A mum was surprised to discover she was pregnant with two sets of twins at the same time – a phenomenon doctors say is a ‘1-in-10 million’ case.
Ashley Ness, 35, initially visited her gynaecologist back in April to renew her birth control prescription, but was stunned to find out that she was actually pregnant. In fact, she was really pregnant.
Speaking to People, she recalled how she replied to the ultrasound technician in disbelief: “I’m having twins?”
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However, part-time hair stylist Ness was still in the dark as the puzzled technician admitted they weren’t sure, and stepped out for a moment – later revealing they’d had to go and 'Google it’.
"I'm now in the room by myself panicking, like, 'What's going on? What did she see?'" Ness continued.
"I felt like it was 20 minutes. It could have been an hour. Then she comes back in, and she was like, 'Did you tell anybody you were having twins?' And I was like, 'Why?' She said, 'Can you just hold off on telling people?'
"So she starts the ultrasound back up. And she goes, 'Honey, there's actually four babies in here'."
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Ness, from Taunton, Massachusetts, already has a full house with her eight-year-old daughter Chanel, her boyfriend Val, 47, his two youngest sons, Isaish, 10, and Zayden, seven – along with his eldest child, 24, who lives elsewhere.
After suffering four miscarriages, Ness accepted that she was ‘blessed with one child’ and took on her boyfriend’s boys as her own.
But tests revealed she had four babies in two placenta sacs, which indicated two sets of identical twins – something Dr. Ahmet Baschat, director of the Center for Fetal Therapy and a professor in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, said was a rarity of ‘like 1 in 10 million’.
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Baschat, who is not involved in Ness' care, told People: "If she were playing the lottery, if she's this lucky, she would be very rich."
Baschat added: "It's a high-risk pregnancy. That variety I haven't seen. We see a lot of rare stuff, but this is the first time I'm hearing this in my entire career."
While twins run in Ness’ family, the thought of carrying two sets at the same time understandably came as a 'big shock’, with further tests showing that one set would be male and the other female.
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Friends have now set up a GoFundMe to help drum up ‘financial support for unexpected miracles’, having reached $12,300 of the $15,000 goal.
The description says that ‘only about 150 sets of quadruplets and higher-order multiples are born in the United States each year’, and that ‘Ashley and her boyfriend are thrilled and overwhelmed’.
“They already have four children between them,” it reads.
“The expenses, even now, are adding up. They need help. LOTS OF HELP! She lives on a part-time hairdresser's income, and he's a small engine mechanic. They will need lots of support as quadruplets require hospital trips, home care, lots of diapers, and other necessities.
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“The average cost to raise one child is 17k per year. The average cost for quadruplets is above 68k. These expenses do not include specialized treatments for preemies, which they will be. The babies are due in October; however, for the health and well-being of Ashley and her babies, they will most likely be delivered in mid-August. Ashley cannot return to work as these tiny miracles will need round-the-clock care for most of their first year. Your donations will help support these little miracles' needs.”
A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks, but Ness – who is currently 24 weeks along – has discussed having a delivery by caesarean section at around 30-32 weeks.
For now, however, she’s ‘rearranging a lot in the house’, with plans to buy a new vehicle to accommodate the growing family.
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Jess Hardiman