A young couple in Devon have conceived quadruplets naturally, the odds of which are 700,000 to oneDiscuss baby scan reveals quads on our forums, right now! Or, post a comment below.A young couple in Devon have conceived quadruplets naturally, the odds of which are 700,000 to one.
Emma and Michael Wing from Plymouth already have two sons aged three years and ten months.
"We weren't actually trying for a baby," said Mr Wing, 22, a Gunner with 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery. "But we didn't mind if one came along."
Their hospital has offered them a selective reduction, removing one or more of the foetuses to increase the chances of the others surviving, but Mr and Mrs Wing have refused.
|  |
"We wanted a girl so how would we feel if we had selective reduction and found out that the ones we selected were girls? Anyway, we didn't want to say, 'Right; you can live and you can die'," said Mr Wing.
Mrs Wing, 23, said the news was "scary" and that she was "terrified about how [she] would carry four".
She is only 12 weeks pregnant but is already suffering from severe morning sickness, headaches, and pains in her pelvis, legs and stomach.
The babies are almost certain to be born prematurely. If Mrs Wing carries them till 34 weeks, they will be delivered by Caesarean section. The normal gestation period for a single baby is 40 weeks.
In 2006, there were seven sets of quadruplets out of 741,000 total births in the UK. But a significant proportion of quads born in the UK are likely to have resulted from in vitro fertilisation.
Follow your baby's development through pregnancy and beyond.
Watch your baby's development from conception right through to birth - now you can actually see how much your baby is growing each day!
No question is too big or small - find advice, support and friendship in our Talk forums.
The good, the bad and the ugly - find out what we think of the latest baby products on the market.
Not yet a member? Join thousands of other parents and parents-to-be and Sign Up Here.