A mother has beaten the odds by giving birth to two sets of triplets after facing years of fertility struggles.
Courtney Garrett, 38, and her husband Philip, 42, from New Orleans, turned to IVF after experiencing difficulty conceiving naturally. Their joy knew no bounds when they discovered they were expecting triplets after implanting two embryos, one of which split.
“Going through IVF was incredibly emotionally draining, and we started to wonder, ‘Is this ever going to work? Will we ever have the chance to be parents?’” recounted Courtney.
Big family: Courtney Garrett, 38, defied the odds when she found out she was pregnant with her second set of triplets in 2016
Pre-kids: Courtney and her husband Philip, 42, before their brood. They had struggled for years to conceive
Woman defies odds, gives birth to two sets of triplets
Second time around: Courtney is pictured while pregnant with the second set of triplets
Ecstatic: Courtney said she so happy to find out about the first set of triplets (above) back in 2009
No idea: With the the second set, Courtney said she didn’t know there ‘were three babies in there’
‘With the second pregnancy, I was already showing a bit by the first ultrasound but I had no idea there were three babies in there.’
‘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.’
Around one in 9,000 pregnancies results in triplets, but the chance of an embryo splitting and resulting in a multiple birth increases with fertility treatment.
When this happens the siblings are identical as they have all come from the same egg, but in Courtney’s case they are not, meaning she must have fallen pregnant naturally around the same time as conceiving via IVF.
According to the couple’s fertility doctor, Sissy Sartor of the Fertility Institute, the chance of that happening combined with giving birth to two sets of triplets is ‘extremely rare’ and that she has never seen a case like Courtney and Philip’s.
Rare: Courtney’s doctor said that giving birth to two sets of triplets is not a common occurrence
Shock: They were really shocked and in disbelief but any anxiety was overshadowed by ‘pure excitement’ (second set of triplets)
Initially, the older siblings weren’t too keen on welcoming their younger sisters. However, Dr. Sartor shed light on Courtney’s unique case: “Two sets of triplets make Courtney a special case. The second set of triplets occurred with a transfer in 2016 of a single embryo. It turns out she conceived not only with the transferred embryo but also from an ovulated egg.”
“Whether or not in that second conception of triplets the splitting of the embryo occurred with the embryo resulting from the ovulated egg or from the transferred IVF embryo, the calculated incidence of two sets of triplets happening would be anywhere from 0.5 to 2 times per million cases,” Dr. Sartor explained.
“During my career, I have had a handful of identical twins after fertility treatment, but to have two splitting events with embryo transfer with the same patient, I have not experienced that before.”
“It was a pleasure taking care of the Garretts, and I understand that they are managing all their bounty beautifully,” Dr. Sartor concluded.
“We were really shocked and in disbelief, but any anxiety was overshadowed by the pure excitement,” Courtney said. “The doctors had never seen anything like it before, and when I told my family and friends, they were like, ‘No way.’”
Really cool: Courtney said it has been ‘really cool’ to see how wonderfully the older triplets have adapted to their sisters
Bonding: The parents assigned each older sibling a younger sibling based on birth order which has helped them bond
Filled with energy: Philip said he is ‘ecstatic’ and added that he loves having a house ‘full of life’
Philip remarked that there is never a dull moment in the Garrett household. Initially, the older set of triplets expressed disappointment at the prospect of welcoming three babies instead of a puppy. However, since the birth of their younger sisters—Vivienne, Wells, and their fraternal sister Georgie—last February, they have embraced their new roles.
“It has been really cool to see how wonderfully the older triplets have adapted to having their three new sisters,” said Courtney, who works as a chief financial officer. “We assigned each older sibling a younger sibling based on birth order, which has helped them bond, and they have fallen in love with them.”
Courtney and Philip opted for in vitro fertilization (IVF) after Courtney’s Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome hindered regular ovulation and rendered her unable to conceive naturally. IVF involves fertilizing the woman’s egg outside the body and implanting it back into the womb.
Philip, a partner at a wealth consultancy company, expressed his excitement, stating, “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.”