Infertile, THEN TRIPLETS
WOMAN'S OWN|February 24, 2020
Rosie Phelps-Goggin, 41, was about to start IVF when three miracles happened at once
EMMA ROSSITER, KARL GRAFTON
Infertile, THEN TRIPLETS

Watching my three baby girls snuggle up while my eldest, Gabriella, four, read them a bedtime story, I couldn’t resist capturing the moment on camera. Just five years ago, my husband, Brad, 46, and I had struggled to have one baby, and now we had a houseful. We were permanently exhausted, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept more than a few hours, but hearing their giggles, none of that mattered.

Brad and I married in 2012and immediately started trying for a family. Only, after 18 months and two early miscarriages, we were anxious. ‘There must be a problem,’ I told Brad, and he agreed we should see fertility specialists. Only, just before our first appointment, in February 2015, I fell pregnant for a third time.

‘Let’s not jinx it,’ Brad said, worried how I’d handle another miscarriage, so we only told close family, until I started showing at five months. But it was a smooth pregnancy – and, in November 2015, Gabriella arrived weighing 6lb 12oz.

I grappled with sleepless nights, and when Brad, a pilot, wasn’t overseas, he helped too. By the time Gabriella was two we could recite episodes of Peppa Pig and were starting to think about having another baby. Only, I started suffering pains in my side.

I often felt sick and breathless, so my GP referred me for tests, and I was diagnosed with endometriosis, where tissue similar to womb lining grows in other places.

‘I suspect it’s growing on your diaphragm,’ explained a specialist. He recommended a hysterectomy.

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