- Tracey Britten, 57, thought her baby days were over but then she got some incredible news
- After years of heartbreak and loss, she travelled to Cyprus for IVF at age 50 and discovered she was pregnant with quadruplets.
- Despite high-risk warnings and pressure to reduce the pregnancy, she carried all four babies and delivered them safely by C-section.
- Now she is a proud mum of seven and grandmother of 12, sharing her inspiring journey of love, resilience, and life with quads.
Here Tracey tells her own story in her own words
A smile tugged at my lips as my partner, Stephen, walked through the front door. ‘I’m pregnant,’ I blurted.
‘I can’t believe it,’ he stammered, in shock.
We’d met through mutual mates in 2005 and, despite our 11-year age gap – me being then 37 and Stephen 26 – we quickly hit it off.
I was already a mother of three and Stephen a father to one from previous relationships, but we both decided we wanted children together.
I had never been fitter or healthier, so we started trying for a family.
READ MORE: We tried for one more and got FOUR!
Time passed with no joy, then our hearts shattered when we fell pregnant and sadly lost the baby in March 2007.
Six weeks later, I was hit hard when my mum, Pauline, died, aged 66, from heart disease. With everything we’d been through, we put our baby plans on hold.
After we tied the knot in 2012, our family began to expand as my daughter Sarah-Lee, now 39, and two sons, Paul, 38, and Marley, 28, started to have babies of their own.
I was a doting – and clucky – grandma
I was a doting and clucky grandma, so we started trying again.
After more years of trying without success, aged nearly 50, my hope dwindled.
‘Maybe we could try IVF,’ Stephen suggested.
By this point I was almost too old for IVF at home, plus it came at a whopping cost.
While I’d inherited some money from Mum, it wasn’t enough to cover rounds of IVF locally, but I found a clinic in Cyprus that’d take us.
‘If this doesn’t work, we’ll call it a day,’ I said to Stephen, who agreed.
Telling family we were off on holiday, in April 2018, we flew to Cyprus for 10 days, and had four embryos – made from my eggs and Steven’s sperm – transferred.
Now back home and taking a pregnancy test, finding out the IVF had worked was such a thrill.
Seven weeks later, Stephen was by my side as the sonographer ran the wand over my belly.
‘There’s two heart beats,’ she said, before adding… ‘Actually, there’s three!’
‘No way,’ I blurted.
‘Hold on a minute… there’s four!’ she said.
Tears of shock and delight fell as Stephen kissed me, ecstatic.
But an 11-week scan that revealed I was carrying one set of identical twins plus fraternal twins also brought bleak news.
‘Your age and the fact you’re carrying four puts you at high risk, with little hope of your babies surviving. We recommend a selective reduction,’ the specialist said.
It meant terminating one set of twins to give the other two a better chance. We had four days to decide.
READ MORE: Mum’s shock: I thought I was infertile then I had quintuplets
Tears pricked my eyes as we were faced with the most impossible decision.
‘We can’t choose which of our babies get to live,’ Stephen said.
I agreed – I knew our babies were meant to be.
From there, I had scans every fortnight. Thankfully, my pregnancy went smoothly.
At 20 weeks, I took leave from my job as an aesthetic practitioner to stay at home and rest.
Then at 31 weeks, when one set of twins developed twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) meaning one twin was taking more blood from the other putting them in danger, I was admitted to hospital for a C-section.
On October 26, 2018, 35 surgeons and nurses got to work, delivering Francesca first at 10.01am, weighing 1.25kg.
Two minutes later her identical twin, Fredrica, arrived at 1.1kg.
Grace was next at 800 grams, and last but not least, weighing 1.6kg, George burst into the world at 10.05am.
Hours later, I got to meet them in NICU. ‘I love you,’ I cooed as Stephen wheeled me to each bub. The next day, I cradled them all together, skin-on-skin.
I felt like I’d won the lotto. At 50, I was the proud mum to quads.
Seven weeks later, on December 11, our bubs were strong enough to come home.
It was the best and bravest decision I ever made
Every day we changed 24 nappies and fed them 28 bottles of formula. Even though there were four of them, being an older mum with experience, I found the whole process easier.
I decided to share my journey on TikTok and wrote a book called Against All Quads to help support older parents facing multiple births.
While my story was met with fascination and support, I also received cruel taunts. A mum at 50… how selfish! and You won’t be around to be there for them, were some of the remarks.
But becoming a mum at 50 was the best – and bravest – decision I’ve ever made. I have the happiest brood and love is in abundance.
As for not being around, I’m in the best shape ever and, when I’m 75, the kids will be 24 and adults.
Today I’m 57, a mum of seven and grandma to 12, some older than my quads.
Seeing our foursome, now six, develop their different personalities brings Stephen, now 46, and me joy every day.
George likes playing Lego while Grace is leader of the pack.
Fredrica adores cuddles and Francesca loves making people laugh.
Having quads is expensive but we get by, and the children never go without.
My kids keep me young and I can’t imagine life without them.
