Couple celebrate birth of their second set of in less than three years

They say that lightning never strikes twice - but one couple are coping with double-double trouble after they had their second set of twins in less than three years.

When Adel and Blane Pearson discovered they were having twins three years ago, they thought it was a fantastic surprise. But the couple were stunned when Adel fell pregnant a second time - and learned she was again expecting twins.

Now they are regarded as a 'one in a million' family by experts because the first set of twins - Grace and Ruby - are non-identical while the latest arrivals - Isla Mae and Isobel - are identical.

All four girls were conceived naturally, without the need for any IVF treatment, and there is no history of twins in their families.

But it means Adel, 30, and Blane, 35, go through 100 nappies a week and have to plan everything like a military operation, such as the children's feeding, bathing and getting them dressed.

Debbie Ross, membership manager of the Twins and Multiple Birth Association, described the Pearson family's two sets of twins as 'practically unheard of.'

'The chance of having non-identical twins is one in 67 while the chance of having identical twins is about one in 1,000', she said.

'But the chances of having two sets of twins, identical and non-identical, must be one in a million. You will find very few families who have a pair of identical twins and a pair of non-identical twins.'

Non-identical twins Grace (7lb 6oz) and Ruby (7lb 8oz) were born on December 9, 2005 - although the twist was that the girls look identical.

Identical twins Isla Mae (7lb 6oz) and Isobel (8lb 6oz) were born on August 26 this year.

On both occasions Adel was induced at 38 weeks pregnancy, managing to carry her babies nearly all the way to full-term. Both sets of twins were also born through caesarean section three minutes apart.

But the joy of the arrival of their first set of twins turned to near-tragedy when Adel collapsed shortly afterwards with a blocked artery in her lung and a hernia and almost died.

She was in hospital for five months fighting for her life which meant Blane had to look after Grace and Ruby alone at home.

'I was so ill and it hurt so much not being able to see my baby girls being raised. Blane was an absolute hero, doing the job of two of us while I was ill, Adel said.

'When I finally came out of hospital it was a enormous shock. I had to get better quickly and become a mother but with twins it was double the effort.

'To start with it was a nightmare telling them apart, so much so that I had to put tags on the end of their feet to make sure which one was Ruby and which one was Grace.'

The couple decided they wanted another child quickly to 'complete their family' so decided to try again to conceive.

Adel, 30, said: 'We weren't looking to have another set of twins but after I knew I was pregnant again I could see immediately that my belly was already very big.

'When I went to see my GP shortly before the scan he said to me, "I can say the chances of you having another set of twins is so rare it's not worth thinking about - it would be unprecedented."

'But then it happened. We went for our first scan at 13 weeks of the pregnancy and they told us I was expecting twins again.

'We didn't know how to react, we both just burst into laughter.

'I wouldn't know what to do with one baby on its own. My first thoughts were that this is going to be absolute hell but now I just find myself having to be very organised everyday.'

Although the first set of twins are technically called identical, Adel was certain that the second pair who are non-identical twins look more alike. She also believes they each have their unique own personalities.

'They're so alike in appearance but but actually the girls are poles apart in some ways', she said.

'Ruby and Isobel are nothing like their sisters character-wise. They both like their own way and can be very demanding. Grace and Isla Mae are more thoughtful. They like to take time to think things out and are more laid back like their Dad.'

Adel admitted that the family had become 'minor celebrities' where they live in Colchester, Essex.

She said: 'I can barely go out now, me and the girls are like celebrities. I can't go shopping without somebody stopping me and wanting a look at the girls.

'I try to dress them differently but everyone sees through it. People are just fascinated and have so many questions to ask.

'I really hope that they don't pair off and gang up against each other but at the moment it's just great to watch two pairs of very young twins forging a relationship together.'

'They are just fantastic.'

Transplant mother speaks of her "indescribable" joy after giving birth

Dozing peacefully in her mother's arms, this is four-day-old Maja Butscher, the first baby to be born as the result of a whole ovary transplant.

Maja, appropriately named after the Roman goddess of fertility, is a symbol of hope to millions of infertile women around the world who could benefit from the same pioneering procedure which enabled her mother Susanne to conceive naturally.

Mrs Butscher, 39, who went through an early menopause, fell pregnant a year after being given an ovary by her identical twin sister.

Recovering from the birth at the Portland Hospital in London, she said: "Being a mother at last is an indescribable feeling. It's been hard to take my eyes off her since she was born.

"I'm so lucky to have had this wonderful opportunity which has given me a sense of completeness I would never have had otherwise.

"Being the first woman in the world to give birth after a whole ovary transplant hasn't sunk in yet, but I'm just so grateful to the doctors who enabled this to happen and to my sister, of course.

