A set of triplets who were all born two years apart are set to celebrate their first Christmas together. Karen and James Marks are currently preparing for their first Christmas with their children, Cameron, five, Isabella, three, and Gabriella, 17 months.
Although the children each have a two-year age gap between them, they are considered triplets because they were conceived on the same day - and at the same time - through IVF, from the same batch of embryos. After Cameron was born on September 1, 2018, Karen and James, who live in Taunton, kept their viable embryos frozen so they could have more children later.
Isabella was born on September 15, 2020, and Gabriella was born on July 3, 2022. They may have their hands full with three children at home, but Karen and James feel like they've hit the jackpot after their long journey to welcoming their triplets.
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"This is really our first proper Christmas all together as Isabella was in hospital last year and got out on Christmas Day," Karen said. "The kids are really excited, they ask me every single day 'Is it Christmas yet?'"
"The magic of Christmas for the kids is what it is all about!"
Karen, James and the children will be celebrating Christmas at home, although the children's grandparents will be stopping by for Christmas dinner. Karen added: "Grandma and grandpa will be over on the day with more presents and for lunch. I don't know where they're all going to go - it's nuts!"
When speaking about the trials of IVF, Karen said the pair feel "so incredibly lucky". She explained: "It feels so great to have all three of our children now.
"Some people go through IVF and sadly don't even get to have one baby, and we've managed to have three, so we just feel so lucky. Gabi was our last embryo, so she's our last baby now. I knew I wasn't done before Gabi, so I told my husband if it didn't work, then we better get saving so we could have another one!
"I feel complete now, I'm so happy. My heart is very full." The couple, who married in 2014, feared they might never have a child of their own after Karen failed to get pregnant and was diagnosed with fertility issues. Karen said: "We tried for a year to conceive naturally and nothing happened, so we went to the GP and they ran some tests.
"There's no specific reason. I don't ovulate regularly so that's the main thing, but other than that, there's no reason - we don't have any conditions.
"We had five embryos made up. We've lost two - I miscarried one in 2019, and then one in September last year, a month before we fell pregnant with Gabi."
Karen was given funding for one round of IVF on the NHS in 2017 at the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine, which proved successful and she gave birth to Cameron on September 1, 2018. His sister, baby Isabella Grace, was born two years later on September 15, 2020, and the couple finally welcomed baby Gabriella Edith on July 3, 2022.
Throughout her IVF journey, Karen sadly miscarried twice - once in 2019 and a second time in 2021 - and feared losing baby Gabi after experiencing bleeding early on and then falling ill with Covid. Despite Karen losing half a stone during a difficult week of battling Covid, baby Gabi stayed strong and finally joined her family last month, weighing 7lbs 5.5oz.
After a long journey to motherhood, Karen said she never hesitates to tell people her children are IVF babies and hopes her experience will encourage others to try IVF if struggling to get pregnant. She added: “Infertility never leaves you. Pregnancy announcements can still be painful, especially when someone has seemingly conceived easily.
“It’s a battle and a journey, and while part of me believes there’s a reason we had to go through it, we’ve met so many wonderful people along the way. If you’ve exhausted all other options, then crack on and go for it. IVF is fine. Don’t put it off or avoid it. It’s the most likely fertility treatment to work, and it did for us."
After sadly miscarrying twice, Karen and James have now used all of their embryos, making baby Gabi their last child to be born from their IVF cycle. Karen had once dreamt of four children, but feels incredibly lucky to have had three children and believes her family is 'complete' following Gabi's arrival.
Karen said: "Gabi was our last embryo, so she's our last baby now. I would have loved to have four, but I'm older now as well and my last pregnancy was a difficult one, so I'm pretty set now.
"Cameron and Isabella love her. They're really cute, even fighting over who gets to hold her, it's really sweet. Cameron is the oldest so he's doing great, but Isabella is missing her time with Mummy as I was at her beck and call before. There is a bit of mom guilt there, juggling equal time with each of my kids.
"James always said we'd have three children - you get around a 60% success rate with IVF, so out of five embryos, he always thought we'd have three babies. We're so happy she's here. It's surreal, having three children after not thinking you'd have any, but we just feel so incredibly lucky.
"I feel complete now, I'm so happy. It's chaos, but we're just so lucky. My heart is full."
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