A mum has given birth to three healthy babies after refusing to abort one of her miracle triplets and spending £23,000 on a last-ditch IVF bid.
Christy Beck, 42, feared she would never become a mother after trying for years with husband Ryan, 39, to conceive and had tried numerous treatments without success.
In desperation, the couple, from Richmond, Virginia, in the US took out a huge $30,000 (£23,000) loan for a final round of IVF .
And, after transferring two embryos to increase their chance of success, the pair were overjoyed when scans initially showed Christy was pregnant and expecting twins.
A 12-week ultrasound then revealed a third "hidden" baby, but the couple were presented with a terrible dilemma - whether to terminate one or risk losing two of them.
They refused to lose one of the babies and, incredibly, Christy gave birth to her "little miracles" Rockwell and identical twins Cali and Elli five months ago.
Christy, now a full-time mum, said: “It was absolutely the last chance of being parents. We took a huge gamble taking out a loan, if it didn’t work, we would still owe $30,000 and not have children.
“We were told that since the identical twins were sharing a placenta one could not get enough blood and the other too much risking their chances of survival.
“They gave me the choice to terminate one of my babies or risk losing the twins.
“It was crazy to go from the joy of the third baby to talking about terminating one of them.
“But we felt we were given a third baby for a reason, so we decided to take our chances."
She added: “For the rest of the pregnancy, I was always nervous and constantly asking if all three were breathing, if there were three heartbeats, if they had all their limbs, fingers and toes.
“It was so heart wrenching and then every time I heard their hearts beat it would make me cry with relief.
“To have them all three come out alive and healthy without any hearing, vision or any other problems was a literal miracle.
“It’s like we have an instant family, we are over the moon – they have matching cribs, share the same room, have matching clothes it’s perfect.”
Christy doubted her chances of falling pregnant due to being in her 40s and sought fertility specialists.
Knowing the biological clock was against them, they tried IUIs and IVF but were unsuccessful.
After a holiday following a failed IVF attempt and looking into adoption options, they decided to try for children of their own one final time.
Christy said: “We took out a loan of $30,000 to cover the expenses, realising it was worth it to have the children we so desperately wanted.
“We really needed it to work, so we had two embryos to double our chances
“I was 41 and couldn’t waste any more time, so the specialist agreed to put two embryos in.
“I really wanted it to work and sure as hell it did, it split into my identical twin girls.”
After the transfer, nervous Christy a took pregnancy test nine days earlier than recommended - and watched with glee as the strip showed she was pregnant.
The more tests she took over time, the darker the strip became.
Christy said: “It was a miracle. The feeling was amazing. I never thought I would be able to have children and yet I always wanted them so badly.”
Due to having a high-risk pregnancy, the mum-to-be was put on bed rest from 20 weeks.
On top of mobility difficulties, she battled pain and acid reflux from three babies pushing heavily on her gull bladder.
But her strife was worth it, when on April 6th, she gave birth to three healthy babies.
Christy said: “It was such a beautiful moment, I remember hearing my boy, who came out first, cry and that’s the moment I broke down in tears.
