These are the little miracles born to a mum who was told she would probably never be able to have children.
Gemma Hill and Daniel Kilford, from Hythe, are now the proud parents of two-year-old Archer and Autumn, aged 15 months.
Care assistant Gemma, 22, had always wanted to be a mum, but had been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and told it was highly unlikely that she would ever be able to conceive naturally.
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When Gemma and her refinery worker partner Daniel, now 24, decided they wanted to try for a baby in 2020, they thought it would be a long road ahead.
Gemma said: "It’s always been my dream to have children from a young age and the thought of never having a family of my own was so upsetting. I can’t explain the emotions I went through at the thought of not being able to achieve one of the main goals in life."
On the advice of TFP Wessex Fertility clinic, in Shirley, Gemma went through three rounds of Clomid, which failed to trigger ovulation, before starting IVF in 2021.
Clinicians were able to collect 19 eggs and a nervous wait to find out if the eggs had developed into embryos followed.
Gemma and Daniel were told to wait two weeks to take a pregnancy test, but Gemma and her mum jumped the gun, testing just six days later and discovering she was pregnant.
Gemma added: "I couldn’t wait the full two weeks, I was convinced it hadn't worked, I didn’t have any pregnancy symptoms, so I was sceptical, but we did the test, and it came up positive!
"Daniel was a bit cross with me as we had planned to do it together, but he was over the moon, we were so lucky and grateful that it had worked first time.”
Gemma gave birth to son Archer in August 2022. But their story didn’t end there.
After thinking that she would never be able to conceive naturally, Gemma was expecting again just three months later with daughter Autumn arriving in June 2023.
Gemma said: "It was the biggest shock of my life! I’ve never really had a regular period and didn’t think I could ovulate.
"They’re both miracle babies to me!"
Gemma has shared her story to mark Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Awareness Month.
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