Be careful what you wish for!
Courtney and Philip Garrett tried for years to conceive through IVF. Then in September 2009, they found out they were pregnant- with triplets.
Courtney had had two embryos implanted, one of which split.
Not finished yet, they planned on giving Jack, Oliver and Ellie another younger sibling through IVF.
This time however, they had a single embryo implanted. Imagine the couple's shock when the ultrasound revealed that they were having an other set of twins!
While the chances of multiples increases with fertility treatments, around only one in 9,000 pregnancies results in triplets.
When the siblings are identical, they all come from the egg splitting. However, the second round of Garrett triplets aren't- meaning that Courtney must have fallen pregnant naturally around the time of IVF.
Doctors woh looked after the couple said that two sets of triplets is "extremely rare".
Speaking to The New York Post, Courtney believes that they are a lucky family.
“It just makes my heart swell to see all these beautiful babies and think they are mine.
“There are a few people in the world with two sets of triplets but certainly not any that happened in these sort of circumstances.
After the difficulties of IVF, Courtney is grateful for her big family.
“Going through IVF was very emotionally draining and we started to feel like, ‘Is this ever going to work? Are we ever going to get the chance to be parents?’
“When we found out we were having the first set we were ecstatic. We were just like, ‘How did this happen?’
She recalled their disbelief in conceiving triplets for a second time.
“The ultrasound came up and we could see there were two circles, so I was like, ‘Wait a minute.’
“As I came to terms with it my husband kept saying, ‘Watch one of them split.’ I said, ‘You are crazy, that won’t happen again,’ but sure enough, it did.
“We were really shocked and in disbelief, but any anxiety was overshadowed by the pure excitement.
“The doctors had never seen anything like it before and when I told my family and friends they were like, ‘No way.'”
Identical twins Vivian and Wells, and their fraternal twin Georgie were born in February 2017 and their older siblings have "fallen in love with them".
Taking advantage fo the matching sets, the parents have assigned each triplet a sibling matching their birth order.
"[It] really has helped them bond and they have fallen in love with them.”
Doctors estimate that the chance of conceiving two sets of triplets range from 0.5 to 2 times per million cases.
Dad Philip said he is “ecstatic” with his full family.
“It is amazing having a house that is full of life. There is never a dull moment. There is always lots going on and we really enjoy each other.”
