Mom Who Suffered From 16 Miscarriages Including Quadruplets, Saw Two Babies Miraculously Survived

Emma White, 38, from Liverpool, shares how she believed she miscarried her quadruplets but later learned she was still pregnant with twins after her late grandfather 'visited her in a dream.'   

Emma finally gave birth to her daughter Mollie Rose, 12, after suffering 16 miscarriages over 20 years, she decided never to try again, to avoid further heartbreak.

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In 2020, Emma was left shocked after she learned she was pregnant with twins, however, tragically the scan showed that the soon-to-be mom suffered a miscarriage at six weeks.

Only a month later, doctors informed her that Emma was far from miscarrying the babies, she had actually naturally conceived quads.

At nine weeks, Emma began to bleed profusely and felt herself losing her pregnancy.

But fate wanted something else for her and she had a poignant dream in which her late grandfather, David, appeared to her and told her the babies were still there.

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Emma rushed to the hospital and the doctors informed her that she was having quads, i.e, two sets of identical twins. Doctors told her that the mom suffered from a condition called vanishing twin syndrome and that she was still expecting twin girls. 

Emma describes her remaining journey of pregnancy as 'amazing.' At 37 weeks, she was induced and delivered two healthy baby girls – 5lb 2oz Aurora Azalea and 5lb 11oz Ophelia Lili on 2 October 2021 at Liverpool Women's Hospital.

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After giving birth to her daughter in 2010, the heartbroken mom vowed to never try again to prevent herself from getting hurt again. This was she met her current husband, Joe White, 41, a jewellery importer, in 2019. 

She said: 'I had my one child. I'm an only child myself. I thought that was it for me after Mollie Rose. After all the pain and the worry, I was content.

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'I met Joe and he told me straight away he wanted children. I told him no. 

'But then about two weeks later I was so happy, in love and comfortable that all I could think was give me babies!'

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However, it was not as easy as it appeared and Emma then fell pregnant twice and suffered two miscarriages.

The couple tried one last time and fell pregnant again in late 2020.

An early scan showed the couple that they were having twins, but their journey of pregnancy ended a little too soon as it ended in a miscarriage at six weeks - something Emma discovered on her birthday.

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Only a month later, Emma found she was pregnant again unexpectedly after failing to use protection, because she had so recently lost the babies.

Emma spent the early days of pregnancy being very careful and terrified and would check the toilet every time she went and was scared to 'cough', 'scared of any ache or pain'. 

Then her worst fear became true when at six weeks, she began bleeding and shaking uncontrollably.

At Liverpool Women's Hospital hospital she was given a blood test and told to return in two days for a scan.

She said: 'I got in there, lay down and the sonographer didn't turn the screen around. I'd been in so many times before and I knew it meant more bad news.'

The sonographer then called for support on phone and the room was filled with medics as they prepared Emma for emergency surgery.

'One person was trying to put socks on me, another was reading warnings about surgery off a piece of paper,' she said.

'Finally, someone told me it was a confirmed ectopic pregnancy - when an unviable fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes.

'I was told I'd have to have one of my fallopian tubes removed.'

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Only after a few minutes of making the emergency call, Emma was in the theatre sedated. After waking up, her last hope of having a child was gone now. But then she couldn't believe her ears when she overheard a doctor talking to a colleague that night and mentioning that she was pregnant.

A blockage had been found in one of her fallopian tubes during surgery, which was cleared, so her pregnancy was continuing.

Then a scan a few days later revealed that the mom was pregnant with four kids.

Emma said: 'I was stunned. I still couldn't believe it as I was taken off to see a specialist in multiple pregnancies.

'She walked in and said, "So, four babies." She showed me another scan image and there they were - four tiny blobs.'

Both the soon-to-be parents were left overjoyed with the news and a private scan confirmed their four babies were doing well a week on.

Then at 9 months, Emma started to bleed heavily and was taken to hospital by ambulance, but told her babies were healthy.

Only two days on, she stood up and 'felt something fall out.'

Looking down, she found herself staring at what she describes as 'clearly little babies.'

She was bleeding and hospital staff was unable to perform an internal scan, however, the external scan confirmed that there were no signs of pregnancy.

Emma said: 'I was told it looked like I'd passed the pregnancy.

'I knew they were right, as I'd seen the babies with my own eyes. I knew they'd gone.'

Emma gathered her courage to fight for her pregnancy one last time and shared the tragedy on social media for support.

She said: 'I put it all on Facebook and a woman came forward offering to be my surrogate. We were all lined up and ready to go.'

Then Emma explained she later dreamed she was still pregnant, revealing: 'I woke up with a start. My grandad died when I was four and I never have those kinds of dreams.

'I grabbed a doppler I had on top of the cupboard, held it to my stomach and listened. Sure enough – there was a whooshing sound.'

Even though Joe showed doubt and confusion over her dream, Emma headed to hospital and insisted on being scanned.

She said: 'They must have thought I was mad.

'I'd been marked down as having lost the babies and there I was, hysterical and crying, saying, 'I've had a dream. I'm still pregnant'.'

And sure enough, a scan showed Emma was still pregnant with two babies.

Vanishing Twin Syndrome is a medical condition that happens when one of a set of twins dies in the uterus and the embryos are normally then reabsorbed into the body.

In Emma's case, she had lost one from each set of identical twins – leaving her with two non-identical twins – and had passed the embryos.

Astonished at the news and already 12 weeks pregnant, she headed home to tell a shell-shocked Joe. 

Emma said: 'I love being a twin mum. It's not for everyone, but I cherish every single day.

'It still feels like a miracle even now the girls are three months old.'

Emma has a huge following of 35k on her Facebook, says she could not have gotten through the ordeal without her social media friends – especially the stranger who offered to be her surrogate.

She said: 'It was all during the pandemic, so I couldn't give my friends and family hugs like I wanted to.

'All the messages and support of my followers really got me through.'

She added: 'I just want all the women out there to know there's no shame in it.

'There are so many of us suffering, thinking we're made, terrified every time we get pregnant. I hope my story can give some hope.'

Professor Luciano Nardo, Founder and CEO of NOW-fertility explained what vanishing twin syndrome is.

He said: 'Vanishing twin syndrome is an early pregnancy condition in which one of a set of twins disappears as result of being reabsorbed within the uterine cavity.

'The outcome is that of a spontaneous reduction of a multiple pregnancy to a singleton pregnancy, as demonstrated on an ultrasound scan.

'The condition can manifest as the disappearance of an early empty gestational sac to that of a sac containing a foetus with or without heart activity.

'As such, it can be experienced in the form of light vaginal bleeding or spotting throughout the first trimester of pregnancy, or in the form of a miscarriage, which can cause some pelvic pain (ie, uterine cramps) and moderate to heavy vaginal bleeding.