Brothers against all odds

A shock discovery put Emily Taylor’s baby dreams in doubt…

- EMMA ROSSITER, KAREN PASQUALI-JONES

As I hoisted my son, Richi, three, into the car after nursery, he searched around the back seat. ‘Where’s Arlie?’ he fretted, talking about his 15-month-old baby brother.

‘Don’t worry,’ I smiled. ‘He’s waiting at home with Daddy.’ Richiinstantly relaxed and began chattering about his day finger painting with his friends, and I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face. Only a few years ago, my husband, Richard, 32, and I were struggling to conceive, so to know my two miracle boys were best friends was extra special, especially considering the surprising way they arrived in the world. When I met Richard in April 2013, I was honest early on about wanting lots of kids. While I knew this could seem quite intimidating, I was sure about what I wanted and didn’t want to waste time. To my relief, Richard smiled.

‘I’d love to be a daddy,’ he admitted. We’d only been dating for four months when, to our surprise, I fell pregnant. Yet, six weeks on, I suffered a miscarriage.

‘We’ll keep trying,’ Richard said, comforting me as I grieved, but over the next two years, I suffered three more devastating miscarriages, always around six-weeks, and I was losing hope.

‘What if there’s something wrong with me?’ I worried to Richard in April 2015. I’d always had irregular periods, and my biggest fear was being infertile. By now, we were engaged and Richard promised that, even if I was, we’d look into every treatment possible, so I booked to see the gynaecologist.

Richard sat beside me during the internal examination, and almost immediately the doctor gasped.

Getting answers