"I'm happy to be sharing my story with the world to give other women hope who might have similar problems."

Doctors believe the pioneering transplant treatment which Mrs Butscher underwent in the US last year will not only benefit women who suffer an early menopause, but could also help women who undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer and who could freeze one of their ovaries before beginning treatment.

Mrs Butscher, whose primary reason for the transplant was to halt the advance of osteoporosis which she was suffering as a result of her early menopause, began ovulating naturally for the first time in her life after receiving the ovary from her sister Dorothee.

She said she feared her transplanted ovary had failed when she missed her period eight months ago.

"It was a little bit worrying, but something inside me told me this was different," she said. "For the first time in my life, I went out and bought a pregnancy testing kit. When it showed up positive, I couldn't believe it, so I went out and bought another one to check."

Mrs Butscher, who is originally from Hamburg but has lived in London for the past six years with her husband Stephan, who is also German, said: "Ever since I found out I was pregnant it has been a magical journey.

"At the same time I was super-nervous. Every time we went over a bump or pothole in the road I was worried."

After a straightforward pregnancy, baby Maja Charlotte Shasa Butscher, whose third name means "precious water", was born by elective caesarean at 2.42 on Tuesday afternoon, weighing 7lbs 15oz.

Doctors at the Portland decided to perform a caesarean because Mrs Butscher had reached full term with no signs that she was about to go into labour.

"When I saw her for the first time I just cried," said Mrs Butscher. "You can't really put into words that feeling when you see your daughter for the first time. I heard her scream first, as she was delivered, and then I saw her. She really is a little miracle."

Mr Butscher, 40, said: "I don't think anyone has invented the right words to describe what it feels like to become a father."

Mrs Butscher, an acupuncturist and complementary therapist, was diagnosed as being infertile 12 years ago following years of tests on her ovaries and hormone levels.

She said: "I never had periods when I was younger, whereas my twin sister had regular periods. I was very slim and the doctors said that when I put weight on my periods would start.

"No-one realised at the time that my ovaries weren't working, they just said my hormone levels weren't normal, so I was put on the Pill to compensate.

"I had all sorts of blood tests, genetic tests, DNA tests, but it wasn't until we moved to Boston in America in 1996 that I was diagnosed with premature ovary failure.

"I was also told I had osteoporosis and that it would be very, very difficult for me to have children. It was hard to take on board."

Mrs Butscher and her husband Stephan, whom she had married that year, discussed the possibilities of egg donation and adoption, but, said Mrs Butscher: "We decided in the end we wouldn't go for any of this. We had a very full life and we were happy. We came to terms with the fact that we wouldn't have children."

Mr Butscher, a management consultant, said: "It was just part of what we were. It was never a massive issue because we had happy lives."

Mrs Butscher was put on hormone replacement therapy but was concerned about the long-term side-effects and began to look for other ways of treating her osteoporosis.

Her gynaecologist suggested she should contact Dr Sherman Silber, who had carried out pioneering ovary transplant procedures at the Infertility Centre of St Louis in Missouri. He suggested she might be a suitable candidate for a whole ovary transplant if her twin sister could be the donor.

"I wanted to make sure it wouldn't harm my sister, because it's such a big thing for someone to donate an organ," said Mrs Butscher. "She said she was happy to go along with it if it was what I wanted.

"At the time my primary concern was to treat my osteoporosis, but at the back of my mind it was also about fertility, even though I had been told so many times I couldn't have children. Dr Silber said it was possible I might start to ovulate, and that was what happened."

Mrs Butscher received her sister's right ovary in a four-and-a-half-hour operation in January 2007.

"It was really emotional because I'm very, very close to my sister and I knew I was the one putting her through this, so it was difficult from a physical point of view and from an emotional one," she said.

"After the surgery there was this tiny flame of hope that I might have a child, but it was difficult trying to balance hope with realistic expectations."

The moment Mrs Butscher had never dared hope for came 13 months after her operation, with confirmation that she was pregnant.

She said: "My husband was away at a conference in Dubai at the time and I didn't want to tell him until I was sure, so I said nothing when I spoke to him that evening and it was only the next day, after it was confirmed by my doctor, that I told him he was going to be a father."

Stephan Butscher said: "I was standing on a platform just about to make a speech in front of 50 people when Susanne rang me and said: 'I have to tell you something.'

"She asked me if I was sitting down, then said 'I'm pregnant.' It was the most fantastic news, and it was difficult to keep the grin off my face as I made my presentation."

Mrs Butscher, who now hopes to have more children, said: "Maja has been absolutely fantastic, she is a good feeder and she sleeps really well. She's got her own personality and she loves to observe everything that's going on around her."

As for her status as a world first, Mr Butscher said of Maja: "She is very calm and relaxed about the whole thing. She's just such a good baby."