The woman gave birth to Enzo, Lennon, Francesca and Stella at 31 weeks’ gestation; according to doctors, the ꜰʀᴏᴢᴇɴ ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏ split into identical twins.
A couple from the United States tried for 10 years to have a family, so they decided to start a ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ to make their dream come true. After several attempts, the woman finally became pregnant with Zoe, her first daughter. As a result, they decided to try again to give the little girl a little brother, not realizing that they would be confronted with an unusual phenomenon: a quadruplet pregnancy with a single embryo.
Two years after Zoe’s birth, Starlyn Cafferata and Bill, from Texas, USA, had five unsuccessful attempts at ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ. Finally, they tried ɪɴ ᴠɪᴛʀᴏ ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ with the only ꜰʀᴏᴢᴇɴ ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏ they had left, and they were pleasantly surprised.
Cafferata is a pediatric nurse, and she said that the doctors explained to them that they believe that “an ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏ divided into identical twins,” and that her body then surprisingly produced two other ᴇɢɢs at the same time as the transfer that “were naturally ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴇᴅ.”
On January 18, the happy parents welcomed Enzo, Lennon, Francesca and Stella, who were born at 31 weeks. “Having an ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏ and then finding out that she was pregnant with quadruplets was just incredible,” revealed the mother, who was able to reunite with her children a week after they arrived in the world.
“We couldn’t take it in. We knew it was our last try, and we wanted Zoe to have a little brother. At best, we expected to have a baby. We never imagined that we would get more than one,” she stated excitedly. The couple found out about the arrival of the quadruplets two months into the pregnancy when the obstetrician broke the news.
“In the first ultrasound, the doctor stared at the screen without understanding what was happening. I panicked because he was going to say that he couldn’t see a heartbeat or that something had happened to the baby. Then he turned to me and said he couldn’t believe it, but he could actually see four heartbeats,” she recounted.
During the pregnancy, the new mother had to be closely monitored since the pregnancy had been considered ʜɪɢʜ-ʀɪsᴋ. As she narrated, she was examined every two weeks to verify that the four babies were still alive and growing correctly. “When you are old enough to understand, we will tell you all about your wonderful birth from her. And how her mom and her dad tried to get pregnant for ten years, and then five attempts came all at once,” she closed.