A Mum-of-five has revealed her anguish when doctors told her she should terminate two of her babies after finding out she was expecting quadruplets.
Kendall MacDonald, from New Zealand, was already mum to Brooklyn, three, but she and her husband, Josh, longed for a sibling for him.
With Kendall, 27, suffering from polycystic ovaries, she confessed it was a “surprise” when she fell pregnant the first time.
She said: “I suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis which made it difficult for me to conceive as I wasn’t ovulating regularly.”
Beginning trying when Brooklyn was just two-months-old, over the next few years they tried to fall pregnant again without success, with Kendall suffering a miscarriage.
As well as PCOS, Kendall also suffered Toxic Shock Syndrome, when a piece of placenta remained inside her following Brooklyn’s birth, leading to scarring on her uterus.
Advised these multiple factors would make it hard to conceive, they turned to drug Clomifene, which helps ovulation.
After their second try they were delighted to discover Kendall was pregnant.
“It usually doesn’t happen that fast for people but obviously, that upped dosage created a lot of eggs”, she told Femail.
The couple were overjoyed when an early scan revealed a healthy heartbeat, but they weren’t prepared for what was to follow.
At her nine week scan a second heartbeat appeared, and a third scan revealed a further two heartbeats.
Kendall said: “We’d gone from one baby, to two, then three then four. It was a huge shock.”
They added it was a massive shock as no multiples ran in their families, and they never expected to be pregnant with four babies.
But as the reality sank in, Kendall was told she needed to make a tough choice.
At 12 weeks the mum-to-be was told that there was a chance none of her babies would survive, and she was advised to terminate two of the foetuses to increase the survival chances of the other pair.
She said: ‘It was suggested for the sake of my health and my babies health that I reduce my pregnancy by one set of twins.”
They were given two weeks to decide, but sought second opinions.
One doctor agreed she should have the fetal reduction, but the other said if she wanted to go ahead with all four then she should.
Armed with this information, Kendall and Josh decided to keep all their babies.
They were told she needed to make it to 28 weeks for them to have a fighting chance of survival, and the pair moved nearer the hospital just in case.
Kendall said: “I was told that if I went into labour before 28 weeks, the babies wouldn’t survive.
“So the first goal was to get to 25 weeks, with an ultimate goal of 28 weeks.
At 28 weeks and four days, Kendall went into labour and all four babies were born via caesarean section last August.
Ranging from 2.57lbs to 2.88lbs, Molly, Hudson, Indie and Quinn were rushed to intensive care.
The quads were the first to be born in New Zealand in 20 years.
Bigger than expected, the babies were hooked up to breathing tubes, and after seven long weeks they could be held and cuddled, and at 12 weeks the quads came home.
The family have set up a GiveaLittle page to help with the costs of raising five babies under four, with Kendall saying: “I can’t believe we are on the other side of it and four healthy babies and they are all miracles.”