"I became a first-time mum to twins at 51 - after £22k and six rounds of IVF"

A woman who “always dreamed of being a mum” gave birth to twins at 51 – after spending £22,000 on six rounds of IVF. Caroline Morgan, now 53, always wanted children but found “it was never really the right time” for her. After having initial fertility checks aged 40, she met now fiancé Richard when she was 44. The couple tried to fall pregnant for two years but to no avail – and Caroline says she “started to panic”. Doctors advised them to try IVF, and they decided to pursue it privately at a Spanish clinic – which uncovered Caroline’s endometriosis. The first three rounds failed, followed by two chemical pregnancies, before Caroline fell pregnant on her fifth attempt but she miscarried the pregnancy at six weeks. With two frozen embryos remaining the couple tried for a sixth time and were shocked to discover they were not only pregnant, but with twins. They are now two and thriving, with Caroline starting her own podcast after becoming a mum chatting to fellow parents which helped her “feel less lost” post-partum. Caroline, a stay-at-home mum and podcaster, from Derby, Derbyshire, says: “I was an auntie quite young – I was nine and in primary school and my sister is a lot older than me. “At that point I thought, ‘I love babies and I’m going to be a mummy one day’. “I travelled quite a lot for working singing on cruise ships so becoming a mum for me never really felt like the right time. “I met Richard when I was 44 and he’s just a great guy and a great human being. “After a couple of years we weren’t actively trying but we weren’t not trying, we were just getting on with life. “We went to the doctors to get checked and they said they can’t see anything wrong but said look, it’s your age probably and you need to go down the road of IVF. “I fell pregnant on my sixth cycle. “We did an early viable scan at six weeks and found out it was twins and we were absolutely flabbergasted. “Personally I’ve had patience and love being an older mum – I can give them more financially, I’m more settled, more wise and more worldly. “I don’t look my age but I’m 53 and people say I look 35, so people don’t really know and when I tell them I’m 53 they’re absolutely gobsmacked. “When I tell them my story they are shocked and couldn’t fathom having a child at this age because they’d be so exhausted, “I want to tell people there is hope and don’t give up”. Caroline first met Richard on dating app Match.com and shared her dreams of motherhood straight away, but after being together for two years found Caroline was not falling pregnant and were advised to try IVF. They travelled to Palma, Mallorca for the treatment and after Richard suggested a second cycle of IVF, the couple went ahead but were met with another failed attempt, followed by two chemical pregnancies. On her fifth round Caroline fell pregnant but miscarried at six weeks gestation. “At that point I said to Richard I’ve got my 50th coming up in a few weeks and after that I’m not going to do this anymore, I can’t do this to my body,” she said. “So he said why don’t we try again – we had two embryos left. “I ended up being pregnant. “I was terrified – absolutely terrified because it was such an emotional rollercoaster last time”. At her six-week scan the sonographer revealed she was having twins. She gave birth to a 4.5lb baby boy closely followed by a 4lb baby girl at Royal Derby Hospital, Derby. Despite being “over the moon” to have her children, Caroline admits she didn’t feel the “bubble of love” she expected and felt lost after giving birth. “I didn’t have a village, my family live over two hours away in a different part of the country,” she said. “My friends are all empty nesters in their fifties or grandparents in different stages of their life. “After two weeks my husband went back to work and I was like ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this’. “The only people who helped me were my neighbours who were a retired nurse and midwife – they would bring me food every day to the house”. Choosing to be a stay-at-home mum, Caroline set up her podcast – Motherhood in Stereo – speaking to other mums and experts about being a twin mum, covering topics like birth trauma, early menopause, IVF, adoption and more. “It helped me feel less lost,” she says. “The body image for me was very hard after having babies my body changed a lot in the perimenopause and after that in post-partum. “I had hot flushes and rage, not towards my kids but anger to myself at not feeling good enough and ‘why is my body not the same anymore’. “The key message for me is this – there's no timeline to motherhood. “Lots of women have lots of different complications Through life and for me I just like it’s a personal decision, what feels right for one woman won’t feel right for another. “I was told by a clinician as long as you have a healthy womb you can have a child whichever way that is – women go through surrogacy IVF, adoption, different routes. “I’d have been happy not being a mum knowing I’d tried."

Melden