley, this time around we knew what we were doing after all of the practice we already had. And luckily we sᴀᴠᴇᴅ everything that we needed, so we already had the double pram, two cots and two car seats. We didn’t have to make much changes to the house, but we have had to upgrade our car to an eight seater. Ethan and Harley are very affectionate and gentle towards their new baby sisters, they want to carry and cuddle them every minute of every day. They are always concerned about me and they want to know how the girls are doing when they visit the Hᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ. At the moment we don’t plan on having any more children, we are over the moon that we have two boys and two girls, they are just perfect. We have received a few negative comments from different people, they say that they would ‘hate to be us’. But this really is a dream come true for me and Paule, we have four healthy children, what more could we ask for.”
