Courtney and Philip were beginning to wonder if they were ever going to be able to become parents.
The New Orleans couple decided to try IVF because Courtney had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which prevented her from ovulating regularly.
Three tiny miracles
After years of failed attempts, the overjoyed couple not only successfully conceived – but Courtney was pregnant with triplets.
The proud parents welcomed the tiny trio in September 2009 after the 38-year-old had two embryos implanted – one of which split.
“When we found out we were having the first set we were ecstatic. We were just like, ‘How did this happen?’”
Then they decided to have another round of IVF in the hope of giving triplets Jack, Oliver and Ellie a younger sibling.
Hang on… three more??
Courtney had a single embryo implanted and was stunned when an ultrasound revealed she was expecting triplets again.
About one in 9,000 pregnancies results in triplets, but the chance of an embryo splitting and resulting in a multiple birth increases with fertility treatment.
When this happens the siblings are identical because they have all come from the same egg.
But remarkably, in Courtney’s case they are not – meaning she must have fallen pregnant naturally around the same time as conceiving via IVF.
“It just makes my heart swell”
The couple’s fertility doctor Sissy Sartor says the chance of this happening combined with giving birth to two sets of triplets is “extremely rare”.
“It just makes my heart swell to see all these beautiful babies and think they are mine,” Courtney says.
