Jade Buckingham feared she’d never be able to have children when doctors made the shock discovery that she had two wombs.
But the carer from Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, was over the moon when she learnt she was pregnant with her son Cairo in February 2016.
Then, in September 2017, Jade learnt she was expecting again – this time, with twins.
Even more remarkably, the twins were growing in separate wombs – a phenomenon so rare that doctors say only has a one in 50million chance of happening.
Thankfully, Lanaé and Lavell were born happy and healthy in April 2018 – but mum Jade was in for yet another surprise.
As her twins grew, they looked so different, that strangers often don’t believe they’re related – let alone twins. Lanaé has dark hair while Lavell is blonde hair with a lighter complexion.
Jade said: ‘Sometimes when we’re out and people ask about them, they don’t believe that they’re twins, so sometimes I show them a picture of when they were born.’
After losing four pregnancies in February 2014, Jade underwent a dilation and curettage procedure, which clears the womb lining after a miscarriage.
The procedure led to the shocking discovery that Jade, now 25, had a vaginal septum – a partition that divides the vagina into two parts.
Medics at Nottingham University Hospital, Nottinghamshire, said this may have been a contributing factor to her miscarriages, and that she might not be able to have children at all.
Jade said: ‘I was distraught because I’d always wanted to be a mum.
‘My own mum, Sheena, 42, said she’d be my surrogate if I needed which was a lovely gesture, but I wanted to experience pregnancy.’
However, even with this devastating prognosis, Jade found she was pregnant just one year after the miscarriages and welcomed her eldest son Cairo, six, in February 2016.
Jade said: ‘I’d always worried it might not happen for me – it was everything I’d ever wanted.’
The following year, in September, Jade found out she was pregnant again – this time with twins.
But while Jade was thrilled with the news, she was worried about the fact that they were each in different wombs.
Jade said: ‘It was at the first-trimester appointment at 12 weeks that I found out that the twins were growing in separate uteri meaning that they had formed from different eggs.
‘I was quite worried at the time because of my condition and the previous miscarriages I’d gone through.
‘The doctors said that I should treat my pregnancy the same as when I carried my son which was a relief and I appreciated the regular scans – I had scans every two weeks to monitor the twins’ development.’
Then, when she was 22 weeks along, Jade got the terrifying news that one of her twins – Lanaé – had stopped growing.
She said: ‘The doctors said we had two choices, either I deliver both at 22 weeks but they might not survive, or I carry on and my daughter might not survive.
‘It was a horrible predicament to be in, but I knew I had to keep on going.
‘I decided to carry on with the pregnancy and hoped both would be OK, it was such an anxious time.’
When she was 34 weeks into the pregnancy, on 29 April 2018, Jade was rushed into hospital for an emergency c-section after going into early labour.
Thankfully, after one hour of surgery, the twins were both born healthy.
Single mum Jade said: ‘I was so relieved when they were both born and safe with me.
‘Lanaé was born feet first and Lavell was born head first, from that moment I knew that they were going to be polar opposites.’
When they first arrived, their differing skin tones weren’t apparent, but as they grew, it became more and more obvious.
‘When Lanaé’s hair started to grow, I noticed that she had lovely dark curls and Lavell had blonde hair and a lighter skin tone,’ Jade said.
‘Sometimes when we’re out and people ask about them, they don’t believe that they’re twins, so sometimes I show them a picture of when they were born.’
With the ‘happy and healthy’ twins now four, their personalities are really shining.
Jade said: ‘Lanaé is like a little doll, and she’s so lady-like, whereas Lavell is so boisterous with bags of energy.
‘They have such a love-hate brother-sister relationship but I wouldn’t have them any other way.’
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