‘Our Twins' Extra-Special Bond'

Amanda Whittingham was overjoyed to be pregnant with twins – until a devastating diagnosis changed everything…

- Kristina Beanland And Lucy Laing

As I watch my twins Jessica and Emily search through the dressing-up box, I can’t help smiling. while Jessica picks a tiara, her sister chooses a pirate’s hat. They’re loud, cheeky and, no matter how adorable they might look, love getting muddy outdoors. Yet, every day with them is a reminder of just how lucky I truly am…

I’ve always known what I wanted out of life – a successful career, a happy marriage and children. I had it all planned out and, sure enough, by 27, I’d landed a job as a teacher and was married to my husband Stuart, who worked in IT.

It was a few months after our first wedding anniversary, in January 2012, that we started trying for a baby. I was so sure it would happen quickly that I was stunned when it didn’t. I was taking all the right vitamins, I’d cut out alcohol – why wasn’t I pregnant?

Ten months later, in October 2012, we went to the GP, who referred us for IVF. It was a gruelling process – I became a human pincushion, injecting myself with hormones daily, and I was taking enough drugs to fill a pharmacy – but I was convinced it would all be worth it.